Perdita: The Literary, Theatrical, Scandalous Life of Mary Robinson

Summary (from the publisher): This compelling and richly researched book presents a fascinating portrait of Mary Robinson–darling of the London stage, mistress to the most powerful men in England, feminist thinker, and bestselling author. Though one of the most flamboyant free spirits of the late eighteenth century, Mary led a life that was marked by reversals of fortune. After being abandoned by her father, Mary was married, at age fifteen, to Thomas Robinson, whose dissipation landed the couple and their baby in debtors’ prison. On her release, Mary rose to become one of the London theater’s most alluring actresses, famously playing Perdita in The Winter’s Tale for a rapt audience that included the Prince of Wales, who fell madly in love with her. Never one to pass up an opportunity, she later used his ardent love letters for blackmail. After being struck down by paralysis, apparently following a miscarriage, she remade herself yet again, this time as a popular writer who was also admired by the leading intellectuals of the day. Filled with triumph and despair and grand accomplishments, the amazing life of “Perdita” is marvelously captured in this stunning biography.

 

Review: Mary Robinson was an "actress, entertainer, author, provoker of scandal, fashion icon, sex object, darling of the gossip columns, self-promoter" (xvi). Born in 1757, she was considered by many to be "the most beautiful woman in England" (xv). So beautiful that the Prince of Wales, seeing her play the part of Perdita, began writing her love letters. She subsequently had the dubious honor of being the first of his mistresses. Her life was characterized by a series of misfortunes: her father essentially abandoned the family, ultimately leading to Mary marrying Thomas Robinson as a teenager in hopes of improving her station in life. Sadly her husband landed himself, Mary, and their infant daughter in debtors' prison. Mary looked to the stage to support herself and her daughter, which led to her celebrity status and becoming a fashion icon and the mistress of several prominent men. Later as her looks began to fade, she supported herself through writing and became the author of "seven novels, two political tracts, several essays, two plays, and literally hundreds of poems" (xvi).

 

It was remarkable to me that the daughter of a merchant who was essentially raised by her mother with few resources grew to such prominence that she looked to Georgiana the Duchess of Devonshire as a patron, met Marie Antoinette, and was a friend of William Godwin and Samuel Taylor Coleridge. When her affair with the Prince of Wales ended, after much haggling, he settled an annuity of 500 pounds on Mary for life and they remained close correspondents until her death - indeed one of her treasured possessions was a small portrait of the Prince.

 

Much of this book is written through the veil of public opinion and writings of Mary, meaning that this biography constantly had to weigh public gossip against what Mary's correspondence and the historical record reveal. "It always irked her that she achieved her greatest fame not as an actress or woman of letters, but - the word was current then as well as now - as a celebrity" (119). Her every movement was the cause of much speculation in the press, not all of it accurate. Her clothing was described in detail in the press; "she caused envy among the upper classes, while the lower classes were inspired to emulate her" (165). Mary made a dress first made fashionable by the Queen of France fashionable in England, where it caused quite a sensation. The loose, free flowing style of the dress is considered to have revolutionized female fashion in England (189). In addition, she was likely the most frequently painted female subject of her time. Her most "celebrated sittings were for Reynolds, Gainsborough, and Romney, but there are also portraits of her by an array of lesser artists including Richard Cosway, John Downman, George Engleheart, and Jeremiah Meyer the miniaturists, in addition to William Grimaldi, Thomas Lawrence, William Owen, and many others" (173).

 

At times I had a hard time following the timeline of Mary's life. Additionally, I found the sections that analyzed portions of her writing less compelling. Yet it is incontrovertible that Mary Robinson, or Perdita, was a sensation during her lifetime and had a great impact on multiple areas of British life including fashion, theatre, royal affairs, and writing. Indeed, Mary Robinson's "Memoirs is one of the earliest examples of an English writer's autobiography" (358). In order to survive and escape her ever encroaching debts, Mary continually innovated her means of survival, displaying a grit and determination to succeed. A remarkable woman, she defined reinvention of the self; "the transformation from royal mistress to one of the most admired authors of the age has never been achieved before or since" (392).

 

Stars: 3.5