556:. Octavia was a young woman whose desire to study medicine was thwarted by a family which viewed intellectualism and professional careers as 'unsexing' for women. When Wilberforce's father refused to pay for her studies and disinherited her for pursuing them, Robins and other friends provided financial and moral support until she became a doctor. While some have conjectured that Robins and Wilberforce were romantically involved, this has never been supported by scholarly material available about either woman, nor is it borne out by their own writings. Available evidence points to Robins and Wilberforce enjoying a relationship much like that of mother and daughter. In her declining years Robins developed a friendship with
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320:' plays. "The experience of acting and producing Ibsen's plays and the reactions to her work helped transform Elizabeth over time into a committed supporter of women's rights." In 1898, she joined forces with William Archer, an influential critic, and together they produced non-profit Ibsen plays. She became known in Britain as "Ibsen's High Priestess."
244:, stating in his suicide note, "I will not stand in your light any longer." On September 3, 1888, Robins moved to London. "Her move to London represented a rebirth after personal tragedy in America." Except for extended visits to the U.S. to visit family, she remained in England for the rest of her life.
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and held progressive political views. Though her father was an insurance broker, he traveled a lot during her childhood and in the summer of 1880, Robins accompanied him to mining camps and was able to attend theatre in New York and
Washington along the way. Because of her intelligence, Elizabeth was
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led to a surge of suffrage theatre. Elizabeth Robins first attended "open-air meetings of the suffrage union" when the Women's Social and
Political Union moved its headquarters from Manchester to London in 1906. It was then that she "abandoned" the current play she was writing and worked to complete
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stock company. It would be here that she met her future husband, George Parks, who was also a member of the company. In 1885 Robins married Parks. Although her husband struggled to get acting parts, she was soon in great demand and would be on tour throughout their marriage. Her refusal to leave the
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of Ibsen, which would find most confident expression in 1907 in her justly celebrated novel "The
Convert". Robins's main character, Vida, speaks to "male politicians and social acquaintances", something very different from what the women of Robins's time did – something very reminiscent of one of
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put Robins in contact with Marion Lea. Together they would form a joint management, making this the "first step toward the theatre that Robins had dreamed of … a theatre of independent management and artistic standards." Finding work in "'women's plays' written by men like Ibsen," Robins and Lea
489:. When Rhondda died in 1918 the House of Lords refused to allow Margaret, now the Viscountess Rhondda, to take her seat. Robins wrote numerous articles on the subject, but the House of Lords refused to change its decision. It was not until 1958 that women were first admitted to the House.
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Robins realised her income from acting was not stable enough to support her fully. While Robins was busy being a successful actress, she had to leave
England to look for her brother in Alaska, who had gone missing. Her experiences searching for her brother led her to write her novels,
501:. As a married man Archer was unavailable, however. Except for her brief marriage to George Parks, she remained a single woman. Highly intelligent, she was welcomed into London's literary and artistic circles, enjoying friendships with
437:, although she broke with the WSPU over its increasing use of violent militancy. She remained a strong advocate of women's rights, however, and used her skills as a public speaker and writer on behalf of the cause. In 1907 her book
528:, whom she feared was lost in the Yukon. After a long and arduous journey, she located Raymond in Nome. She shared his life in wild and lawless Alaska throughout the summer of 1900. Her adventures were not without cost – the
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was published. It was later turned into a play that became synonymous with the suffrage movement. Robins remained an active feminist throughout her life. In the 1920s she was a regular contributor to the feminist magazine,
456:. She collected and edited speeches, lectures, and articles dealing with the women's movement, some of which had never previously appeared in print (Way Stations, published by Dodd, Mead and Company, New York, 1913).
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she contracted at that time compromised her health for the rest of her life. Robins's tales about Alaska provided material for a number of articles she sent on to London for publication. Her best selling book,
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Jusova, Iveta. The New Woman and the Empire: Gender, Racial, and
Colonial Issues in Sarah Grand, George Egerton, Elizabeth Robins, and Amy Levy. The Ohio State University Press, 2005.
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485:. He was a supporter of women's rights and in his will made arrangements for Margaret to inherit his title. This was considered radical, as women did not normally inherit
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A beautiful woman, Robins was pursued by many men. She admitted to a deep attraction to her close friend, the highly respected literary critic and fellow Ibsen scholar,
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302:"marked an important step in the representation of women by dramatists" and Hedda marked an important step for Elizabeth Robins, becoming her defining role. "
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335:, London. Ending her acting career at the age of forty, Robins had made her mark on the English stage as not only an actress but an actress-manager.
