Eliza Haywood: The Forgotten Star of 18th-Century Literature
From Racy Novels to Feminist Journalism—The Career of a Groundbreaking Writer
Tighten those corsets, listeners! This week, we’re whisking you back to the 18th century to visit Eliza Haywood—an actress, playwright, and novelist who was a literary superstar in her time. (Her novel Love in Excess was right up there with Robinson Crusoe in terms of popularity!) While much about Haywood’s personal life remains a mystery, our guest Dr. Kelly J. Plante, helps shed light on her fascinating career.
In this episode, we talk about:
Haywood’s groundbreaking work as editor of The Female Spectator, the first magazine written by women for women. It wasn’t just fluffy advice for ladies—it mixed love stories with wartime commentary and bold opinions about the politics of the day.
The tale of “Aliena,” a woman who disguises herself as a man to join the British Royal Navy (there’s cross-dressing, secret identities, and a covert cultural message to be found in this “letter to the editor” and its response).
Haywood’s later novel, Betsy Thoughtless, which is all about a woman learning to navigate love and marriage while making some big mistakes along the way. It’s not unlike what Jane Austen did later, but Haywood doesn’t get nearly the same credit.
Kelly shares some insights into how Haywood used fiction to address deeper issues like gender roles, power dynamics, and political tensions of the time. She also spills the tea on which male writers of the period (looking at you, Jonathan Swift) were openly hostile toward Haywood. [Listen here.]
Vroman’s Event Reminder: Also, for those of you in the Los Angeles area, Amy and I will be at Vroman’s Bookstore in Pasadena on Tuesday, October 15th at 7 p.m. for an event with Iris Jamahl Dunkle, celebrating her new biography of Sanora Babb. If you’re in town, come join us—we’d love to meet you! [More details.]
We hope you enjoy this episode as much as we enjoyed putting it together. Give it a listen and let us know what you think!
Listen to Episode 212 on your favorite podcast app, and don’t forget to subscribe. For Bonus episodes, visit us on Patreon.
All the best,
Kim (& Amy)