Book Description
Baillie's eminently readable dramas stand at the crossroads of the Scottish Enlightenment and early Romanticism, and compellingly engage with questions of women's rights. Her exploration of the passions, first published in 1798, is here reissued with a wealth of contextual materials including "The Introductory Discourse," Baillie's own brand of feminist literary criticism. The three plays included here are "Count Basil: A Tragedy," and "The Tryal: A Comedy," which show love from opposing perspectives; and "De Monfort: A Tragedy," which explores the drama of hate.

Baillie's work is enjoying a revival of interest. She lived a long life, (1762-1851), and had a wide circle of literary friends including Maria Edgeworth and Sir Walter Scott (who termed her a "female Shakespeare"). Scottish born, she moved to England in her twenties where she then resided. Her Plays on the Passions, alternatively known as A Series of Plays in which it is Attempted to Delineate the Stronger Passions of the Mind - Each Passion being the Subject of a Tragedy and Comedy was produced in three volumes between 1798 and 1812. The first volume created quite a stir amongst the literary circles of London and Edinburgh when introduced anonymously. The speculation into the authorship concluded two years later when Baillie came forward as the writer of the collection, thereby causing a subsequent sensation since no one had considered the shy spinster a candidate in the mystery.

Among other appendices, the Broadview edition includes materials on the contemporary philosophical understanding of the passions, and contemporary reviews. ... Read more

Book Description
A melancholy nobleman, consumed with hatred, commits a brutal murder. A beautiful woman is imprisoned by her abusive guardian in a haunted castle, driving her mad. A prophetic dream leads a group of monks to a buried corpse and leads to justice for the murderer. A family feud drives a clan to strand a rival on a rock to be drowned by the rising tide. A joyful wedding turns sinister when a ghost appears to reveal the tragic secret of her death. A group of women, condemned as witches, are doomed to be burnt at the stake.

These are the plots of the six plays in this collection by Scottish dramatist Joanna Baillie. Baillie (1762-1851) was regarded by many in her day as the greatest female English-language poet, and second as a dramatist only to Shakespeare. Recently rediscovered by scholars after nearly a century and a half of neglect, Baillie is now recognised as one of the finest of Romantic-era playwrights. This new edition features the complete text of six of her best plays, four of them reprinted here for the first time since 1851. Also included is a new introduction by Christine Colon, discussing Baillie's life and works, and arguing that Baillie used the Gothic in innovative ways in her drama in order to explore controversial issues such as changing definitions of masculinity and femininity, shifting political alliances, and evolving ideas of Christianity. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Do not overlook this writer!
It is a crying shame that Joanna Baillie's Early-Nineteenth-Century audience paid her (an unmarried woman playwright and poet) far more acknowledgement than posterity has done.Apparently, Baillie has become the hot ticket in Women's Studies courses and panel discussions.It's not sufficient, though, that academia contentedly praises her genius amongst its own and does precious little to advance her status to those of us out here in the thicker middle.To yokels like me who had to stumble upon Baillie by accident, a tip: if you want to read Romantic drama with more iconoclasty than Percy Shelley, more balls than Byron, and more psychosis perhaps than even Hamlet has to offer, READ BAILLIE.This work is not simply "Women's Studies" fare or "Early English Drama" to collect dust--it is timeless literature with possibly more relevance today than when it was written.Thanks to Dr. Colon for helping to make this gem of literature accessible to us! ... Read more

Book Description
This superb collection of new essays offers a unique insight into the work of a leading women dramatist of the Romantic era.Contributors offer:· Contextual material for those new to Baillie's work· Examinations of the relationships between her plays and the philosophical and scientific writing of the era· Discussion of Baillie's theatrical methods· Extended interpretations of individual plays Ending years of neglect of Baillie's crucial work, this volume is essential reading for those working on Romanticism, women's writing, or drama of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. ... Read more

Book Description
The birds now quit their holes and lurking sheds, Most mute and melancholy, where through night, All nestling close to keep each other warm, In downy sleep they had forgot their hardships; But not to chant and carol in the air, Or lightly swing upon some waving bough.Download Description
The birds now quit their holes and lurking sheds, Most mute and melancholy, where through night, All nestling close to keep each other warm, In downy sleep they had forgot their hardships; But not to chant and carol in the air, Or lightly swing upon some waving bough. ... Read more

Book Description
This digital document is an article from Wordsworth Circle, published by Thomson Gale on January 1, 2007. The length of the article is 5685 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Improving the law: property rights and self-possession in Joanna Baillie's The Alienated Manor.(Critical essay)
Author: Regina Hewitt
Publication: Wordsworth Circle (Magazine/Journal)
Date: January 1, 2007
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 38Issue: 1-2Page: 50(6)

Article Type: Critical essay

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Book Description
This digital document is an article from Studies in Romanticism, published by Boston University on September 22, 2000. The length of the article is 2162 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Closet Stages: Joanna Baillie and the Theater Theory of British Romantic Women Writers.(Review) (book review)
Author: Colin Harris
Publication: Studies in Romanticism (Refereed)
Date: September 22, 2000
Publisher: Boston University
Volume: 39Issue: 3Page: 486

Article Type: Book Review

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This is a two-part biography. The first part is a study of Scott himself, his triumphs and disappointements, his literary successes and his burden of debt when the publishing house of which he was a partner went into bankruptcy. The second part of the book is devoted to studies of the lives and work of three of his friends, James Hogg, John Gibson Lockhart and Joanna Baillie. ILLUS.

THIS TITLE IS CITED AND RECOMMENDED BY:Books for College Libraries; Cambridge Bibliography of English Literature. ... Read more

Book Description
This digital document is an article from Studies in Romanticism, published by Boston University on September 22, 2004. The length of the article is 9837 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Joanna Baillie's reflections on the passions: the "Introductory Discourse" and the properties of authorship.
Author: Linda Brigham
Publication: Studies in Romanticism (Refereed)
Date: September 22, 2004
Publisher: Boston University
Volume: 43Issue: 3Page: 417(21)

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In Three Volumes. ... Read more

Book Description
This digital document is an article from Wordsworth Circle, published by Wordsworth Circle on June 22, 2004. The length of the article is 4655 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Joanna Baillie: speculations on legal cruelty.
Author: Victoria Myers
Publication: Wordsworth Circle (Refereed)
Date: June 22, 2004
Publisher: Wordsworth Circle
Volume: 35Issue: 3Page: 123(5)

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