Eleanor Gwyn
Standard Name: Gwyn, Eleanor
Used Form: Nell Gwyn
Connections
| Connections Sort descending | Author name | Excerpt |
|---|---|---|
| Cultural formation | John Dryden | Dryden parallelled his former switch in political allegiance in probably 1685, with a switch of religious allegiance, converting from Anglicanism to Catholicism
. He was vulnerable to charges of time-serving since he did this at... |
| Dedications | Aphra Behn | AB
dedicated The Feigned Courtesans in print to the king's mistress Nell Gwyn
, who was said to be illiterate. As published, by Jacob Tonson
, it was one of the most shoddily produced and... |
| Friends, Associates | Mary Jones | MJ
corresponded with Charlotte Lennox
and with publisher Ralph Griffiths
and his wife Isabella
. Her friendship was valued by literary men like Samuel Johnson
, Joseph Spence
, Thomas Warton
, and apparently Bonnell Thornton |
| Textual Features | Sarah Green | It opens in France and England during what was in England the interregnum period, and moves onwards into the reign of Charles II
. The heroine writes her story retrospectively in a letter to a... |
| Textual Features | Vita Sackville-West | VSW
has a sharp eye for women in history, for non-noble individuals who touched the story of Knole. As well as queens, duchesses, and countesses, she provides lively sketches of the actresses Nell Gwyn
and... |
| Textual Features | George Bernard Shaw | In it, Charles II
, Nell Gwyn
, Isaac Newton
, and George Fox
, among others, debate religious, scientific, and artistic issues. |
| Theme or Topic Treated in Text | Emma Robinson | The highly involved plot of this novel brought together a number of high-profile historical London figures to surround the hero and heroine of its love-story: the Merry Monarch
himself, his lower-class mistress Nell Gwyn
... |
| Theme or Topic Treated in Text | Christopher St John | The First Actress draws an implicit parallel between the admission of women to the vote and their admission to stage acting at the Restoration. Peggy Hughes
, presented as first woman in the London professional... |
Timeline
2 March 1667
Dryden
's Secret Love, or the Maiden Queen had its first performance at Drury Lane Theatre
, with Nell Gwyn
in the cast and Samuel Pepys
, Charles II
, and the future James II
in the audience.
May 1752
The Gentleman's Magazine printed a recuperative Memoirs of Mrs Ellen Gwynn: it praises talent, excuses sexual licence, and suggests that only circumstances prevented her from being virtuous.