A prolific essayist, letter-writer, translator, novelist, and playwright, Elizabeth Griffith (1727-93) was an astute and determined – if not always financially successful – professional author, whose popular appeal in her own day belies the less prominent place she holds in current literary criticism. Her career ably attests to the social restrictions under which female authors worked in the mid- to late-eighteenth century. As critics censured her for the liberal, proto-feminist views expressed in her early play,
The Platonic Wife(1765), and accused her of indelicacy in her choice of expression, subject matter, and genre, Griffith adapted her art more readily to conform to accepted mores. At the same time, she continued subtly to assert both her progressive beliefs about women’s…
1942 words
Citation: Morin, Christina. "Elizabeth Griffith". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 11 September 2017 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=1885, accessed 24 April 2024.]
