Chronology of early-modern British women playwrights
Okay kiddo, so back in olden times, there were these people called playwrights who wrote stories to be performed on stage. But for a long time, most playwrights were men and women weren't allowed to write plays or even act in them!
It wasn't until the early-modern period in Britain, which was a long time ago in the 17th century, that some women started to break into the world of playwriting. The very first one we know about was a lady named Aphra Behn. She was pretty cool because not only was she a playwright, but she was also a spy! She wrote a bunch of plays in the 1670s and 1680s, including one called "The Rover" about a bunch of soldiers who go on adventures and fall in love.
After Aphra Behn, more and more women started to write plays. They were still kind of rare, but they were there! Some other important women playwrights from this time were Mary Pix and Susanna Centlivre. Mary Pix wrote a play called "The Beau Defeated" about a lady who tricks a guy into loving her, and Susanna Centlivre wrote a play called "The Busie Body" about a nosy woman who gets involved in everyone else's business.
Even though women were starting to write plays, they still faced a lot of challenges. They weren't always taken seriously and their work wasn't always performed as much as men's plays were. But these early-modern British women playwrights paved the way for future generations of women writers, and we still enjoy their plays today!
It wasn't until the early-modern period in Britain, which was a long time ago in the 17th century, that some women started to break into the world of playwriting. The very first one we know about was a lady named Aphra Behn. She was pretty cool because not only was she a playwright, but she was also a spy! She wrote a bunch of plays in the 1670s and 1680s, including one called "The Rover" about a bunch of soldiers who go on adventures and fall in love.
After Aphra Behn, more and more women started to write plays. They were still kind of rare, but they were there! Some other important women playwrights from this time were Mary Pix and Susanna Centlivre. Mary Pix wrote a play called "The Beau Defeated" about a lady who tricks a guy into loving her, and Susanna Centlivre wrote a play called "The Busie Body" about a nosy woman who gets involved in everyone else's business.
Even though women were starting to write plays, they still faced a lot of challenges. They weren't always taken seriously and their work wasn't always performed as much as men's plays were. But these early-modern British women playwrights paved the way for future generations of women writers, and we still enjoy their plays today!