PSEUDONYMITY: VICTORIAN WOMEN AUTHORS' RECOGNITION STRATEGY

Abstract

This essay presents the female authors of the Victorian era and the male pen names they adopted, arguing that it was a strategic move which favoured their acceptance by the general public. This pseudo-identity played a significant role in defining the changing reality, and in contributing to the success of feminism as a social change in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Headnote

Abstract: This essay presents the female authors of the Victorian era and the male pen names they adopted, arguing that it was a strategic move which favoured their acceptance by the general public. This pseudo-identity played a significant role in defining the changing reality, and in contributing to the success of feminism as a social change in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Keywords: feminist writing, male pseudonyms, positive distinctiveness, social identity theory, Victorian literature, Victorian women

1. Introduction

The factors influencing the success of feminist ideology are diverse. The introduction of feminism as a concept during the Victorian era resulted in revolutionary shifts in thinking due to literature. Since women during the Victorian era were not heard and struggled to voice their opinions and concerns, they sought a variety of platforms and domains to find self-expression. Literature was one of the most effective media for a number of reasons. Firstly, womankind's anxious pondering over their feminine essence and role in society could be heard by the intellectual masses. Secondly, art enabled the expression of dangerous topics metaphorically, offering a soothing way of taking on the controversial aspects of the rising struggle as well as helping to prevent social expulsion.

Novels have always been vehicles for social change. Many social theorists, literary critics and researchers have described the relationship between literature and society as symbiotic (Paliţă 2012: 2-9). Not only does reality shape fiction, but the latter serves as a trigger to change the readers' minds and create a new social system. According to Rockwell (1974: 112),

the novel... is concerned with social reality in a special sense. It describes and defines norms and values, and presents its characters as actors in the demonstration of them.

In the social climate of the time leading to Victorian feminism, authors were male and they depicted naivety, acceptance, patience, tolerance, subordination, and lack of intellect as inseparable characteristics of a nineteenth-century respectable woman. A notable English author of this era, Charles Dickens, for example, was one of the central figures in British literature encouraging women to act as weak, innocent, and vulnerable persons. Dorrit, for instance, one of his heroines, is described as a "little, quiet, fragile figure ... that her young life has been one of active resignation, goodness, and noble service" (Dickens 1953: 86).

Progressive female authors of the nineteenth century sought to raise social awareness and consciousness about the suffering of voiceless women, by penning literature with strong female characters that embodied the rejection of the perfect submissive woman. Through writing, imaginary scenarios supporting a woman's importance would serve as a bridge between literature and reality and, ultimately, convince society of the sensibility of the feminist quest. In their novels, female authors attempted to "demonstrate woman's proper sphere and remake woman's image in the face of dominant ideology" (Dutta 1991: 2311-2312).

Novelists like Jane Austen, the Bronte sisters, George Eliot, George Sand, and Louisa May Alcott (as there are commonly known in modern days), created fundamentally different, independent, female protagonists, who fought fiercely for their identity, autonomy, rights, and power. This in itself was an act of rebellion against the female standard, as women were not allowed to publish. While male authors were accustomed to publishing for money, prestige, and popularity, this was not possible for female authors, who were forced to publish anonymously or under a male pen name. It is through their progressive literature under these male pen names that Victorian women attained a strategically significant distinctiveness, and women's push for change was adopted by the masses.

Throughout the late 19th century, as Gaye Tuchman and Nina E. Fortin (1984: 73) posit, men edged women out by writing novels extensively even on "female turf' or "empty field" and successfully invaded women's epistemological ground. They further explain that men received far more acceptance than women even on women's issues (idem: 74). This numerical dominance, as they call it, was both in writing and systematic criticism of literature, creating a monopoly in the production of literary discourses.

The observation is taken further by George Eliot, as J. Russell Perkin (1992: 27) notes: men hijacked women's spheres, created generic boundaries and dichotomies and deemed women's literary endeavours as "Silly Novels by Lady Novelists". Through their writing, women could not gain acceptance as much as they did by adopting male pen names. So, concealing their identity and going out in the garb of a man's name came as a compulsive strategy for Victorian women writers in order to be liked by society.

Various studies discuss the pseudonymity of Victorian women and its consequences for the women's literary advancements and acceptance. But a systematic understanding of pseudonymity vis-a-vis the social identity theory, specifically the attainment of positive distinctiveness, had not been in place. The adoption of pseudonyms by female authors can be viewed through the gendered perspective of social identity theory and thus one can understand how Victorian women achieved positive distinctiveness by enshrouding themselves in a masculine identity and working against it. This broadened the delimitations of acceptance boundaries and helped them attain societal transformation. Though this came at the cost of the attainment of a pseudo-ontological status through penning their literatures with male pseudonyms, the teleological repercussions on society were remarkable.

