As the daughter of one of the most influential political and philosophical figures ever to have lived, Eleanor Marx was cursed to travel through life and death shackled by her father’s legacy rather than her own agency. Perversely, it is precisely this heritage which causes a continued fascination with a woman defeated by everything she fought against, well over a century after her untimely death.
Eleanor Marx: fierce feminist, socialist thinker and academic powerhouse
Born in 1855, Eleanor (‘Tussy’) sought from a young age to make her own difference in the world: a fierce feminist, socialist thinker and academic powerhouse who blazed so brightly and promisingly that it is hard to reconcile her eventual death with her impassioned life.
But as well as a tribute to the lost years of a woman who helped others more than she was ever able to help herself, this is also an homage to the literature and female companionship which nurtured her throughout her life. Agnes Perry-Robinson’s script is worthy and thoughtful: driving the narrative with empathy and understanding. Arguably though, both the audience and the ghost of Eleanor herself might benefit from a more focused look at the writings and achievements which defined her rather than the understandably brutal but somewhat reductive emphasis on the doomed love affair that led to her death.
This is a nice little piece, earnest and committed in delivery and with a strong and convincing central performance. The cast are most successful in conjuring the optimism and self-satisfaction of Eleanor’s circle of bright young things; and as the run progresses should become more adept at suggesting the internal worlds which give birth to their high-flown ideals and declarations.