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as a means of keeping her acting and writing careers separate but gave it up when the media reported that Robins and
Raimond were the same. She and
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in 1889. Wilde's comment was "you have definitely asserted your position as an actress of the first order. Your future on our stage is assured."
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Although Robins rejected her father's plans for her to be educated as a doctor, she retained a strong interest in medicine. In 1909 she met
316:. From then on, Hedda became synonymous with Robins on the English stage. Robins and Lea would go on to produce a handful of Ibsen's other '
235:'s theatre and by 1882, she was touring. She soon grew bored and irritated playing "wretched, small character parts" and in 1883 joined the
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The New Woman and the Empire: Gender, Racial, and
Colonial Issues in Sarah Grand, George Egerton, Elizabeth Robins, and Amy Levy.
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Kelly, Katherine E., ed. Modern Drama by Women, 1880s-1930s: an
International Anthology. New York: Routledge, 1996. Print.
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Kelly, Katherine E., ed. Modern Drama by Women, 1880s-1930s; an
International Anthology. New York: Routledge, 1996. Print.
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the very first suffrage drama. "The more Robins became immersed in the work, the more she became converted to the cause".
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and her unconditional support on her endeavor to act in New York City. Her father was a follower of
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Powell, Kerry. Women and
Victorian Theatre. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997. Print.
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stage may have contributed to Parks to commit suicide in 1887 by jumping off a bridge into the
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Powell, Kerry. Women and Victorian Theatre. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,1997. Print.
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John, Angela. Elizabeth Robins: Staging a Life: 1862–1952. New York: Routledge, 1995. Print.
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John, Angela. Elizabeth Robins: Staging a Life 1862–1952. New York: Routledge, 1995. Print.
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has begun to agitate the stage." Together Elizabeth Robins and Marion Lea brought Ibsen's
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says, "It is possible to trace in Elizabeth's writing from 1890s onwards an emerging
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and study medicine. At the age of fourteen, Robins saw her first professional play (
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Ibsen's 'new women.' The novel is an adaptation of Robins's most successful play,
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Elizabeth Robins, the first child of Charles Robins and Hannah Crow, was born in
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After arriving in New York, Robins soon met James O'Neill, who helped her join
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1041:(12th ed.). London & New York: The Encyclopædia Britannica Company.
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The success of this last novel led to her publishing under her own name:
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Early in her time in London, Robins became enamored with the plays of
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931:"Forgotten Plays: No 12 – Votes for Women (1907) by Elizabeth Robins"
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At a social gathering during her first week in England, Robins met
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Robins was involved in the campaign to allow women to enter the
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credited Robins with explaining to him the difference between a
388:. She enjoyed a long career as a fiction and nonfiction writer.
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Octavia Wilberforce:The Autobiography of a Pioneer Woman Doctor
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one of her father's favorite children. He wanted her to attend
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A stage of their own: Feminist playwrights of the suffrage era
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https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=3817
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https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=3817
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1081:, Fales Library and Special Collections, New York University.
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Angela V. John, Elizabeth Robins: Staging a Life, 1862–1952
1058:. Ann Arbor, Mich: Univ. of Michigan Press. p. 9–39.
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Elizabeth, Robins, 1862–1952, Actress, Novelist, Feminist
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Sowon S Park, 'Elizabeth Robins', Literary Encyclopedia.
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Park, Sowon, 'Elizabeth Robins'. Literary Encyclopedia (
814:(online ed.). New York: Oxford University Press.
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Ancilla's Share : an indictment of sex antagonism
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Frederick Pethick-Lawrence, 1st Baron Pethick-Lawrence
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critique, clearly, but only partly, influenced by the
352:(1908). Before this, she had written novels such as
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Elizabeth Robins - Victorian Fiction Research Guide
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The Alaska-Klondike Diary of Elizabeth Robins, 1900
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450:Ancilla's Share: An Indictment of Sex Antagonism
412:The first play to bring the "street politics of
284:brought strong female characters to the stage.
166:(August 6, 1862 – May 8, 1952) was an actress,
808:Laura C. Rudolph (1999). "Robins, Elizabeth".
