Mary Robinson (; 27 November 1757 – 26 December 1800) was an English actress, poet, dramatist, novelist and famous beauty, the subject of many portraits by the leading painters of the day. Born in Bristol, her career soon took her to London; she also lived in France and Germany for some years in the 1780s.
She enjoyed poetry from the age of seven and started working, first as a teacher and then as an actress, from the age of 14. She wrote many plays, poems and novels. She was a celebrity, initially as an actress, gossiped about in newspapers, famous for her acting and writing. During her lifetime she was known as "the English Sappho".Mary Robinson, Sappho and Phaon, About the BookJudith Pascoe, Romantic Theatricality, Cornell University Press, 1997, , p. 13. She earned her nickname "Perdita" for her role as Perdita (heroine of Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale) in 1779, and was the first public mistress of King George IV while he was still Prince of Wales. Robinson is the author of the Gothic novels Vancenza; or, the Dangers of Credulity (1792) and Hubert de Sevrac (1796).
Biography
Early life Robinson was born in Bristol, England to Nicholas Darby, a naval captain, and his wife Hester (née Vanacott) who had married at Donyatt, Somerset, in 1749, and was baptised 'Polle(y)' (spelt 'Polle' in the official register and 'Polly' in the Bishop's Transcript) at St Augustine's Church, Bristol, 19 July 1758, the entry noting that she was born on 27 November 1756.Anthony Camp, Royal Mistresses and Bastards: Fact and Fiction: 1714–1936 (2007) 133–34. In her memoirs,Her daughter Mary Elizabeth, honouring her mother's request, published a draft of Robinson's memoirs in 1801 as Memoirs, with some Posthumous Pieces, Robinson gives her birth in 1758, but the year 1757 seems more likely according to recently published research (see appendix to Byrne, 2005). Robinson attended a school in Bristol run by the social reformer Hannah More. More took her students, including Robinson, to see King Lear. Her father deserted her mother for a mistress when Robinson was still a child. The family hoped for a reconciliation, but Captain Darby made it clear that this was not going to happen. Hester Darby supported herself and the five children born of the marriage by starting a school for young girls in Little Chelsea, London (where Robinson taught by her 14th birthday). However, during one of his brief returns to the family, Captain Darby had the school closedFeldman, p. 590 (which he was entitled to do by English law). Captain Darby died in the Russian naval service in 1785. When Robinson was 15 years old, Samuel Cox, a solicitor, told the leading actor David Garrick about Robinson and brought her to Garrick's home in the Adelphi. Garrick was profoundly impressed with Robinson. He was especially enchanted by her voice, remarking that it bore a resemblance to the much-admired Susannah Cibber. Garrick had just retired but decided to tutor Robinson in acting. Robinson noted, "My tutor [David Garrick] was the most sanguine in his expectations of my success, and every rehearsal seemed to strengthen his flattering opinion... He would sometimes dance a minuet with me, sometimes request me to sing the favourite ballads of the day."
Marriage When Robinson was about 14 years old, Hester Darby encouraged her to accept the proposal of an articled clerk, Thomas Robinson, who claimed to have an inheritance. Mary was against this idea; however, after falling ill and watching him take care of her and her younger brother, she felt that she owed him, and she did not want to disappoint her mother who was pushing for the engagement. After the early marriage, Robinson discovered her husband did not have an inheritance. He continued to live an elaborate lifestyle, however, and made no effort to hide multiple affairs. Subsequently, Mary supported their family. After her husband squandered their money, the couple fled to Talgarth, Breconshire (where Robinson's only daughter, Mary Elizabeth, was born in 1774). Here they lived in a fairly large estate, called Tregunter Park. Eventually her husband was imprisoned for debt in Fleet Prison where she lived with him for many months. While it was common for the wives of prisoners to live with their husbands while indebted, children were usually sent to live with relatives to keep them away from the dangers of prison. However, Robinson was deeply devoted to her daughter Maria, and when her husband was imprisoned, Robinson brought the six-month-old baby with her.
It was in Fleet Prison that Robinson's literary career really began, as she found that she could publish poetry to earn money, and to give her an escape from the harsh reality that had become her life. Her first book, Poems By Mrs. Robinson, was published in 1775 by C. Parker. Additionally, Robinson's husband was offered work in the form of copying legal documents so he could try to pay back some of his debts, but he refused to do anything. Robinson, in an effort to keep the family together and to get back to normal life outside of prison, took the job instead, collecting the pay that her husband neglected to earn. During this time, Mary Robinson found a patron in Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire, who sponsored the publication of Robinson's second volume of poems, Captivity.
Theatre
After her husband obtained his release from prison, Robinson decided to return to the theatre. She launched her acting career and took to the stage playing Juliet in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet at Drury Lane Theatre in December 1776. The famous playwright, author, and Member of Parliament Richard Brinsley Sheridan gave significant support for Robinson. He was a constant presence by her side, offering encouragement as she embarked on the stage in this role. Robinson was best known for her facility with the 'breeches parts', and her performances as Viola in William Shakespeare'sTwelfth Night and Rosalind in As You Like It won her extensive praise. But she gained popularity with playing in Florizel and Perdita, an adaptation of Shakespeare, with the role of Perdita (heroine of The Winter's Tale) in 1779. It was during this performance that she attracted the notice of the young Prince of Wales, later King George IV of the United Kingdom. He offered her 20,000 pounds to become his mistress. During this time, the very young Emma, Lady Hamilton sometimes worked as her maid and dresser at the theatre.
