Mrs Patrick Campbell:

ACTRESS

Known as:

The “idol of the hour” (The Sketch 1895 p524) in the acting world.

Born: 1865

Died: 1940

Destigmatizing the Actress

During Campbell’s career, strict gender roles remained and “All Victorian women’s lives were interpreted by a male-dominated culture that defined the normative rules for female sexuality, activity and intellect” (Davis 1991 p3). By becoming an actress, Mrs Patrick Campbell left the domestic sphere which women were expected to remain in and earned for herself, resisting the expectations of her gender. Many actresses specifically faced prejudices as “Victorians were deeply suspicious of women whose livelihood depended on skills of deception and dissembling and the circumstances of actresses’ work belied any pretences to sexual naivete, middle-class immobility, or feeble brain power’ (Davis 1991 p3). The stigma surrounding the actress can be summed up by Mrs Patrick Campbell’s aunt’s response when Campbell told her that she intended to become an actress:

“Good god, how could you think I could write and wish you success? [...] How can a woman bid with pleasure farewell to her best and happiest heritage - name, reputation, affection - to allow her every look and movement to be criticised by all the common jeering mouths and minds of the public [...] Oh Beatrice, how could you? I loved you too truly not to grieve bitterly the breaking of your young life” (Campbell 1922 p33)

Thankfully, Campbell decided to break from the expectations of her gender and pursue an acting career and interestingly, for the most part, Campbell was regarded as an extremely talented actress and who had “no intention of entering society by the only route hitherto open to the actress: through the back door as mistress to some lord” (Peters 1984 p61). Much of Campbell’s reception in her early career draws attention to her incredible acting skills, rather than disparaging her work or personal life. Interviews with the actress label her as the “idol of the hour” (The Sketch 1895 p524) and mark a respect for the actress. Her career as an actress was something to be admired rather than slandered. Not only does Campbell avoid much of the scrutiny of the actress in her early career but her letters refute the bad reputation of the actress and paints them as far more tolerable within a Victorian society:

‘Looking back, I remember the actors and actresses as all very kind, clever people, and so grateful to be in an engagement’ (Campbell 45)

Campbell’s letters detail the acting profession beyond what is known by those outside the industry and statements such as these which regard actresses as hard-working and deserving of respect alter the perception of the acting profession.

Mrs Patrick Campbell as “Difficult”

Once set on her career as an actress, it wasn’t long before Mrs Patrick Campbell made an impression in the industry not just due to her talent but also due to her behaviour in rehearsals. Mrs Patrick Campbell was infamous for her sharp wit and it was often stated she “could not be managed” (Peters 1985 p166). The power dynamic in theatre as in all other areas tipped towards men however Campbell’s behaviour in the rehearsal room with Pinero in her early career resisted the passive expectations of the Victorian woman. Campbell notes herself that she ‘was wilful, self opinionated, strangely sensitive, impatient, easily offended, with nerves estranged by illness’ (Campbell 1922 p66) in an industry that as an actress she was “given no free reign” (Campbell 1922 p66). Mrs Campbell recalls her own behaviour in the rehearsal room of The Second Mrs Tanquary stating “Oh, I would not make her [Paula] rough and ugly with her hands, however angry she is” to which Pinero replied “All right my child, do as you like”. (Campbell 1922 p69). Though it is possible that later in her career her quick wit and inability to follow instruction affected her career in a negative manner, in these early moments her behaviour and Pinero’s response implied that there was a growing room for women to assert their opinion in rehearsals. This ‘difficult’ behaviour could have been rather valuable as it was Mrs Campbell's “ignoring tradition” (About Mrs Patrick Campbell 1895, p524) which she was recognised for in many reviews.

Mrs Patrick Campbell’s Performance in The Second Mrs Tanqueray

Many of the roles Mrs Patrick Campbell took on in her early career defied her gender role. In Victorian society, women were expected to remain chaste until marriage yet some of Campbell’s roles explored women with a sexual past. Often labelled as the role that marked the beginning of Mrs Patrick Campbell’s success was the role of Paula in The Second Mrs Tanqueray. The play follows a woman named Paula who has a sexual past which she tries to overcome by marrying. Paula pushes the boundaries of what is acceptable female behaviour in society yet Mrs Patrick Campbell’s notes on the play’s reception in My Life and Some Letters implies that reaction to her acting and the character were positive:

“Your beautiful acting made me more than once cry like a little child” - Squire Bancroft (Campbell 1992 p80)

‘Paula is like an opal of many hues and lustres, with stains of life, and wounds of passion though which the disastrous fires glow that shatter it in the end’ - John Davidson. (Campbell 1992 p80)

Furthermore, in newspaper articles received the play and Campbell amicably:

