Word Weavers: Elinor Glyn

Elinor Glyn (1864-1943) was a British novelist, screenwriter, and filmmaker known for her romantic fiction and contributions to early Hollywood cinema. She popularized the concept of "It" (a magnetic, irresistible quality) and is credited with creating the modern romance novel. 

For Further Reading:

• Meet Elinor Glyn, “Shocker of Grandmothers” and Founder of the Modern Sex Novel
• Inventing the It Girl: How Elinor Glyn Created the Modern Romance and Conquered Early Hollywood
• Elinor Glyn Recognized "It" Before Anyone Else -Because She Had "It"

This month, we’re talking about Word Weavers — people who coined terms, popularized words, and even created entirely new languages. These activists, writers, artists, and scholars used language to shape ideas and give voice to experiences that once had no name. 

History classes can get a bad rap, and sometimes for good reason. When we were students, we couldn’t help wondering... where were all the ladies at? Why were so many incredible stories missing from the typical curriculum? Enter, Womanica. On this Wonder Media Network podcast we explore the lives of inspiring women in history you may not know about, but definitely should.

Every weekday, listeners explore the trials, tragedies, and triumphs of groundbreaking women throughout history who have dramatically shaped the world around us. In each 5 minute episode, we’ll dive into the story behind one woman listeners may or may not know–but definitely should. These diverse women from across space and time are grouped into easily accessible and engaging monthly themes like Educators, Villains, Indigenous Storytellers, Activists, and many more. Womanica is hosted by WMN co-founder and award-winning journalist Jenny Kaplan. The bite-sized episodes pack painstakingly researched content into fun, entertaining, and addictive daily adventures.

Womanica was created by Liz Kaplan and Jenny Kaplan, executive produced by Jenny Kaplan, and produced by Grace Lynch, Maddy Foley, Brittany Martinez, Edie Allard, Carmen Borca-Carrillo, Taylor Williamson, Sara Schleede, Paloma Moreno Jimenez, Luci Jones, Abbey Delk, Adrien Behn, Alyia Yates, Vanessa Handy, Melia Agudelo, and Joia Putnoi. Special thanks to Shira Atkins.

Follow Wonder Media Network:

• Website
• Instagram
• Twitter

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Hello from Wonder Media Network.

Speaker 2 (00:06):
I'm Jenny Kaplan and this is Womanica. This month, we're
talking about word weavers, people who coined terms, popularized words,
and even created entirely new languages.

Speaker 1 (00:17):
These activists, writers, artists, and.

Speaker 2 (00:19):
Scholars used language to shape ideas and give voice to
experiences that once had no name. You've seen her on
movie posters and the cover of magazines. You've spied her
walking downtown, inviting stolen glances and paparazzi photos. You caught
her being interviewed on late night TV, and you can't

(00:40):
bring yourself to change the channel. There's something about her,
a certain magnetism.

Speaker 1 (00:46):
She's got the it factor.

Speaker 2 (00:48):
Today's Womaniquin popularized the concept of it, that irresistible quality
some women possess that can't quite be defined, but is
surely felt by all around them.

Speaker 1 (00:59):
Let's meet Nora Glynn.

Speaker 2 (01:08):
Eleanor was born on October seventeenth, eighteen sixty four, in
the Channel Islands off the coast of France. As a child,
Eleanor spent hours each day in her stepfather's library. She
gulped up books about mythology and history like they were oxygen.
While Eleanor loved learning. She often quarreled with her governesses
and thus never received a formal education. As she grew older,

(01:31):
she kept a diary and wrote stories, and when she
wasn't at home with a book or a journal in
pen Eleanor was traveling. She saw all the sites and
by that I mean many male admirers around the world.
Eleanor wanted to marry and mary rich, and she was
willing to use her striking green eyes and red hair
to her advantage. In eighteen ninety two, Eleanor married Clayton Glynn.

(01:55):
Their early years were spent in happy luxury, and the
couple had two daughters. But soon it came to light
that Clayton was less well off than it had initially appeared,
and the couple didn't get along that well. Eleanor turned
to writing to escape her unhappy marriage. She began writing
beauty and lifestyle articles for Scottish Life and Cosmopolitan. Then

(02:16):
in nineteen hundred she published her first book and a
pistolary novel called The Visits of Elizabeth. The novel was
a success and was serialized in magazines. With her husband's
steadily losing wealth, Eleanor supported the family and maintained their
standard of living by publishing at least one book a year.
She continued to travel to the likes of Russia, Spain,

(02:38):
and Hungary, racking up affairs and inspiration for more novels.
Her naughty novels, as they were called, were best sellers
and served as precursors to the modern romance novels we
know and love today. Soon Eleanor had a contract with
the Hurst Publishing Company. Recognizing the burgeoning prominence of Hollywood,

(02:59):
Eleanor asked to include a clause that gave her motion
picture rates.

Speaker 1 (03:03):
In nineteen twenty, shortly after her husband.

Speaker 2 (03:05):
Passed away, Eleanor moved to Los Angeles to become a
scriptwriter and consult for early silent films. First, she wrote
the film adaptation of her novel The Great Moment, starring
Glorius Wanson. Then in nineteen twenty four, she adapted her
nineteen oh seven novel Three Weeks. The story follows a

(03:27):
naive and proper Englishman, Paul Verdaine, and his affair with
the mysterious European woman known as the Lady. In one
notorious scene, the pair makes love on a tiger's skin rug.
When it came time for the actress to film the scene.
Eleanor wasn't satisfied with the performance, so she took matters
into her own hands and demonstrated to the lead actress

(03:48):
how to seduce a man writhing on the tiger skin rug.
The incident inspired a popular poem, would you like to
sin with Eleanor Glynn on a tiger's skin? Or would
you refer to air with her on some other fur?
In nineteen twenty seven, Eleanor adapted her book It, about
a shopgirl who catches the eye of a charming suitor

(04:10):
with her enigmatic charm. Eleanor defined the elusive concept of
it as such. To have it, the fortunate possessor must
have that strange magnetism which attracts both sexes.

Speaker 1 (04:22):
He or she must be entirely.

Speaker 2 (04:24):
Unself conscious and full of self confidence, indifferent to the
effect he or she is producing, and uninfluenced by others.
There must be physical attraction, but beauty is unnecessary. Fellow
A mannequin Clara Bow starred in the film as the
it girl in question, cementing her place in Hollywood and
establishing the phrase in the modern lexicon. Eleanor only worked

(04:47):
in Hollywood for about a decade, but her notoriety lasted.
With a pen and a taste for raunch and romance,
she developed the tropes of romance we still see in
media today, long velvet robes, silky lingerie, strings of pearls,
rose petals, smoldering looks, and long kisses. Actress Anita Luce said,
if Hollywood hadn't existed, Eleanor Glynn would have had to

(05:10):
invent it. Eleanor spent the rest of her days splitting
time between la and Brighton, England, and was a fixture
in the Hollywood party scene. She continued writing novels and memoirs.
Eleanor passed away on September twenty third, nineteen forty three,
in London. Over the course of her life, she wrote
more than forty books, innumerable magazine articles, and twenty seven

(05:33):
stories that became films. All month, we're talking about word weavers.
For more information, find us on Facebook and Instagram at
Wamanica podcast special thanks to Liz Kaplan, my favorite sister
and co creator.

Speaker 1 (05:47):
Talk to you tomorrow.