ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that while it may be tempting to view the developments of theatrical styles like melodrama and naturalism as opposing paradigms, such movements may more accurately be positioned on the same historical continuum: the rise of modern visual culture. From the invention of photography and the handheld carte-de-visite, to the popularization of the stereoscope and storefront glass display window, the nineteenth century witnessed a massive increase in new technologies and media that sought to capitalize on rising middle-class consumer culture's unquenchable thirst for all things visual. Over the course of the century, new crowds would flock to the theatre as well, seeking illusions of fantasy, history, mythology, and reality – all packaged, bound, and sealed within the confines of a life-size black box.
