The Unpublished Plays of Miles Franklin
The Unpublished Plays of Miles Franklin Jocelyn Hedley Master of Arts (Research) 2007 Faculty of Arts University of New South Wales THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES Thesis/Dissertation Sheet Surname or Family name: Hedley First name: Jocelyn Other name/s: Patricia Abbreviation for degree as given in the University calendar: MRes School: English, Media and Performing Arts Faculty: Arts Title: The Unpublished Plays of Miles Franklin Abstract 350 words maximum: (PLEASE TYPE) With the publication of her novel, My Brilliant Career, in 1901, Miles Franklin became the darling of the Sydney literati. Great things were expected of the little girl from the bush. But five years later, nothing had eventuated; her talent, Miles thought, was barely recognised in Australia. In the hope of gaining greater writing opportunities, she shipped to Chicago where she became involved in social reform. It was hard work and ill paid, and though she bewailed the fact that it sapped her writing energy, she nonetheless felt a commitment to the cause such that she remained for almost a decade. In her spare time, though, she continued to write – and not just prose. More and more she wrote for the theatre, attempting to push into a world of which she had always dreamed. Blessed with a beautiful singing voice, she had long desired to be on the stage. This was impossible, though; her voice, she believed, had been ruined by bad training in her youth. To write for the stage, then, though a poor substitute, was at least in the field of her original ideal. Miles’ plays, though, are not remembered today, and are little thought of in scholarship, are considered, in fact, to have failed.
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