Perdita: The Life of Mary Robinson

Perdita: The Life of Mary Robinson
Paula Byrne

Sex, fame and scandal in the theatrical, literary and social circles of late 18th-century England.One of the most flamboyant women of the late-eighteenth century, Mary Robinson’s life was marked by reversals of fortune. After being raised by a middle-class father, Mary was married, at age fourteen, to Thomas Robinson. His dissipated lifestyle landed the couple and their baby in debtors' prison, where Mary wrote her first book of poetry and met lifelong friend Georgiana, the Duchess of Devonshire.On her release, Mary quickly became one of the most popular actresses of the day, famously playing Perdita in ‘The Winter’s Tale’ for a rapt audience that included the Prince of Wales, who fell madly in love with her. She later used his copious love letters for blackmail.This authoritative and engaging book presents a fascinating portrait of a woman who was variously darling of the London stage, a poet whose work was admired by Coleridge and a mistress to the most powerful men in England, and yet whose fortunes were nevertheless precarious, always on the brink of being squandered through recklessness, excess and passion.

Perdita

THE LIFE OF MARY ROBINSON

PAULA BYRNE

DEDICATION (#u44d7d24d-8fb6-525c-8e11-57fdb3214e53)

In memory of my grandmother,another Mary Robinson

EPIGRAPH (#u44d7d24d-8fb6-525c-8e11-57fdb3214e53)

I was delighted at the Play last Night, and was extremely moved by two scenes in it, especially as I was particularly interested in the appearance of the most beautiful Woman, that ever I beheld, who acted with such delicacy that she drew tears from my eyes.

(George, Prince of Wales)

There is not a woman in England so much talked of and so little known as Mrs Robinson.

(Morning Herald, 23 April 1784)

I was well acquainted with the late ingenious Mary Robinson, once the beautiful Perdita … the most interesting woman of her age.

(Sir Richard Phillips, publisher)

She is a woman of undoubted Genius … I never knew a human Being with so full a mind – bad, good, and indifferent, I grant you, but full, and overflowing.

(Samuel Taylor Coleridge)

I am allowed the power of changing my form, as suits the observation of the moment.

(Mary Robinson, writing as ‘The Sylphid’)

CONTENTS

COVER (#ucae53cef-df36-5b9d-b65b-212ea40b09c3)

TITLE PAGE (#u43343a4a-4d0c-5b9f-8476-71f9151031fc)

DEDICATION (#uc1ae9feb-76fb-5343-8895-f88ec480cec1)

EPIGRAPH (#u08436d96-d990-5063-ab69-3c837475dc61)

PROLOGUE (#u43072ab3-aa69-5340-9071-8efeb2ae64fb)

PART ONE: ACTRESS (#ufdafe8a8-be31-5b8b-b2fb-22ab51a1cded)

1. ‘During a Tempestuous Night’ (#u185e6cd8-c3a0-53f1-b293-b270a7d16f46)

2. A Young Lady’s Entrance into the World (#u16a6bddd-cf3d-5381-b094-a39fa52e45d3)

3. Wales (#u5aa9d713-14e3-5794-91a6-26a503828ef4)

4. Infidelity (#udc516f88-171b-5d77-a63f-de4452e876b4)

5. Debtors’ Prison (#u785cec07-9a08-5948-87c0-4e17c064dba0)

6. Drury Lane (#uedb70516-036b-53fd-afd8-623abeed7f5c)

7. A Woman in Demand (#u5d76d077-fa9a-5fee-a32f-d39c8222bf53)

PART TWO: CELEBRITY (#ucaf48a7d-2939-5d0e-b5f7-65759ed82f1b)

8. Florizel and Perdita (#u4bcc50b1-fd17-5701-94ce-70e7af6134c8)

9. A Very Public Affair (#litres_trial_promo)

10. The Rivals (#litres_trial_promo)

11. Blackmail (#litres_trial_promo)

12. Perdita and Marie Antoinette (#litres_trial_promo)

13. A Meeting in the Studio (#litres_trial_promo)

14. The Priestess of Taste (#litres_trial_promo)

15. The Ride to Dover (#litres_trial_promo)

16. Politics (#litres_trial_promo)

PART THREE: WOMAN OF LETTERS (#litres_trial_promo)

17. Exile (#litres_trial_promo)

18. Laura Maria (#litres_trial_promo)

19. Opium (#litres_trial_promo)

20. Author (#litres_trial_promo)

21. Nobody (#litres_trial_promo)

22. Radical (#litres_trial_promo)

23. Feminist (#litres_trial_promo)