This is an alphabetical list of women playwrights who were active in England and Wales, and the Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland before approximately 1800, with a brief indication of productivity. Nota Bene: Authors of dramatic works are the focus of this list, though many of these writers worked in more than one genre.

Aphra Behn, Restoration playwright, by Peter Lely

Playwrights

A

B

C

D

Title page of Dramas for the Use of Young Ladies by C Short (1792)
Title page of Dramas for the Use of Young Ladies by Mrs C. Short (1792) (Etext, Google)

E

F

  • Sarah Fielding (1710–1768): The Cry (1754), co-authored with Jane Collier
  • Anne Finch (1661–1720): primarily a poet; author of verse dramas
  • Elizabeth Forsyth (fl. 1784-1789): author of The Siege of Quebec [1]
  • Ann Francis (1738–1800): poetic dramatization of The Song of Solomon (1781)
  • Susan Fraser (fl. 1809-1816): author of one poetic tragedy, Comala (1809)[1]

G

  • Sarah Gardner (née Cheney) (fl. 1763–1795): comedic actor and playwright
  • Maria Geisweiler (fl. 1799-1800): author of dramas, unproduced[1]
  • Mary Goldsmith (fl. 1800-1804): author of two comic pieces[1][8]
  • Catherine Gore (1799–1861): eleven plays produced
  • Mrs. Green (fl. 1756): author of one play[1]
  • Elizabeth Griffith (c. 1727 – 1793): playwright
  • Elizabeth Gunning (1769–1823): a tragi-comedy, not produced

H

  • Elizabeth Harlow (fl. 1789): bookseller; author of one comedy[1]
  • Elizabeth Harrison (fl.1724-1756): The Death of Socrates in Miscellanies on moral and religious subjects (1756)[1][9]
  • Margaret Harvey (1768–1858): English poet, scholar, and playwright
  • Eliza Haywood (1693–1756): playwright; wrote primarily in other genres
  • Elizabeth Helme (1743–1814): educational writer who translated two children's plays
  • Felicia Hemans (1793–1835): primarily a poet; some verse drama
  • Philippina Hill (née Burton) (fl. 1768-87): poet and author of one produced play[1][10]
  • Barbara Hofland (1770–1844): prolific writer who published one volume of dramas for children
  • Frances Holcroft (1780–1844): poet, novelist, translator of plays
  • Margaret Holford (1757–1834): one play produced
  • Margaret Holford (1778–1852): one play, neither published nor produced
  • Harriet Horncastle Hook (fl. 1784): author of one comic opera[11]
  • Elizabeth Edmead Hull (fl. 1786-1832): The Events of the Day (prod. Norwich, 1795)[1]
  • Rachael Hoper (fl. 1742-1760): three plays produced[12]
  • Mary Hornby (fl. 1819-1820): two plays, not produced[1]
  • Anne Hughes (fl. 1784-1797): novelist and poet who wrote Moral dramas intended for private representation (1790)[13]

I

K

  • Maria Theresa Kemble (1774–1838), actor, singer, dancer, and comic playwright
  • Grace Kennedy (1782–1825): religious writer who wrote one drama, not performed
  • Anne Killigrew (1660–1685): "A Pastoral Dialogue" published in Poems (1686)

L

M

  • Elizabeth Macauley (1785?–1837): actor and author
  • Charlotte McCarthy (fl. 1745-68): Irish novelist and religious writer who wrote one dramatic dialogue
  • Ann Hamilton M'Taggart (1753?–1834): published playwright, none produced[1]
  • Delarivier Manley (1663 or c. 1670–1724): playwright
  • Jean Marishall (Jane Marshall) (fl. 1765–1788): one play
  • Catherine Metcalfe (d. 1790): one tragedy[1]
  • Ann Minton (b. 1785): A Wife to be Lett; or, The Miser Cured (1802)[1]
  • Mary Russell Mitford (1787–1855): playwright
  • Mary Wortley Montagu (1689–1762): prolific writer whose comedy, Simplicity, was not produced
  • Hannah More (1745–1833): playwright; published in many genres

N

O

P

  • Eliza Parsons (1739–1811): prolific Gothic novelist who had one play produced
  • Anne Penny (née Hughes; 1729–1784): Welsh poet and author of one dramatic entertainment
  • Katherine Philips (1631–1664): mainly a poet; author of two plays (one unfinished)
  • Laetitia Pilkington (1709–1750): Anglo-Irish poet who had one play produced
  • Elizabeth Pinchard (née Sibthorpe; fl. 1791–1820): novelist who also wrote dramatic dialogues for young readers
  • Hester Thrale Piozzi (1741-1821): author and patron with two unpublished plays
  • Mary Pix (1666–1709): playwright
  • Francis Plowden (d. 1827): author of one comic opera[15]
  • Annabella Plumptre (1769–1838): collaborated with her sister, Anne Plumptre
  • Anne Plumptre (1760–1818): wrote primarily in other genres; translated dramas
  • Elizabeth Polack (fl. 1830–1838): author of five plays, three surviving
  • Elizabeth Polwheele (c. 1651 – c. 1691): two plays extant
  • Jane Pope (1744–1818): English actor who had one comedy produced in 1767
  • Anna Maria Porter (1778–1832): poet and novelist who se The Fair Fugitives was produced in 1803
  • Jane Porter (1776–1850): two plays
  • Jael Pye (née Mendez) (c. 1737 – 1782): published four works, each in a different genre

