Women Playwrights in the Suffrage Era: Writing from the Perspective of the New Woman
Keywords:
Ibsenite actresses, women playwrights in the suffrage era, the New Woman, Elizabeth Robins, Elizabeth Baker, Githa SowerbyAbstract
The present article focuses on the position and perception of Edwardian actresses and women who wrote plays. Reasons are highlighted as to why in that era female dramatic production surged and became immensely important for promoting the vote for women. The core of the paper introduces some of the most prominent women playwrights of the period, such as Elizabeth Robins, Elizabeth Baker and Githa Sowerby. The dramas selected for analysis feature common themes such as questions of marriage and motherhood versus career. Through the re-examination of Ibsen’s female characters and of the melodramatic fallen woman these plays attempt to provide a more credible representation of the ‘other’ sex.
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