Abstract
An analysis of the Minstrel show reveals that beyond its caricature of the Negro, the minstrel theater had as its target the pieties of Genteel culture, education, and art. Specifically, the Endman‐Interlocutor dialogue, the Stump Speech, and the Burlesque ridiculed the savant, or reformer, the Lyceum lecturer, and the Operatic and Dramatic performances of the period.