User:Evieatwell/sandbox

Women suffrage was a fight, among many injustices in the political systems of the world, that took much too long to win. Elizabeth Robins is a renowned women suffrage activist from early 20th century England who used her talent for playwriting to target the injustice. Her play, Votes for Women!, is about the suffrage movement and silence and oppression women face in England at this time. Plays about historical events that take a stand become increasingly popular as time has traveled on since Elizabeth Robins, yet they continue to be loyal to the facts of the situation and shedding light on the perspective of the oppressed period.

Scenes
Act I: Wynnstay Mansion in Hertfordshire Act II: Trafalgar Square Act III: Drawing Room in Eaton Square

Plot:
Votes For Women was a groundbreaking, revolutionary, radical piece for its time. It covers concepts of misogyny, male condescension towards women, feminism, male abandonment, abortion, female confrontation of men, and abuse of power in a way that empowers women and gives them a voice, especially in a time when they did not always have one. Beyond just those concepts, it is also an unapologetic propaganda piece that inspires women to make their own narratives outside of marriage and motherhood. While the play is focused on suffrage, so many other powerful moments ring true even today. Votes For Women is a play in 3 acts; the entire play takes place between Sunday noon and six in the evening of the same day, and the first begins in the Wynnstay House in Hertfordshire. We meet Vida Levering, a fiery feminist, and she asks Mrs. Wynnstay for money to build a women’s shelter for single mothers. However, the entire time she is being made fun of, not only by men in the estate but also by some of the other women despite some being sympathetic to the suffrage cause. Jean, the niece of the Wynnstay family, becomes fascinated by Vida, her feminist ideals, and her passion for women’s suffrage. Despite the warnings of the other women, namely because of Vida’s alleged past with a “crank doctor” (implying she got an abortion), Jean accompanies Vida to the Trafalgar rally. The curtain rises for act two on the Trafalgar rally, and it is here we learn that Jean’s fiancee, Geoffrey Stonor, is the man who impregnated Vida 10 years ago. As the act plays out, we discover that Vida became pregnant and told Geoffrey Stonor, and he coerced her into having an abortion (which at the time was both illegal and highly unsafe for the mother). This is monumental news to Jean, who is taken aback as to how her fiancee could do such a thing to another woman, taking Vida’s choice away from her. Jean becomes even more fiercely feminist and takes up the suffrage cause. In Act three, Jean demands that Geoffrey promptly marry Vida, which makes him reluctantly propose. Vida denies the proposal but uses her influence over both Geoffrey and Jean to convince Jean to have Geoffrey campaign for women’s rights, even though he is a stark conservative. This would never have happened without the rally in Act Two, which one could claim is the most vital act in Votes For Women.

Character Breakdown
Lord John Wynnstay: The owner of the Wynnstay Mansion, where act I takes place Lady John Wynnstay: His wife Mrs. Heriot: Lady John’s sister, smart, pompus, 50s Miss Jean Dunbarton: Engaged to Geoffry Stoner, somewhat reserved and naïve, but eventually finds her voice, niece to Lady John and Mrs. Heriot The Hon. Geoffry Stoner: Engaged to Jean, smarmy and prejudiced against women, but comes around, Unionist M.P. St John Greatorex: Liberal M.P., 60s, wealthy, thick-set, bearded Miss Veda Levering: A strong-willed “new woman!”, new to town and passionate about women's suffrage, attractive, essentially feminine, 32 Miss Ernestine Blunt: a suffragette Richard Farnborough Freddy Tunbridge Allen Trent Mr. Walker Mrs. Freddy Tunbridge A Working Woman