Votes for Women

and Other Plays

Elizabeth Robins, Cicely Hamilton, Inez Bensusan, Chris St John, Alice Chapin, Margaret W. Nevinson, Helen M. Nightingale, L.S. Phibbs, Susan Croft

• Publisher: Aurora Metro Books
• ISBN:
  9781906582753
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: Drama
• Index: Literature

The best collection of suffrage plays on offer. Introduced and set in historical context by Dr Susan Croft, formerly Curator at the Theatre Museum in London, with a chronology of suffrage drama from 1907-1914.

The astonishing women involved in the Actresses Franchise League set up their own theatre companies and engaged with the battle for the vote by writing and performing campaigning plays all over the country. They launched themselves onto the political stage with their satirical plays, sketches and monologues whilst at the same time challenging the staid conventions of the Edwardian Theatre of the day. The legacy of their inspiring work to change both theatre and society has survived in the political theatre, agit-prop and verbatim theatre we know today.

Full playtexts from the following:
'How the Vote was Won' by Cicely Hamilton and Chris St. John
'The Apple' by Inez Bensusan
'Jim s Leg' by L.S. Phibbs
'Votes for Women' by Elizabeth Robins
'At the Gates' by Alice Chapin
'In the Workhouse' by Margaret Wynne Nevinson
'A Change of Tenant' by Helen Margaret Nightingale.

Votes for Women

Votes for Women

The play presents a brittle, upper-class society of respectable, devoted wives living sheltered and supportive lives with husbands who are committed to busy careers. For both groups, these are only partial truths. While the women are gently mocked for their superficiality, they are actually organising to create a charitable hostel for homeless women whereas the men, who seem morally upright, have hidden pasts. The events of the play are set at that moment when the suffragettes have turned to militant action and are being condemned as having totally discredited their cause.

The play juxtaposes two women: Jean Dunbarton, a young idealistic heiress, engaged to ambitious MP Geoffrey Stonor, and Vida Levering, the feminist with a hidden past. The influence is evident, in the structure of the piece, of both conventional sentimental melodrama: (cf. Mary Elizabeth Braddon’s Lady Audley’s Secret, Wilde’s A Woman of No Importance and Ibsen’s A Doll’s House) where a protected woman has to confront the realities of society and human behaviour.

Jean’s eyes are opened, first to the humanity and integrity of the suffragettes, and then to the power of their arguments, as she realises there are double standards regarding the behaviour of women and men. The final awakening is that her fiance Stonor was the father of Vida Levering’s unborn child. Where a conventional plot would demand that he make personal reparation, Vida rejects this and the old pretence, ‘that to marry at all costs is every woman’s dearest ambition till the grave closes over her’. Instead she demands that the reparation he make be political — giving his support to the suffrage cause.

Robins challenges the stereotype of the dowdy, unattractive feminist and the conventional demand that the fallen woman be made to suffer for her sins. Robins creates a complex, intelligent and outspoken character, contributing to her wish to create more challenging roles for actresses. The piece is also remarkable in its command of the large openair crowd scene, (the rally of Act 2) which Robins conducts with theatrical skill, making it the context of the revelation of Stonor’s past with Levering, and the collision of public and private spheres to which women were still supposed to confine themselves.

Votes for Women

Elizabeth Robins, 1907

CHARACTERS

Lord John Wynnstay

Lady John Wynnstay, His Wife

Mrs Heriot, Sister of Lady John

Miss Jean Dunbarton^*, Niece to Lady John and Mrs Heriot

The Hon. Geoffrey Stonor, Unionist M. P. Affianced To Jean Dunbarton

Mr St John Greatorex, Liberal M. P.

The Hon. Richard Farnborough Mr Freddy Tunbridge

Mrs Freddy Tunbridge Mr Allen Trent

Miss Ernestine Blunt, A Suffragette

Mr Pilcher, A Working Man

A Working Woman Miss Vida Levering Persons in the Crowd

Servants in the two houses

Act One Wynnstay House in Hertfordshire

Act Two Trafalgar Square, London

Act Three Eaton Square, London

The entire action of the play takes place between Sunday noon and six o’clock in the evening of the same day.

ACT ONE

Scene One

Hall of Wynnstay House.

Twelve o’clock, Sunday morning, end of June. With the rising of the curtain, enter the Butler. As he is going with majestic port to answer the door, enter briskly from the garden, by the lower French window, Lady John Wynnstay, flushed, and flapping a garden hat to fan herself. She is a pink-cheeked woman of fifty-four, who has plainly been a beauty, keeps her complexion, but is ‘gone to fat.’

LADY JOHN

Has Miss Levering come down yet?

BUTLER (pausing)

I haven’t seen her, m’lady.

LADY JOHN (almost sharply as Butler turns left)

I won’t have her disturbed if she’s resting. (to herself as she goes to the writing table) She certainly needs it.

BUTLER

Yes, m’lady.

LADY JOHN (sitting at the writing table, her back to the front door)

But I want her to know the moment she comes down that the new plans have arrived by the morning post.

BUTLER (pausing nearly at the door)

Plans, m’la –

LADY JOHN

She’ll understand. There they are. (glancing at the clock) It’s very important she should have them in time to look over before she goes – (Butler opens the door left. Over her shoulder) Is that Miss Levering?

BUTLER

No, m’lady. Mr Farnborough.

Exit Butler.

Enter the Hon. R. Farnborough. He is twenty-six; reddish hair, high-coloured, sanguine, self-important.

FARNBOROUGH

I’m afraid I’m scandalously early. It didn’t take me nearly as long to motor over as Lord John said.

LADY JOHN (shaking hands)

I’m afraid my husband is no authority on motoring – and he’s not home yet from church.

FARNBOROUGH

It’s the greatest luck finding you. I thought Miss Levering was the only person under this roof who was ever allowed to observe Sunday as a real Day of Rest.

LADY JOHN

If you’ve come to see Miss Levering –

FARNBOROUGH

Is she here? I give you my word I didn’t know it.

LADY JOHN (unconvinced)

Oh?

FARNBOROUGH

Does she come every weekend?

LADY JOHN

Whenever we can get her to. But we’ve only known her a couple of months.

FARNBOROUGH

And I have only known her three weeks! Lady John, I’ve come to ask you to help me.

LADY JOHN (quickly)

With Miss Levering? I can’t do it!

FARNBOROUGH

No, no – all that’s no good. She only laughs.

LADY JOHN (relieved)

Ah! – she looks upon you as a boy.

FARNBOROUGH (firing up)

Such rot! What do you think she said to me in London the other day?

LADY JOHN

That she was four years older than you?

FARNBOROUGH

Oh, I knew that. No. She said she knew she was all the charming things I’d been saying, but there was only one way to prove it – and that was to marry someone young enough to be her son. She’d noticed that was what the most attractive women did – and she named names.

LADY JOHN (laughing) You

were too old!

FARNBOROUGH (nods)

Her future husband, she said, was probably just entering Eton.

LADY JOHN

Just like her!

FARNBOROUGH (waving the subject away)

No. I wanted to see you about the Secretary...

Table of contents

• Votes for Women
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Introduction
• Votes for Women
• A Change of Tenant
• At the Gates
• How the Vote was Won
• The Apple
• In the Workhouse
• Jim’s Leg
• Chronology
• Bibliography
• Universal Suffrage dates
• Useful links