2. Societal pressure, ideal woman, and the junctures of self and social identity in Victorian society and literature

Based on Victorian gender ideology, a woman's identity was defined solely by her roles as wife and mother; she was deprived of any individuality and opportunity to make a personal contribution to the world: this problematization entails the women's challenging journey from restriction towards freedom. She is not an artist or scientist with personal interests, but a devoted, submissive, unquestioning spouse and mother, whose only contribution is in the form of unconditional love. The ideal Victorian woman is famously depicted in The Angel in the House published by Coventry Patmore, a Victorian English poet, who describes his wife as the ideal devoted housewife and therefore worthy of his admiration (Patmore 1885: 151-170). This example of ideal woman stirred many writers, such as Virginia Woolf, who further described the notion of the ideal wife as:

intensely sympathetic. She was immensely charming. She was utterly unselfish. She excelled in the difficult arts of family life. She sacrificed daily. If there was a chicken, she took the leg; if there was a draught, she sat in it ... Above all, she was pure. (Woolf 1966: 285)

A Victorian woman was taught that to be the opposite of man, by rejecting values like will, control, and ambition, was a virtue, and this ideology was intensively promoted by both government and the church. Surrendering matters external to the household to the control of the dominating males in her life, including her father, her husband, and God was taught to be the only righteous path to a better self, despite women not being afforded the luxury of defining a sense of self at all. Although many women could find enough courage to oppose social norms, most were reluctant to oppose God's will and religious doctrines, which left them sceptical, and in constant, internal struggle against their own spiritual beliefs.

Domestic dedication was preached as a sign of devotion to family. Cruea (2005: 192-194) states that a woman prioritizing her intellectual quest over domestic chores was labelled a "fallen woman." A perfect Victorian woman had few choices but all of them led to domestic dependency. However, the expression "perfect woman" is not as dangerous as "true woman", a term widely used during that period to describe a woman of the purest virtue, who upholds this value above everything else in her home. Many women could cope with not being perfect and not ever achieving perfection, but few could ever imagine distancing themselves from the truth. According to Cruea (idem: 188),

In a rapidly changing world where men were charged with the task of creating and expanding an industrialized civilization from a wilderness, a True Woman was expected to serve as the protectress of religion and civilized society.

Despite being considered the protector and promoter of spiritual upbringing and humble civilization, a Victorian woman was expected to accept her vulnerable state and man's absolute and unquestionable status as protector when it came to worldly threats i.e. threats outside the home (idem: 200). The externality would not only refer to the trade of lands, but also communicating with the external world that came in many shapes and forms. A woman was expected to demonstrate interests only in family and household-related affairs. Art and science were spheres for male minds only, while maternity and domesticity were the fields women had to associate themselves with. The opportunities and resources in education for Victorian women were so scarce that many women found self-education to be the only reasonable way to combat academic darkness. Education and intellectual improvement, however, required a flow of thoughts and exchange of ideas, which was limited for Victorian women for several reasons. One reason was that women who yearned for mental stimulation and wanted to share intellectual interests with their fellow women often failed to find the same desire and goals in these women, as many had either given up the struggle to rise above traditional conventions, or had never manifested a wish to focus on aspects other than household chores and being supportive wives. Victorian women also failed to find a common ground with men, since the latter were either too sceptical to ever allocate time to listen to a woman and take her words and ideas seriously, or cultural constraints prevented both from socializing. Particularly young ladies were not allowed to have long conversations with other young men, or such an interaction was strictly supervised, and rule-breaking would often mean earning oneself a bad reputation. According to Davidoff (1973: 24),

An unmarried woman under thirty could not go anywhere or be in a room even in her own house with an unrelated man unless accompanied by a married gentlewoman or a servant.

For a Victorian woman, a bad reputation meant decreased chances of marriage, which worsened women's cultural and intellectual survival.

