ABSTRACT
Ira Aldridge's portrayal of the ambiguous figure illuminates his own layered identities, and it marks a critical juncture in the circum-Atlantic trajectory of the Jack Mansong narratives. Jack's three-fingered hand tells a story of loss and retribution, of lost national identity and mutilated cultures. Aldridge dedicated his life and career to the process of social change, using his skills and opportunities as an actor to transform perceptions of identity, particularly those of racial identity. A black actor of indeterminate origin who played a variety of roles black and white, comedic and tragic, Aldridge embodies the possibilities for challenging racial stereotypes. Aldridge's career follows a transatlantic route based in part on the kinds of roles available to him as a black actor. Aldridge's whiteface roles challenge nineteenth-century blackface practices. Saidiya V. Hartman argues that white actors in blackface demonstrate to themselves and their audiences their possession of the black body, proposing that 'elasticity' permits 'white self-exploration' while defining and maintaining whiteness.
