The Bottom of Desire in Suzan-Lori Parks's Venus

Abstract

The real Saartjie Baartman, the flesh-and-blood woman who was designated the Venus Hottentot and hideously transformed into a freak show's centerpiece, is presumed missing from the very beginning of Suzan-Lori Parks's Venus. Though the dramatis personae lists her as "Miss Saartjie Baartman, a.k.a. The Girl, and later The Venus Hottentot," the audience never knows her as Baartman. After the overture, we see her scrubbing a sparkling floor in southern Africa while a shady entrepreneur ("the Brother") negotiates her purchase.

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