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Lords of Creation (Play)
Lords of Creation is a suffrage play written by American suffragette playwright Ella Cheever Thayer in 1883. The play follows the Grovenor family as they are forced to reckon with their respective prejudices surrounding gender roles and begin to accept society's changing ideas about what it means to be a man and a woman.

In the play, Thayer shows the hypocrisy of society by illustrating how the contradictions that result from strict gender-roles often actively hurt even those who swear by them. Mr. Grovenor is incessantly complaining about how much of a burden his children are on him while simultaneously refusing to allow the most capable among them to make her own money. Mrs. Grovenor preaches about the importance of being a respectable wife in society while lamenting about how hard it is to constantly have to ask her husband for any money she wishes to spend. Alice scolds her sister for being so strong-willed while struggling to reckon with the fact that society's strict ideas about marriage means that she has to settle for a man who she doesn't truly love and who values her in part precisely because he sees her possessing the ideal womanly quality of meekness, unlike her sister. Eugene sees himself as a flawless playboy who is superior to his sisters and can do no wrong until his abuse of the freedom his gender affords him finally lands him in a position that he is unable to fix without Kate's help. Each member of the family watches helplessly as their ideology caves in before them and they are forced to turn to Kate, who demonstrates her feminist ideals in action by saving the family once they allow her to.

Lords of Creation was published almost a full 30 years before suffrage drama would reach its peak of popularity with works such as Elizabeth Robins' Votes for Women and Cicely Hamilton and Christopher St. John’s How the Vote Was Won spurring the movement in the early 20th century. Because of this, it might be argued that Lords of Creation isn't a suffrage play at all. However, its tone, themes, and content so closely resemble the works of the movement that was to come that it might be more accurate to say that it was an early form of the revolutionary genre.

Characters
Kate Grovenor - The intelligent, capable, and strong-willed daughter of the Grovenor family. She is the main character and the voice of reason, who is committed to using her self-evident expertise to help ease her father's financial troubles, but who is constantly blocked by her family's traditional values, which state that a woman has no business interfering with the family business.

Dr. Endicott - An educated friend of the family who tries alongside his beloved Kate to convince her family to abandon their prejudices while doing his duties as their family doctor.

Mr. Grovenor - The patriarch of the family who is constantly lamenting at the financial troubles his family causes him while simultaneously refusing to allow Kate to become financially self-sufficient. He grows to accept his daughter after she saves the family from financial turmoil brought about by his son's illegal activities.

Mrs. Grovenor - The matriarch of the family who initially rejects Kate's free thinking, but eventually comes around after imagining what her life could have been like if she had been given the freedoms that Kate preaches about.

Eugene Grovenor - The eldest child and only son of the Grovenor family. Eugene begins the play as a mindless, frivolous bachelor who wastes his father's money and cares little for the consequences of his actions. He examines his life and resolves to turn it around after he almost brings his family to bankruptcy and is confronted with how his past actions hurt their seamstress, Lizzie.

Lizzie - a young seamstress who had her heart brutally broken a year before by Eugene, who cared so little that he didn't even notice what he had done. After he realizes the error of his ways, she gives him a chance at redemption.

Alice Grovenor - The younger daughter of the Grovenor family who rejects her sister's free spirit, but nonetheless finds herself annoyed with how limited her marriage choices are and how she is belittled by her betrothed who sees her as lesser.

Harold Doughlass - Alice's shortsighted and shallow fiancé who loves her for her looks and is loved by her for his money. He is often made the butt of other characters' jokes, speaking with a lisp and constantly being described as boring.

Jennie - an outspoken chambermaid for the Grovenor's who also believes in the fight for equal rights and constantly bashes men for treating women as lesser simply because they believe they are the lords of creation. She sees how married women are often put at the mercy of their husbands and rejects this notion. Throughout the play, she is courted by Jim, but she only agrees to marry him once he agrees that they will have an equal marriage.

