Cicely Hamilton

-
Standard Name: Hamilton, Cicely
Birth Name: Cicely Mary Hammill
Pseudonym: Cicely Hamilton
CH 's early twentieth-century plays, novels, feminist prose, and travel writing are firmly rooted in her politics, and demonstrate her skill as political satirist. As a propagandist her method is often to take the views of the other side and render them ridiculous. Her earlier writings reflect her commitment to women's suffrage and economic independence, while her later work focuses primarily on war.
Black and white photograph of Cicely Hamilton, shown from the shoulders up. She is wearing a shimmery beaded jacket, and her hair is jaw-length and wavy.

Connections

Connections Author name Excerpt
Friends, Associates Edith Craig
Sybil Thorndike presided over the dinner, and Queen Mary sent her congratulations. EC was presented with a cheque and a scroll signed by two hundred friends. Playwright Cicely Hamilton was among the speakers who paid...
Intertextuality and Influence Margaret Haig Viscountess Rhondda
Margaret Haig Thomas (later MHVR ) was influenced by the political ideas of John Stuart Mill 's The Subjection of Women (1869), Cicely Hamilton 's Marriage as a Trade (1909), and Olive Schreiner 's Woman and Labour (1911).
Eoff, Shirley. Viscountess Rhondda: Equalitarian Feminist. Ohio State University Press, 1991.
22-8, 30-1
Literary Setting Elizabeth Baker
Miss Tassey, set in a shop dormitory, addresses the limitations of the living-in system for female employees, a subject also taken up in Cicely Hamilton 's recent play Diana of Dobson's, 1908. Baker's...
Occupation Edith Craig
EC founded the Pioneer Players , a women's theatre company comprised of amateurs and professionals, as a result of her work on Cicely Hamilton 's A Pageant of Great Women.
Cockin, Katharine. Edith Craig (1869-1947): Dramatic Lives. Cassell, 1998.
108-9
Occupation Maude Royden
In June 1921, they moved the Fellowship Services to the Guildhouse, Eccleston Square, where MR continued to preach until she resigned in December 1936. She resigned because, she said, I have to choose; and...
Occupation Edith Craig
The Pioneer Players produced Christopher St John 's The First Actress and Cicely Hamilton 's Jack and Jill and a Friend at their first matinee. Both plays deal with the the artistic establishment's exclusion of...
Occupation Margaret Haig Viscountess Rhondda
Women contributors ranged widely: Rebecca West , Stella Benson , Cicely Hamilton , Members of Parliament Lady Nancy Astor and Ellen Wilkinson , Virginia Woolf , Naomi Mitchison , E. M. Delafield , Rose Macaulay
Occupation Christopher St John
CSJ , as well as writing and acting for the Pioneer Players , sat on their committees and served as honorary secretary, 1915-20. Her stage roles for the Players included one in Edith Craig's production...
Occupation Inez Bensusan
These plays, written by amateur and professional writers, were made available for performance at public events in support of women's suffrage. Bensusan encouraged writers to produce plays dealing with a range of women's issues such...
Occupation Inez Bensusan
Organisers chose to present two feminist plays by men, Woman on Her Own by Eugène Brieux , translated by Charlotte Shaw (Bernard Shaw 's wife), and A Gauntlet by Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson .
Hirshfield, Claire. “The Woman’s Theatre in England: 1913-1918”. Theatre History Studies, Vol.
15
, June 1995, pp. 123-37.
125-6
All...
Occupation Inez Bensusan
This organisation, still closely associated with the Actresses' Franchise League , was responsible for staging at least 654 performances during the First World War. Musical and variety shows were the most popular events, but IB
Performance of text Christopher St John
CSJ and Cicely Hamilton 's How the Vote Was Won, the most successful of the Edwardian suffrage plays, was first performed at the Royalty Theatre , London.
Hamilton, Cicely, and Christopher St John. How the Vote Was Won. 1st ed., Dramatic Publishing Company, 1910.
3
Cockin, Katharine. Edith Craig (1869-1947): Dramatic Lives. Cassell, 1998.
220
Performance of text Christopher St John
The one-act play The Pot and the Kettle by CSJ and Cicely Hamilton was first performed at the Scala Theatre , London, accompanying Hamilton's A Pageant of Great Women.
Nicoll, Allardyce. English Drama, 1900-1930. Cambridge University Press, 1973.
698
Performance of text George Paston
The play was performed alongside Cicely Hamilton 's Pageant of Great Women as part of a fundraising event organised by Inez Bensusan on behalf of the Actresses' Franchise League and the Women Writers' Suffrage League
Performance of text Evelyn Glover
The play's vivid characters and snappy dialogue, alongside its minimal staging requirements, made it one of the most popular plays in the AFL's suffrage repertoire.
Holledge, Julie. Innocent Flowers: Women in the Edwardian Theatre. Virago, 1981.
88
That year, the Connoisseurs theatre group mounted a production...

Timeline

June 1908: The Women Writers' Suffrage League was established...

