Elizabeth Griffith
Elizabeth Griffith was an Irish actress and playwright born on October 11, 1727, in Dublin, to a theater-managing father. She gained early acclaim for her performances in classic plays like Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" and "King Lear." After a brief acting career, Griffith retired from the stage to marry Richard Griffith, a gentleman-farmer, and the couple's romance inspired a fictionalized series of letters that garnered attention from contemporaries, including novelist Fanny Burney.
Transitioning to writing, Griffith produced notable works such as "Amana," a verse drama that explores themes of gender autonomy within a patriarchal society, although it was never performed. Her comedic play "The Platonic Wife" and the moralistic "The School for Rakes" reflect her engagement with ethical issues and adaptation of French literature for British audiences. Griffith’s later prose works further illustrate her interest in morality, providing insights into the moral dimensions of Shakespeare's dramas and offering guidance to young married women. She spent her later years in Kildare, Ireland, until her death in 1793.
On this Page
Subject Terms
Elizabeth Griffith
Author
- Born: October 11, 1727
- Birthplace: Ireland
- Died: January 5, 1793
Biography
Elizabeth Griffith was born in Ireland on October 11, 1727, to the actor Thomas Griffith and Jane Foxcroft Griffith. Her father also managed a theater in Dublin and held a cultural post in the government for some time. Griffith’s exposure to the theater was both an education and a career; in the 1749 theater season she appeared as Juliet in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet; she also played Cordelia in King Lear, Lucinda in Conscious Lovers by Richard Steele, and The Lady in John Milton’s Comus.
After just a few seasons on the stage, she retired to secretly marry the Irish gentleman-farmer Richard Griffith. Part of their romance is captured in a fictionalized six-volume series of letters, A Series of Genuine Letters Between Henry and Frances. The letters have some intellectual appeal as well as topical appeal on issues of the day. They attracted the attention and praise of the novelist Fanny Burney.
Griffith turned to writing drama with Amana, a verse drama set in Egypt. Her feminist strain and a culture-bound point of view are evident in the way she portrays the sultan of Egypt as a patriarchal despot incapable of imagining the autonomy of women. Griffith drew her material from a story by John Hawkesworth. Amana, the heroine, is of mixed British and Egyptian parentage; she is abducted by the jaded Sultan Osmin and torn from her true love, the young merchant Nouradin. Amana decides to commit suicide and accomplishes her purpose just as Nouradin reaches her in disguise. While the play was never performed, it remains interesting as an early example of feminist writing.
Her next play, The Platonic Wife (1765), the first of several comedies, drew on a tale by the French writer Jean-Francois Marmontel. Griffith would continue to find inspiration in French contemporary literature; she adapted Continental tales to British taste and gained some expertise in translation. The play is of a rather moral tone, suggesting in its portrayal of the marriage between Lord and Lady Frankland that true affection cannot be demanded of a spouse but may be freely given. Sophisticated moral judgement is also at the heart of what may be her most-famous play, The School for Rakes (1769). A young lord tricks Harriet Evans into a false marriage, but he eventually repents and proves himself worthy of her, suggesting that moral fiber can be acquired as well as simply possessed. Griffith’s source was the French play Eugenie by Pierre-Augustinde Beaumarchais.
In all her adaptions for the British stage, Griffith’s adherence to traditional views of morality was indicative of her interest in ethical issues. This interest is the subject of her later prose works The Morality of Shakespeare’s Drama Illustrated (1775) and Essays Addressed to Young Married Women (1782). Elizabeth and Richard Griffith retired to Millicent House, Kildare, Ireland, a home acquired by Richard Griffith, Jr., who was an accountant with the East India Trading Company. Elizabeth Griffith died in 1793.