With her new social prominence, Robinson became a trend-setter in London, introducing a loose, flowing muslin style of gown based upon Grecian statuary that became known as the Perdita. It took Robinson a considerable amount of time to decide to leave her husband for the prince, as she did not want to be seen by the public as that type of woman (but she did have many love affairs in later life). Throughout much of her life she struggled to live in the public eye and also to stay true to the values in which she believed. She eventually gave in to be with the prince. However, the prince ended the affair in 1781, refusing to pay the promised sum.See Katharine Binhammer, "Thinking Gender with Sexuality in 1790s Feminist Thought". Feminist Studies 28.3 (2002): 667–690. "Perdita" Robinson was left to support herself through an annuity promised by the Crown (but rarely paid), in return for some letters written by the prince, and through her writings. After her affair with the young Prince of Wales she became famous for her rides in her extravagant carriages and her celebrity-like perception by the public.
Later life and death
Mary Robinson, who now lived separately from her husband, went on to have several love affairs, most notably with Banastre Tarleton, a soldier who had recently distinguished himself fighting in the American War of Independence. Prior to their relationship, Robinson had been having an affair with a man named Lord Malden. According to one account, Malden and Tarleton were betting men, and Malden was very confident of Robinson's loyalty to him, believing that no man could ever take her from him. As such, he made a bet of a thousand guineas that none of the men in his circle could seduce her. Unfortunately for Malden, Robinson proved to be unfaithful and Tarleton who accepted the bet was able to seduce her, but they eventually establish a relationship that would last the next 15 years. This relationship, though rumoured to have started on a bet, saw Tarleton's rise in military rank and his concomitant political successes, Mary's own various illnesses, financial vicissitudes and the efforts of Tarleton's own family to end the relationship. They had no children, although Robinson had a miscarriage. However, in the end, Tarleton married Susan Bertie, an heiress and an illegitimate daughter of the young 4th Duke of Ancaster, and niece of his sisters Lady Willoughby de Eresby and Lady Cholmondeley. In 1783, Robinson suffered a mysterious illness that left her partially paralysed. Biographer Paula Byrne speculates that a streptococcal infection resulting from a miscarriage led to a severe rheumatic fever that left her disabled for the rest of her life.
From the late 1780s, Robinson became distinguished for her poetry and was called "the English Sappho". In addition to poems, she wrote eight novels, three plays, feminist treatises, and an autobiographical manuscript that was incomplete at the time of her death. Like her contemporary Mary Wollstonecraft, she championed the rights of women and was an ardent supporter of the French Revolution. She died in poverty at Englefield Cottage, Englefield Green, Surrey, 26 December 1800, aged 44, having survived several years of ill health, and was survived by her daughter, Maria Elizabeth (1774–1818), who was also a published novelist. Administration of her estate was granted to her husband Thomas Robinson from whom she had long been separated and who in 1803 inherited a substantial estate from his half-brother William.Anthony Camp, Royal Mistresses and Bastards: Fact and Fiction: 1714–1936 (2007) 134. One of Robinson's dying wishes was to see the rest of her works published. She tasked her daughter, Maria Robinson, with publishing most of these works. She also placed her Memoirs in the care of her daughter, insisting that she publish the work. Maria Robinson published Memoirs just a few months later.
Portraits During her lifetime, Robinson also enjoyed the distinction of having her image captured by the most notable artists of the period. The earliest known, drawn by James Roberts II, depicts "Mrs. Robinson in the Character of Amanda" from Cibber's Love's Last Shift in 1777. In 1781, Thomas Gainsborough produced an oil sketch, Mrs. Mary Robinson 'Perdita', and an untitled study. That year, George Romney also painted Mrs. Mary Robinson and John Keyse Sherwin printed an untitled portrait. Joshua Reynolds sketched a study for what became Portrait of a Lady in 1782, and in 1784, he finished Mrs Robinson as Contemplation, for which he also sketched a study. George Dance the Younger sketched a later portrait in 1793.
Literature
In 1792, Robinson published her most popular novel, a Gothic novel titled Vancenza; or The Dangers of Credulity. The books were "sold out by lunch time on the first day and five more editions quickly followed, making it one of the top-selling novels in the latter part of the eighteenth century." It did not receive either critical or popular acclaim. In 1794, she wrote The Widow; or, A Picture of Modern Times, which portrayed themes of manners in the fashionable world. Since Robinson was a fashion icon and very much involved in the fashion world, the novel did not find much of a favourable reception from contemporary readers. In 1796, she wrote Angelina: A Novel. This novel, which offers Robinson's thoughts on the afterlife of her literary career, cost more money than it brought in.