“It is thoroughly sound, and dignified as it is by the exposition of a great actress” (Public Amusements 1899 np)

The warm reception of Campbell’s implies a shift in society's attitudes towards women who break from the traditional Victorian female mould. On the other hand, the apparent acceptance could be due to Mrs Patrick Campbell’s multifaceted depiction of Paula. Mrs Patrick Campbell’s states in her letters that she “tried from the beginning to lift Paula a little off the earth, to make her not merely a neurotic type; to give her a conscience, a soul” (Campbell 1922 p70). Campbell’s acting allowed the audience to sympathize with Paula, rather than immediately disparaging the role. Her acting “elevated...the subject” (Public Amusements 1899 np) and could have shifted the perception of women with a sexual past in society. Campbell even goes on to defend women like Mrs Tanqueray in the Courier Journal by stating “they are not bad, vicious women, they have committed but the one sin” (Richardson 1902 p.a6)

Mrs Patrick Campbell’s Appearance in The Second Mrs Tanqueray

Not only did Campbell’s performance complicate the perception of women with a sexual past but so did her appearance. The visual source below shows Mrs Patrick Campbell as a frail and beautiful woman who fit with the visual appearance of Victorian femininity yet her roles contrasted it. Her very being made her subscribe and dismiss Victorian femininity. She was described as “woman whose essential femininity shines out from her very movement” as well as having a “strong personality” (Town and Country 1902 p26) It is possible that the display of elegance and femininity in her controversial role made the character more digestible for the late Victorian audience.

Mrs Patrick Campell’s Performance in The Notorious Mrs Ebbsmith

Campbell described her role of Mrs Ebbsmith in The Notorious Mrs Ebbsmith as “a new and daring type, the woman agitator, the pessimist, with original, independent ideas - in revolt against sham morals. Agnes believes herself freed from the influence and power of sex” (Campbell 1922 p99). Mrs Ebbsmith was a New Woman who had radical feminist views for the time. By playing a character who states that marriage gives “the right to destroy years and years of life’ (Pinero 2016) Campbell’s acting publicly explored female independence and resistance to gender norms. Once more, critics noticed the depth that Campbell gave to the part, for example Dithmar stated that “one not only understands Mrs Ebbsmith, under the influence of this actress, but sympathizes with her, observes with fond partially her successive triumphs in her game of wits with the Duke” (1901 p7). The fondness for Mrs Ebbsmith implies that Campbell’s acting opens the theatrical floor for questions about marriage by making a character which presents it as sympathetic, resisting assumed gender roles.

Not only does Mrs Patrick Campbell allow the audience to sympathise with Mrs Ebbsmith but her letters call for change to the part itself to become even more progressive. In her letters, Campbell states “I knew that such as Agnes in life could not have drifted into the Bible-reading inertia of the woman she became in the last act...I felt she would have arisen a phoenix from the ashes” (1922 p98). This statement acts for a call for characters such as Agnes to continue on the road less traditional. Campbell’s opinion that Agnes is a “finer woman” (1922 p99) than Mrs Tanqueray as she “believes herself freed from the influence and power of sex” (1922 p99) implies Campbell does hold respect for the new woman and therefore would be her intention to depict them in the most sympathetic way possible.

SO WHAT?

Positive reception of an assertive woman like Mrs Patrick Campbell in these daring new roles implies society's slight shift towards an acceptance or tolerance of this new kind of woman. Her performance of Mrs Ebbsmith and Paula complicated public perception of women who challenged Victorian femininity and allowed the theatre to be a place of meaningful thought about these gender roles whether Mrs Patrick Campbell was a feminist or not.

Her resistant behaviour was widely more accepted than the likes of Charlotte Charke, Sarah Siddons and Mary Robinson and implies some hope that a resistant woman’s place in theatre was becoming more acceptable.

However, it is important to note that though Mrs Patrick Campbell’s career implies that progress had been made in the perception of gender roles. But with Mrs Patrick Campbell being labelled as “exempted” (Davis 1991 p98) to how most actresses were perceived at the time due to her huge notoriety, her career also outlines how more progress and female resistance in the late 19th and early 20th century was needed. Furthermore, with even hugely successful actresses like Mrs Patrick Campbell e.g. J.F Nisbit stating that her acting in The Second Mrs Tanqueray left the rank taste which it leaves in the mouth.” (Fesham 2003 p5) it is clear that Mrs Campbell wasn’t able to convince all of society of the value of depicting less conservative women and highlights that misogyny still remained in society.

Looking at Mrs Patrick Campbell really shows the value of how actresses' resistance can change public perceptions of gender or any other political issue for that matter especially as we move towards modern day. Her success shows how progress had been made but her practical solitude in this position highlighted the need for greater resistance by women in the era.