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This situation propelled women into a more responsible position, and quite often they had to assume roles which would normally have been regarded as men’s work. This study begins at the moment when two aristocratic and privileged sisters, Jane Cavendish and Elizabeth Brackley, were besieged in their own home at Welbeck Abbey at the height of the Civil War. It was during this time of stress and anxiety that the sisters produced their play, The Concealed Fancies, which registers the atmosphere created by the experience of the siege.
After exploring The Concealed Fancies, the study moves to a postwar context, in which the challenge of rebuilding the nation is considered. In the next few plays, the work of Aphra Behn is examined and the connections between war and drama are made. It is demonstrated that the trauma and divisions created by the Civil War did not suddenly disappear, but reemerged to haunt the restored Monarchy.
The book then looks at the work of Cavendish and Behn and demonstrates and proves their ability to create Amazons who could fight battles, plan strategies, and win wars. In the last two chapters, the dominance of the theme of restoration and clemency in the work of Philips and Behn is examined.
Overall, the book examines the profound transformation in women’s lives as a consequence of the Civil War and charts the way in which these changes were represented dramatically in female-authored plays. When the Monarchy was swept away, so too were many of the norms regarding women’s culture. Two young sisters, marooned in their ancestral home, took advantage of this unstable time and embarked on a remarkable literary career. After the war was over, a Commonwealth was created and during the Interregnum, the theatres were closed. However, Margaret Cavendish, a political exile in Europe, used her time to practise her craft and garner material for her plays. By the time the theatres were reopened in 1660, women had managed to write and produce plays for the public theatre. Aphra Behn’s rise to fame seemed meteoric, but she was helped by the endeavours of her predecessors to attain literary fame and success. The war was undeniably a significant factor in determining their literary achievements.