Jim - a Coachman who is madly in love with Jennie and spends the whole play trying to get her to marry him. Initially, he refuses to cave to her demands because he interprets her demand for equal rights as a tyrannical controlling of the husband by the wife, but after talking with Dr. Endicott, he understands that she simply wants to be seen as an equal in the household.

Act 1
The play begins with Jennie, a chambermaid, complaining about how two of her bosses, Mr. Grovenor and his son Eugene, are so high-maintenance because they perceive themselves to be superior on account of their gender. Jim, a Coachman who is in love with Jennie, enters and they begin to argue, with Jennie angry that Jim thinks he's smarter than her just because she's a woman and Jim believing that Jennie is always getting angry for no reason. They exit and Mrs. Grovenor and her youngest daughter Alice enter discussing who Alice is to marry. Alice is upset that she has to settle either for a bore or a tyrant, and her mother convinces her that she will be happy if she accepts the love of Harold Doughlass, a boring suitor who would have enough money to support her extravagant habits. Their conversation turns to how strange Alice's sister Kate is for rejecting society's ideas about marriage and accepting the disgraceful title of Old Maid. Kate enters and corrects them by saying that she is not against the incomparable happiness that comes from being married and in love, but rather marriages reduction to a simple trade that results in the wife relying on the husband and unable to work for herself. They question how a woman could actually want to work, as Mr. Grovenor begins to approach. Alice asks her mother to get more money from him so that they can get nicer dresses at an upcoming ball, but she responds by saying that it is incredibly difficult for her to ever get any money. Mr. Grovenor enters complaining about how much has been spent recently by the household, especially by Eugene. Kate takes the opportunity to ask her father to allow her to support herself to reduce the strain on the family. He responds by admitting that she is very capable, but insisting that her status as a woman means that she doesn't understand what she's talking about and that she should simply look for a husband to support her. Mr. Grovenor and Kate leave, the latter to find her brother for the former, and Mrs. Grovenor and Alice each experimentally wonder about Kate's situation out loud, toying with the implications of what she's been saying. Mrs. Grovenor leaves as Doughlass stops by the house to visit Alice. Through asides to the audience, Alice reveals that she is utterly bored by him. He attempts to compliment her by praising how she doesn't try to be as intelligent as her sister, and she suppresses her building anger at the comment. Kate and Eugene enter, and the former causes Doughlass to leave after making him uncomfortable by beating him in a battle of wits. Dr. Endicott enters and sympathizes with Kate, who deplores how pointless her days are. He begins to propose to her before being interrupted by Eugene, who trades banter with the two of them about Kate and the role of women in society. Lizzie, a seamstress enters looking for Mrs. Grovenor and faints upon seeing Eugene. Eugene exits hastily after commenting on the awkwardness of the situation, and Dr. Endicott leaves to go tend to Mr. Grovernor while Kate helps Lizzie to her feet. Kate questions Lizzie about why she fainted and Lizzie tells the story of how she met Eugene long ago and he callously broke her heart by leaving after promising to marry her. Kate believes that she is talking about Dr. Endicott, and throws him out of the house upon his return.

