Inchbald, Elizabeth (1753-1821)

English writer and actor. She used her experience as a dramatist in writing two serious novels in which high-spirited heroines struggle against society's restraints on women: A Simple Story 1791, which is also the first Catholic novel in English, and Nature and Art 1796. Her plays include the topical The Mogul Tale: or, The Descent of the Balloon 1788 and Lover's Vows 1798 (freely translated from Das Kind der Liebe 1790 by the German popular dramatist August von Kotzebue (1761-1819)), which features in Jane Austen's novel Mansfield Park.

She was born in Sunningfield, near Bury St Edmunds. In 1772 she married Joseph Inchbald, an actor, and went on the stage. After his death 1779 she continued acting for another ten years. She edited The British Theatre 1806-09, a collection of plays in 25 volumes.