Elizabeth Inchbald

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Elizabeth Inchbald, née Simpson (1753 - 1821) was an English novelist, actress, and dramatist.


Contents

[edit] Life

Daughter of a Roman Catholic Suffolk farmer, Elizabeth was educated with her sisters at home. At the age of 19 she went to London in order to act. Young and alone, she was apparently the victim of sexual harassment. In 1772 she agreed to marry the actor Joseph Inchbald (1735–1779), by some reports for protection. The marriage apparently had difficulties. For four years the couple toured Scotland with West Digges's theatre company, a demanding life. In 1776 they moved to Liverpool and Inchbald met actress Sarah Siddons and her brother, actor John Philip Kemble, both of whom became important friends. The Inchbalds subsequently moved to Canterbury and Yorkshire. After Joseph Inchbald's death in 1779, Inchbald continued to act for several years, in Dublin, London, and elsewhere. Her acting career, while only moderately successful, spanned seventeen years and she appeared in many classical roles, as well as in new plays such as Hannah Cowley's The Belle's Strategem.

Between 1784 and 1805 she had nineteen of her comedies, sentimental dramas, and farces (many of which were translations from the French) performed at London theatres. Eighteen of her plays were published, though she wrote several more; the exact number is in dispute though most recent commentators claim between 21 and 23. Her two novels have been frequently reprinted. She also did considerable editorial and critical work. A four-volume autobiography was destroyed before her death upon the advice of her confessor, but she left extensive diaries. The latter are currently held at the Folger Shakespeare Library and were recently published.

A political radical and friend of William Godwin and Thomas Holcroft, her political beliefs can more easily be found in her novels than in her plays due to the constrictive environment of the patent theatres of Georgian London.[1] "Inchbald's life was marked by tensions between, on the one hand, political radicalism, a passionate nature evidently attracted to a number of her admirers, and a love of independence, and on the other hand, a desire for social respectability and a strong sense of the emotional attraction of authority figures"[2].

In recent decades Inchbald has been the subject of increasing critical interest, particularly among scholars interested in women's writing.


[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ Smallwood, Angela. "Women Playwrights."
  2. ^ Spencer, Jane. ODNB.


[edit] Works

[edit] Plays

  • Mogul Tale (1784)
  • Appearance is against Them (1785)
  • I'll Tell you What (1785)
  • The Widow's Vow (1786)
  • The Midnight Hour (1787)
  • Such Things Are (1787)
  • All on a Summer's Day (1787)
  • Animal Magnetism (1788?)
  • The Child of Nature (1788)
  • The Married Man (1789)
  • Next Door Neighbours (1791)
  • Everyone has his Fault (1793)
  • To Marry, or not to Marry (1793)
  • The Wedding Day (1794)
  • Wives as They Were and Maids as They Are (1797)
  • Lover's Vows (1798)
  • The Wise Man of the East (1799)
  • The Massacre (1792) (not performed)
  • A Case of Conscience (published 1833)
  • The Ancient Law (not performed)
  • The Hue and Cry (unpublished)
  • Young Men and Old Women (Lovers No Conjurers) (unpublished)

[edit] Novels

  • A Simple Story (1791)
  • Nature and Art (1796)

[edit] Critical/editorial work

  • The British Theatre. 25 vols. (1806–9)
  • Collection of Farces and Afterpieces. 7 vols. (1809)
  • The Modern Theatre. 10 vols. (1811)


[edit] External links

[edit] Etexts

[edit] Other


[edit] References


This article incorporates public domain text from: Cousin, John William (1910). A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature. London, J.M. Dent & sons; New York, E.P. Dutton.

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../e/l/i/Elizabeth_Inchbald_505b.html"
In other languages