ABSTRACT
The histories of the seven women playwrights in this study present us with a terrible paradox. Each of them is inextricably bound to the authorizing presence of a man, be he theatre manager, father, brother, or mentor. It is he who provides access to the profession and to professional legitimacy, but it is he who also controls and contains expansion and growth, ultimately preventing women from taking a more commanding position in the field. The power to confer legitimacy is predicated on the power to take it away.