2.1. The New Woman, the "Woman Question", and feminism

The term "feminism" stems from the French word "feminisme", introduced in 1808 by an audacious French thinker named Charles Fourier (Offen 1988: 45). The concept comprises social, economic, cultural, and political aspects, when it comes to achieving and maintaining equal rights for women and men. While the notion of feminism emerged during the Victorian era - characterized by the Industrial Revolution, and the rebellion of women in England against gender imbalance and oppression in the mid-1850s - society used the term frequently and boldly only after the 1970s (Caine 1992: 128-129). According to Botting (2016: 70-82) women during the Victorian era were inspired by a few books written during the late 18th century, such as Mary Wollstonecraft's A Vindication of the Rights of Woman: With Strictures on Political and Moral Subjects, published in 1792. Since publishing works as a woman was not allowed at the time, Wollstonecraft was forced to publish her first book, A Vindication of the Rights of Men, anonymously. It was well-received by the public and her publisher allowed her to publish A Vindication of the Rights of Woman under her own name, with Wollstonecraft eventually earning the reputation of a revolutionary figure in the early feminist days (idem: 80-97). This era was also responsible for the works of Jane Austen, published anonymously or with the specification By a Lady. According to Anderson (2018: 145-146) she used her fiction to effectively deconstruct reality by muting the masculine-dominant voice and magnifying female authority. In Pride and Prejudice, published in 1813, Elizabeth, the heroine of the novel, refuses to marry for the sake of financial support and material safety. Elizabeth's quick wit, sharp tongue and social skills are atypical of that of a traditional woman of the time, and, at the beginning, she shows little patience and tolerance for male arrogance and self-entitlement. She does not shy away from taming the arrogant male protagonist, who eventually appreciates her feminine strength and falls madly in love with her. As the hero overcomes his pride and the heroine overcomes her prejudice, Victorian readers learn that a successful relationship requires mutual compromise and sacrifice, not only by women but also by men (Anderson 2018: 126-150).

During this time in Britain, the "Woman Question," an intellectual debate used by theorists for woman-focused social change that started in the 1400s, gained much momentum as an ideological value during the late Victorian period (Botting 2016: 70-82). Wollstonecraft was a key promoter of the "Woman Question". The concept took many forms and was correlated with a number of notions, such as "feminism" throughout the nineteenth century, and the "New woman" at the end of that century. The "New woman" was proposed by Sarah Grand, an Irish feminist writer, who introduced the concept in her 1894 essay The New Aspect of the Woman Question. According to Liggins (2007: 218-220), the "New woman" refused to play the traditional roles of a woman and prioritized her independence and career-related issues and achievements over marriage and family values.

In literature, the "New Woman" is educated, intellectual, logical, critical, sexual, and conscious of her rights. She is neither a puppet nor a helpless victim of a despotically patriarchal society.

While the "Woman Question" debated the Victorian core values and principles with regard to the fundamental roles of Western women in developed and industrialized societies, literature published by female authors of the time were able to present the "New Woman" through writing. These concepts ultimately led to the victory of philosophy of feminism in the literary context.

2.2. Male pseudonyms, female protagonists and literature

Female authors had to cope with the reality of not being taken seriously or of being viewed sceptically in the Victorian era. The daily obstacles and challenges they faced included their diverse domestic responsibilities that were expected to be taken on by them: taking care of the family and running the household (Curelar 2016: 142-149). It was only after this was accomplished each day that a female writer could face challenges such as seeking inspiration. Then, she had to constantly strive to have her work published and considered consequential. Women were met with perpetual rejection by editors and publishers whose conventional world was strictly male-dominated. As such, many female authors chose to adopt male pen names in order to get published and have the chance of a more widespread readership.

The Bronte sisters: Charlotte, Emily, and Anne, all used male pen names with the same last name, which allowed them to publish their very progressive novels with themes not typically attributed to a woman's scope. Charlotte Bronte adopted the name "Currer Bell" as her male pseudonym and wrote novels with heroines who represented "the vision of an oppressed... female figure trapped in the structures of a patriarchal society" (Dutta 1991: 2313-2316). Her novel Jane Eyre aimed to show that a woman may have an adventurous spirit, a sensitive mind, and vital power, while still insisting on her liberty. While Victorian society expected women to exchange their feminine freedom for the security offered by men, the protagonist Eyre refuses to surrender to the elite that trades principles and values. According to Moers (1972: 18), Brontě uses Eyre to display "resentment toward a society that has scorned her while maintaining a detachment toward humanity as a whole."