National or international item

June 1908

The Women Writers' Suffrage League was established by Cicely Hamilton and Bessie Hatton .
Norquay, Glenda. Voices and Votes: A Literary Anthology of the Women’s Suffrage Campaign. Manchester University Press, 1995.
xv
Stowell, Sheila. A Stage of Their Own. University of Michigan Press, 1992.
2, 40, 102, 126n1
Cockin, Katharine. Edith Craig (1869-1947): Dramatic Lives. Cassell, 1998.
89
Whitelaw, Lis. The Life and Rebellious Times of Cicely Hamilton. Women’s Press, 1990.
68-74
Liggins, Emma. “The ’Sordid Story’ of an Unwanted Child: Militancy, Motherhood, and Abortion in Elizabeth Robins’s Votes for Women and Way Stations”. Women’s Writing, Vol.
25
, No. 3, Aug. 2018, pp. 347-61.
349

10 December 1908: The inaugural meeting of the Actresses' Franchise...

National or international item

10 December 1908

The inaugural meeting of the Actresses' Franchise League was held at the Criterion Restaurant in London.
Stowell, Sheila. A Stage of Their Own. University of Michigan Press, 1992.
2
John, Angela V. Elizabeth Robins: Staging a Life, 1862-1952. Routledge, 1995.
148
Hayman, Carole, and Dale Spender, editors. How the Vote Was Won: and Other Suffragette Plays. Methuen, 1985.
10-11
Cockin, Katharine. Edith Craig (1869-1947): Dramatic Lives. Cassell, 1998.
87
Whitelaw, Lis. The Life and Rebellious Times of Cicely Hamilton. Women’s Press, 1990.
77-8
Theatre historian Sheila Stowell notes that the League arose from recognising the propaganda...

From November 1914: The Actresses' Franchise League, led by Lena...

Building item

From November 1914

The Actresses' Franchise League , led by Lena Ashwell , organised entertainment for troops, first at English army bases and later in France; these eventually became known as Concerts at the Front.
Whitelaw, Lis. The Life and Rebellious Times of Cicely Hamilton. Women’s Press, 1990.
151-2

14 May 1920: Time and Tide began publication, offering...

Building item

14 May 1920

Time and Tide began publication, offering a feminist approach to literature, politics, and the arts: Naomi Mitchison called it the first avowedly feminist literary journal with any class, in some ways ahead of its time...

Texts

Hamilton, Cicely. A Pageant of Great Women. Suffrage Shop, 1910.
Hamilton, Cicely. Diana of Dobson’s. Century, 1908.
Hamilton, Cicely. Diana of Dobson’s. Samuel French, 1925.
Hamilton, Cicely. “Diana of Dobson’s”. New Woman Plays, edited by Linda Fitzsimmons and Viv Gardner, Methuen, 1991, pp. 27-77.
Hamilton, Cicely. Diana of Dobson’s. Editors Gillespie, Diane F. and Doryjane Birrer, Broadview, 2003.
Hamilton, Cicely. Full Stop. J. M. Dent and Sons, 1931.
Hamilton, Cicely. Holland To-day. J. M. Dent and Sons, 1950.
Hamilton, Cicely, and Christopher St John. How the Vote Was Won. Woman’s Press, 1909.
Hamilton, Cicely, and Christopher St John. How the Vote Was Won. 1st ed., Dramatic Publishing Company, 1910.
Hamilton, Cicely. Jack and Jill and a Friend. Samuel French, 1911.
Hamilton, Cicely. Just to Get Married. Chapman and Hall, 1911.
Hamilton, Cicely. Just to Get Married. Samuel French, 1914.
Hamilton, Cicely. Lament for Democracy. J. M. Dent and Sons, 1940.
Hamilton, Cicely. Life Errant. J. M. Dent and Sons, 1935.
Hamilton, Cicely. “Man”. The English Review, Vol.
11
, pp. 115-25.
Hamilton, Cicely. Marriage as a Trade. Chapman and Hall, 1909.
Hamilton, Cicely. Modern Austria, as Seen by an Englishwoman. J. M. Dent and Sons, 1935.
Hamilton, Cicely. Modern England, as Seen by an Englishwoman. J. M. Dent and Sons, 1938.
Hamilton, Cicely. Modern France, as Seen by an Englishwoman. J. M. Dent and Sons, 1933.
Hamilton, Cicely. Modern Germanies, as Seen by an Englishwoman. J. M. Dent and Sons, 1931.
Hamilton, Cicely. Modern Germanies, as Seen by an Englishwoman. With a postscript on the Nazi regime. J. M. Dent and Sons, 1933.
Hamilton, Cicely. Modern Ireland, as Seen by an Englishwoman. J. M. Dent and Sons, 1936.
Hamilton, Cicely. Modern Italy, as Seen by an Englishwoman. J. M. Dent and Sons, 1932.
Hamilton, Cicely. Modern Russia, as Seen by an Englishwoman. J. M. Dent and Sons, 1934.
Hamilton, Cicely. Modern Scotland, as Seen by an Englishwoman. J. M. Dent and Sons, 1937.