Joanna Baillie

Natasha Aleksiuk Duquette (Our Lady Seat of Wisdom College)

Ed. by Janet Todd, University of Cambridge
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.06: English Writing and Culture of the Romantic Period, 1789-1837.
Vol. editors: Robert Clark (The Literary Encyclopedia), Daniel Cook (University of Dundee), Daniel Robinson (Widener University), Emily Rohrbach (University of Durham)

Dates

Born 11 Sep 1762
Died 23 Feb 1851
Activity 1782-1851

Places

Born in Scotland
Active in Scotland

Activities

Primary

Playwright / Dramatist
Poet

Resources

Engraving by Henry Robinson after John James Masquerier, 1876-77, courtesy The Walter Scott Digital Archive, Edinburgh University Library.

There is a tension between Joanna Baillie’s image as a reserved, gentle and devout Scottish woman and the representation of explosive, at times violent, passions in her poetry and plays. In a letter of April 2, 1817, Byron wrote, “When Voltaire was asked why no woman has ever written even a tolerable tragedy? ‘Ah (said the Patriarch) the composition of a tragedy requires testicles’ If this be true Lord knows what Joanna Baillie does – I suppose she borrows them”. The curiosity of Baillie biographers and critics has been constantly piqued by the question of where...

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2041 words

Citation: Duquette, Natasha Aleksiuk. "Joanna Baillie". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 12 November 2001 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=219, accessed 13 May 2026.]

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