The real life Lady Whistledown scandalised 18th-century society

May 19, 2024 10:51 AM

The Guardian: Like the fictional pamphlet from Bridgerton, Eliza Haywood’s The Parrot, published in 1746 (here in archive.org) , has a distinctive, mocking voice that punches up and “speaks truth to power”. Now, a new book will republish Haywood’s funny, subversive periodical, which she wrote from the perspective of an angry green parrot, and seek to raise awareness of her groundbreaking work. A prolific anti-racist, proto-feminist writer, Haywood used her transgressive newsletter to expose 18th-century hypocrisies about race and gender. It was published weekly over nine issues.

More on Eliza Haywood:
• Naming, Shaming, Reclaiming: The “Incomparable” Eliza Haywood (The Jane Austen Society of North America)
• Goodreads
• Archive.org's collection of her works
• A master's thesis by Emily Kathryn Booth: Eliza Haywood's Feigning Femmes Fatale: Desirous and Deceptive Women in "Fantomina," Love in Excess, and The History of Miss Betsy Thoughtless.

posted by ShooBoo (1 comment total)

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posted by Brandon Blatcher (staff) at 6:52 AM on May 23, 2024 [2 favorites]