1198:Members of the Women Writers' Suffrage League
674:The Alaska-Klondike Diary of Elizabeth Robins
663:The Open Question: A Tale of Two Temperaments
539:The Alaska-Klondike Diary of Elizabeth Robins
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448:. She also continued to write books such as
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364:(1896) and several others under the name of
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918:Elizabeth Robins: Staging a Life: 1862–1952
537:, is an account of her experiences, as is
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1188:American women dramatists and playwrights
820:10.1093/anb/9780198606697.article.1602204
205:The Complete Works of William Shakespeare
78:Learn how and when to remove this message
251:Robins photographed by H. S. Mendelssohn
41:This article includes a list of general
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961:The Ohio State University Press, 2005.
929:Billington, Michael (17 August 2020).
777:Women's suffrage in the United Kingdom
391:In her biography of Elizabeth Robins,
306:could not have done it better," wrote
277:. In 1891 a London matinee revival of
520:In 1900 Robins traveled alone to the
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772:List of suffragists and suffragettes
1163:American dramatists and playwrights
1158:Actresses from Louisville, Kentucky
323:In 1902, Robins played Lucrezia in
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1094:Works by or about Elizabeth Robins
524:in search of her favorite brother
435:Women's Social and Political Union
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1168:American women's rights activists
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362:Below the Salt and Other Stories
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452:, which explored the issues of
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429:Robins became a member of the
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640:As C. E. Raimond, she wrote:
554:British abolitionist movement
548:, the great-granddaughter of
368:. She explained her use of a
1029:Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1922).
632:Resources in other libraries
608:Resources in other libraries
1069:Elizabeth Robins Collection
1009:Chronology and Bibliography
811:American National Biography
645:George Mandeville's Husband
376:anonymously wrote the play
354:George Mandeville's Husband
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1120:Collier's New Encyclopedia
425:Women's rights involvement
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1114:"Robins, Elizabeth"
1103:Works by Elizabeth Robins
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1032:"Robins, Elizabeth"
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603:Resources in your library
522:gold rush camps of Alaska
380:based on the short story
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722:My Little Sister, 1913 (
702:Under The Southern Cross
21:Elizabeth Robins Pennell
1193:Activists from Kentucky
1183:Victorian women writers
1079:Elizabeth Robins Papers
1038:Encyclopædia Britannica
826:(subscription required)
261:Frances Hodgson Burnett
62:more precise citations.
481:, was the daughter of
384:by the Swedish author
348:(written in 1904) and
288:noted "what is called
267:Little Lord Fauntleroy
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144:George Richmond Parks
127:May 8, 1952 (aged 89)
1052:Stowell, S. (1994).
748:The Florentine Frame
716:, 1908, a sequel to
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192:Louisville, Kentucky
178:. She also wrote as
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1173:British suffragists
1073:Harry Ransom Center
991:New York University
767:History of feminism
616:By Elizabeth Robins
550:William Wilberforce
546:Octavia Wilberforce
503:George Bernard Shaw
333:St. James's Theatre
329:Paolo and Francesca
286:George Bernard Shaw
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1018:The Magnetic North
718:The Magnetic North
680:The Magnetic North
572:Anonymously, with
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535:The Magnetic North
290:the Woman Question
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454:sexual inequality
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378:Alan's Wife
257:Oscar Wilde
233:Edwin Booth
210:Robert Owen
176:suffragette
146:(1885–1887)
60:introducing
1137:Categories
946:References
875:13 January
468:suffragist
386:Elin Améen
186:Early life
168:playwright
68:March 2024
43:references
370:pseudonym
318:New Woman
313:The World
265:The Real
157:(brother)
151:Relatives
761:See also
688:, 1905 (
558:Virginia
401:feminist
360:(1895),
356:(1894),
172:novelist
1123:. 1921.
1096:at the
976:, ed.,
730:Camilla
382:Befried
331:at the
56:improve
871:. 1893
824:
756:, 1956
750:, 1909
744:, 1924
738:, 1920
732:, 1918
704:, 1907
698:, 1907
682:, 1904
676:, 1900
665:, 1898
659:, 1896
653:, 1895
647:, 1894
591:about
583:, 1893
509:, and
466:and a
220:Hamlet
174:, and
140:Spouse
45:, but
783:Notes
568:Works
877:2020
560:and
124:Died
118:, US
109:Born
1105:at
1087:at
1021:at
985:at
816:doi
327:'s
263:'s
1139::
1117:.
1071:,
1035:.
989:,
933:.
867:.
541:.
517:.
505:,
470:.
395:,
182:.
170:,
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1002:)
937:.
879:.
822:.
818::
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692:)
81:)
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52:.
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