Burney wrote four comedies of which

(not to be confused with Francis Beaumont’s play of the same name) is one of her later attempts and is thought to have been written simultaneously with

, between 1800 and 1801 (Hemlow, 182). Doody speculates they were penned in “an attempt to avoid exile”, i.e. to prove to her husband that she could earn enough money without removing to France (288). Burney intended

for production at Drury Lane (Thaddeus, 140), yet it was never staged in Burney’s lifetime, eventually achieving its première at the Orange Tree Theatre in Richmond-upon-Thames in 2007.

Burney’s autograph notes in the Berg collection indicate that The Woman-Hater evolved from The Witlings, Burney’s first comedy (Sabor, I, 192), and indeed

1961 words

Citation: Crouch, Eleanor. "The Woman-Hater". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 16 May 2011 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=33190, accessed 19 April 2024.]