Mary Robinson and Elizabeth Craven
The exhibition at Chawton House entitled Mary Robinson: Actress, Mistress, Write r, Radical, brought together an immense amount of material shedding light on this remarkable Georgian woman, who deserves to be known for so much more than just being an actress and the mistress of George IV when he was Prince of Wales. Mary Darby Robinson wrote several novels, a lot of accomplished poetry, and some fascinating Memoirs, as well as the feminist text A Letter to the Women of England. Despite her fame and talent, her life was never easy. Tricked into marriage in her teens, she was incarcerated in a debtors' prison, with her infant daughter, because of the debts of her feckless husband. She escaped by publishing fiction and launching on a career on the London stage, where she was much applauded for her beauty and talents. Mary Robinson wearing a chemise-style dress. After achieving success in many rôles, in May 1780 she acted the lead in the first of Eli...