From lesbian heroine to devoted wife: or, what the stage would allow

Plays written by English women on the same historical subject appeared in 1696 and 1841. The earlier play, written in a period of active feminism, features Agnes de Castro as a lesbian heroine, probably the first in English stage history. The second, written in the age of Solomon Grundy, characterizes de Castro as a self-sacrificing, devoted heterosexual wife. Since both plays were written by women who would now be defined as lesbians, the treatment of the heroine seems more a reflection of audience than author. Study of the two plays with their sources and their authors' lives reveals much about audiences and the pressures a homophobic society can exert on lesbian artists who write for a living.