Act 2
Some time has passed, and Jennie returns to summarize the events of the first Act out loud to herself. Mr. Grovenor enters, fraught and frustrated at the financial state the family is in, and he once again wishes that Kate was a man. Doughlass enters and asks Mr. Grovenor for Alice's hand in marriage, and Mr. Grovenor accepts, happy that he now has one less mouth to feed. They exit and Doughlass returns to look for his glove before he is met by Jennie. He begins to flirt with her and she plays along while insulting him through asides before making fun of his lisp. He responds by threatening her, and Jim quickly rushes in and pushes him away. Jennie is annoyed that he is using her to show his own superiority and comments on the stupidity of men. Jim criticizes women for treating the men who like them most the worst. Dr. Endicott enters, causing Doughlass to leave out of fear of the fight tarnishing his reputation. This causes Jennie to leave in anger, and Jim looks to Dr. Endicott for help, complaining that Jennie's condition for marriage is him giving up all of his manly dignity and allowing her to control him. Dr. Endicott responds by offering the possibility that she only says things like that as a defense mechanism against controlling men and that her true desire is to be in a relationship where both parties are equal. He resolves to try this approach and exits. Mr. Grovenor returns, commenting on how terrible his health has been lately due to his stressful situation. Dr. Endicott tries to convince him to allow Kate to help him, but he dismisses the notion. Kate enters and Dr. Endicott begs her to meet with him at the very least, and his appearance of honesty convinces her to at least hear him out. They decide to meet the following day, and he exits, contented. Kate tries to convince her father once again to allow her to help him, but he refuses again. Mrs. Grovenor enters and asks Kate to allow her to speak with Mr. Grovenor privately. After Kate exits, she asks Mr. Grovenor for $500 for Eugene, and he responds with outrage at her sniveling, saying that she has too easy a life to do so. They get into a debate about her position, with her claiming that she is helpless in the relationship, and him claiming that he allows her to lead a lavish life. She ends the conversation by admitting that Kate is right and that her life could have been way better had she been “broadened” instead of “narrowed.” She exits and he decides to ban all of Kate’s revolutionary talk in the household before Eugene enters. He begins to scold Eugene and Eugene casually defends his actions by saying that boys make mistakes and insisting that Mr. Grovenor made some of his own in his time. This enrages Mr. Grovenor, causing him to exit but not before admitting that he wishes Eugene had Kate’s brain. This comment and his serious tone spook Eugene, but he resolves to push it to the back of his mind before being intercepted by Lizzie, who entered looking for Kate. He asks Lizzie to put their past behind them, and she responds with astonishment at how he could say so many things that he didn’t mean. He admits that he doesn’t even remember saying those things and that he never believed any of it, and her reaction causes him to realize the extent to which he hurt her. He tells her that he’s going to change, right as Mr. Grovenor enters, scolding Eugene for committing forgery. Mr. Grovenor tells Eugene that he’s going to let him go to prison instead of paying his bail, causing Eugene to faint. His anger reaches his peak just as he himself collapses, and Kate enters swearing to save him before a final tableau.

Act 3
More time has passed, and Act 3 begins with Dr. Endicott reassuring Mrs. Grovenor that her husband is going to be okay. They discuss the state of things, including Eugene’s unhappiness and Kate’s success before Mrs. Grovenor exits to go see her husband. Doughlass enters to speak with Alice, who has been sitting on the sofa this whole time. She continues to insult him to the audience through asides before they leave together, and Dr. Endicott comments on how sad their situation is, with Alice unable to receive the pleasures of the heart in a marriage based on money and Doughlass being in love with a woman’s looks, which are sure to fade one day. Jennie and Jim enter and the doctor helps them to mediate through their misunderstanding and come to an agreement to have an equal rights marriage (though if there is ever an equal balance on an issue, the power falls to Jennie). They all exit and Eugene and Lizzie enter. Eugene has been feeling awful since the end of Act 2 and Lizzie tells him that he still has the opportunity to redeem himself by becoming a better person. She forgives him and he is so moved by this that he falls back in love with her and they agree to get married. As they embrace, Kate enters and realizes the mistake she made in thinking that Lizzie was talking about Dr. Endicott instead of Eugene. She finds Dr. Endicott, they both apologize, and they agree to get married as well. Mr. Grovenor finally enters, pushed on in a wheelchair by Mrs. Grovenor, and he is told about the financial state his family is now in. Kate has paid off his and Eugene’s debts with money she saved for art school, and he finally acknowledges that he was wrong and thanks God for his gift of a daughter. Eugene and Lizzie enter and Eugene begs his father for forgiveness before asking him to bless his new marriage. Mr. Grovenor responds by saying that caste is not as important as having a woman who can help to right his son’s past wrongs, and gives his blessing to them. Dr. Endicott and Kate get Mr. Grovenor’s blessing for their marriage before Jim and Jennie announce their marriage and their commitment to equal rights, and Kate ends the play by wishing every woman equal rights and independence as well as love.