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BAILLIE, JOANNA (1762-1851)

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Originally appearing in Volume V03, Page 220 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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BAILLIE, See also:JOANNA (1762-1851) , See also:British poet and dramatist, was See also:born at the See also:manse of See also:Bothwell, on the See also:banks of the See also:Clyde, on the 11th of See also:September 1762. She belonged to an old Scottish See also:family, which claimed among its ancestors See also:Sir See also:William See also:Wallace. At an See also:early See also:period she moved with her See also:sister See also:Agnes to See also:London, where their See also:brother, Dr See also:Matthew Baillie, was settled. The two sisters inherited a small competence from their See also:uncle, Dr William See also:Hunter, and took up their See also:residence at See also:Hampstead, then on the outskirts of London, where they passed the See also:remainder of their lives. Joanna Baillie had received an excellent See also:education, and began very early to write See also:poetry. She published anonymously in 170o a See also:volume called Fugitive Verses; but it was not till 1798 that she produced the first volume of her " plays on the passions" under the See also:title of A See also:Series of Plays. Her See also:design was to illustrate each of the deepest and strongest passions of the human mind, such as hate, See also:jealousy, fear, love, by a tragedy and a See also:comedy, in each of which should be exhibited the actions of an individual under the See also:influence of these passions. The first volume was published anonymously, but the authorship, though at first attributed to Sir See also:Walter See also:Scott, was soon discovered. The See also:book had considerable success and was followed by a second volume in 1802, a third in 1812 and three volumes of Dramas in 1836. See also:Miscellaneous Plays appeared in 1804, and the Family See also:Legend in 181o. See also:Miss Baillie herself intended her plays not for the closet but for the See also:stage. The Family Legend, brought out in 1810 at See also:Edinburgh, under the enthusiastic patronage of Sir Walter Scott, had a brief though brilliant success; De Monfort had a See also:short run in London, mainly through the acting of See also:John See also:Kemble and Mrs See also:Siddons; Henriquez and The Separation were coldly received.

With very few exceptions, Joanna Baillie's plays are unsuited for stage See also:

exhibition. Not only is there a flaw in the fundamental See also:idea, viz. that of an individual who is the embodiment of a single See also:passion, but the want of incident and the direction of the See also:attention to a single point, See also:present insuperable obstacles to their success as acting pieces. At the same See also:time they show remarkable See also:powers of See also:analysis and acute observation and are written in a pure and vigorous See also:style. Joanna Baillie's reputation does not See also:rest entirely on her dramas; she was the author of some poems and songs of See also:great beauty. The best of them are the Lines to Agnes Baillie on her Birthday, The Kitten, To a See also:Child and some of her adaptations of Scottish songs, such as Woo'd and Married an'a'. Scattered throughout the dramas are also some lively and beautiful songs, The Chough and the See also:Crow in Orra, and the See also:lover's See also:song in the Phantom. Miss Baillie died on the 23rd of See also:February 1851, at the advanced See also:age of 89, her faculties remaining unimpaired to the last. Her gentleness and sweetness of-disposition made her a universal favourite, and her little cottage at Hampstead was the centre of a brilliant Iiterary society. See Joanna Baillie's Dramatic and Poetical See also:Works (London, 1851).

End of Article: BAILLIE, JOANNA (1762-1851)

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