R

  • Elizabeth Richardson (d. 1779): author of The double deception; or, lovers perplex'd[16]
  • Sarah Watts Richardson (d. 1824): poet, novelist, playwright[17]
  • Jane Robe (fl. 1723): author of The Fatal Legacy (1723)
  • Rose Roberts (1730-1788): translator, poet, and writer of sermons who wrote at least one drama
  • Fanny Robertson (1765-1855): actor-manager, author of at least two plays
  • Mary Robinson (1757–1800): wrote primarily in other genres; one play produced
  • Anna Ross (b. 1773): performer; wrote comic opera
  • Susanna Rowson (née Haswell) (1762–1824): British-American novelist, poet, playwright
  • Elizabeth Ryves (1750–1797): Irish poet, dramatist, novelist, journalist, and translator

S

T

  • Elizabeth Tollet (1694–1754): Susanna; or innocence preserved, in Poems on several occasions (1755; not produced)
  • Sarah Trimmer: prolific educational writer; author of The little hermit; or, the rural adventure (1788; not produced)
  • Catherine Trotter (1679–1749): playwright
  • Margaret Turner (fl. 1790-1810): pastoral[20]

W

  • Eglantine Wallace (née Maxwell; d. 1803): comedies and tragedy
  • Jane West (1758–1852): wrote primarily in other genres
  • Anne Wharton (née Lee; 1659-1685): poet and verse dramatist
  • Elizabeth Whitlock (née Kemble; 1761–1836): known mainly for acting
  • Ann Wilson (fl. 1778-1812): Jephthah's daughter (1783; not produced)[21]
  • Jane Wiseman (fl. c. 1682–1717): author of one produced play
  • Mary Wroth (1587–1652): primarily a poet; one drama extant

Y

  • Ann Yearsley (c. 1753 – 1806): primarily a poet; produced and published one play
  • Elizabeth Yorke (née Lindsay; 1763-1858): playwright

See also

Notes and references

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 Mann.
  2. ↑ "Boaden, Caroline". The Women's Print History Project, 2019, Person ID 4472. Accessed 2023-08-22.
  3. ↑ "Booth, Mrs." The Women's Print History Project, 2019, Person ID 2276. Accessed 2023-08-22.
  4. ↑ "Burgess, Mrs." The Women's Print History Project, 2019, Person ID 2304. Accessed 2023-08-22.
  5. ↑ "Burke, Mrs." The Women's Print History Project, 2019, Person ID 2250. Accessed 2023-08-22.
  6. ↑ "Cullum, Mrs." The Women's Print History Project, 2019, Person ID 2296. Accessed 2023-08-22.
  7. ↑ "de Humboldt, Charlotte." The Women's Print History Project, 2019, Person ID 3974. Accessed 2023-08-23.
  8. ↑ "Goldsmith, Mary." The Women's Print History Project, 2019, Person ID 2937. Accessed 2023-08-23.
  9. ↑ Harrison, Elizabeth. Miscellanies on moral and religious subjects, in prose and verse. By Elizabeth Harrison. The Women's Print History Project, 2019, title ID 3333. Accessed 2023-08-23.
  10. ↑ "Hill, Philippina Patience." The Women's Print History Project, 2019, Person ID 3785. Accessed 2023-08-22.
  11. ↑ Hook, Harriet Horncastle. The double disguise, a comic opera in two acts: as performed at the Theatre-Royal in Drury-Lane. The songs set to music by Mr. Hook. The Women's Print History Project, 2019, title ID 6760. Accessed 2023-08-20.
  12. ↑ London Stage Database
  13. ↑ "Hughes, Anne." The Women's Print History Project, 2019, Person ID 2553. Accessed 2023-08-20.
  14. ↑ "Lawrence, Rose D'Aguilar." The Women's Print History Project, 2019, Person ID 3430. Accessed 2023-08-22.
  15. ↑ "Plowden, Francis." The Women's Print History Project, 2019, Person ID 2271. Accessed 2023-08-25.
  16. ↑ Eighteenth-Century Drama Ref. LA478
  17. ↑ "Richardson, Sarah". The Women's Print History Project, 2019, Person ID 2851. Accessed 2023-08-26.
  18. ↑ OL17011834M
  19. ↑ "Stratford [later Corneille], Agnes". The Women's Print History Project, 2019, Person ID 2911. Accessed 2023-08-27.
  20. ↑ "Turner, Margaret". The Women's Print History Project, 2019, Person ID 2786. Accessed 2023-08-27.
  21. ↑ "Wilson, Ann". The Women's Print History Project, 2019, Person ID 1022. Accessed 2023-08-27.

References

  • Blain, Virginia, et al., eds. The Feminist Companion to Literature in English. New Haven and London: Yale UP, 1990. (Internet Archive)
  • Buck, Claire, ed.The Bloomsbury Guide to Women's Literature. Prentice Hall, 1992. (Internet Archive)
  • Chadwyck-Healey Database of English Prose Drama (through 1750) and (1750–1939)
  • Mann, David (1996). Women Playwrights in England, Ireland, and Scotland, 1660-1823. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. ISBN 0-253-33087-4.
  • Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford: OUP, 2004.
  • Robertson, Fiona, ed. Women's Writing, 1778–1838. Oxford: OUP, 2001. (Internet Archive)
  • Schlueter, Paul, and June Schlueter. An encyclopedia of British women writers. Rutgers University Press, 1998. (Internet Archive)
  • Todd, Janet, ed. British Women Writers: a critical reference guide. London: Routledge, 1989. (Internet Archive)
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.