Emily Brontě, published her masterpiece Wuthering Heights under her chosen male pen name "Ellis Bell". The novel discloses a striking contrast between two female characters. Readers find themselves attracted to headstrong, wild, rebellious, and straightforward Catherine, who is the antithesis of Isabella: a traditional, kind-hearted, and submissive woman. By rebelling against her father and husband, Catherine "resists the authority of a patriarchal institution and to surpass it to realize her own individual validation" (Zhao 2011: 27). She displays an unquenchable sexual desire, which is not on par with her husband's passive nature. Such desire is presented as a danger in the novel, ultimately resulting in Catherine's death. Thus, in Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronte reverses the accepted characteristics of gender, giving readers an opportunity to witness an atypical Victorian tragedy, in which a woman, conscious of her sexuality, is not a winner.

The third sister in the Bronte literary family, Anne Bronte, adopted the pen name "Acton Bell" when publishing The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. While not as well-known as her sisters, her works contributed to the feminist landscape by creating a female lead who leaves her abusive, alcoholic husband and eventually falls in love with a good-natured, sensitive man, depicting the husband as an antagonist and one to be feared, not tolerated.

George Eliot is undoubtedly a better-known name than Mary Ann Evans in the literary world. It was her pen name that gave much desired creative freedom to Evans. Victorian women were forced to view their home as a refuge from the 'dangerous' external world, even if it implied coexistence with an unloving spouse. However, in Eliot's Middlemarch, the female protagonist Helen runs away from her abusive, alcoholic, and unfaithful husband in order to raise her son in a normative environment. While Eliot challenged the conventional role for women by writing and publishing a novel, feminist critics have criticized Eliot's female characters, accusing her of not sharing this same freedom from convention with her female protagonists. As stated by Zelda Austen (1976: 551), "the particular anger against George Eliot rises from her failure to allow this freedom for her heroines even though she achieved it for herself."

While these examples display a strong out-pouring of feminist literature in Victorian England, this was not the only country with progressive female authors using male pen names to voice the conceptualizations of the Woman Question. In France, Amantine Lucile Aurore Dupin created strong female protagonists under the now-famous pen name "George Sand". Her early works featured unhappily married women who went outside their marriage to find love, and she continued to write progressive novels throughout her life, much in parallel with the progressive way she lived her own life (Buhle 1998: 180-181).

In the United States of America, Louisa May Alcott, known under her male pen name A. M. Barnard, said: "I like to help women help themselves, as that is, in my opinion, the best way to settle the Woman Question. Whatever we can do and do well we have a right to, and I don't think anyone will deny us" (Lewis 2019: 1). This is also the manner in which she portrayed all the characters in her book Little Women. The family consists of a mainly absent father and male figures, which does not prevent the women with strong self-reliance from finding happiness. According to Elbert (1987: 76), Alcott "began to realize that women who lacked a voice in community government were powerless to extend their spheres of activity beyond the household."

3. Pseudonymity and the social identity theory

The use of male pen names by Victorian women authors can be viewed in tandem with social identity theory (SIT) in a limited and gendered scope of their sociological presentation.

Trepte (2006: 256) states that SIT assumes that one part of the self [of an individual] is defined by our belonging to social groups". People always differentiate other people and things by grouping them into neat definable categories. They tend to register themselves in one group and display a shared identity with the rest of the members of that group. According to the social identity theory, the people in the opposite group have to be clearly demarcated, so that the delineation can fuel their stable self-esteem (idem). The authors further explain:

To enhance their self-esteem, people want to develop a positive social identity [...] SIT assumes that we show all kinds of "group" behaviour, such as solidarity, within our groups and discrimination against out-groups as a part of social identity processes [.]

Dominic Abrams and Michael A. Hogg (1998: 25) suggest that the 'low-status' groups (Victorian women) can adopt social creativity strategies in order to improve their self-image through the positive social identity of their members. Victorian women authors too resorted to the strategy of penning literature under male pseudonyms as such a social creativity strategy. According to Tajfel and Turner categorization (qtd. in Abrams, Hogg 1998: 2), Victorian women authors fall under the "in-group" category, while all males circumscribing the authors, belong to the "out-group" category. In theory, the resistance of the in-group against the out-group generally entails demarcating the out-group with classificatory tropes (here "male literature" and "lady fiction") against all odds. But since the male dominant ideology had perpetrated ascendency through the same modus operandi for hundreds of years, Victorian women authors had to come up with a different strategy: penning literature under a male pseudonym, in order to overcome the problem of rejection by society.

3.1. Attainment of positive distinctiveness through pseudonymity as strategically pertinent to new women's identity

Deeply concerned with and interested in women's rights, Virginia Woolf can be taken as one of the prominent writers who developed and boosted the ideas of female identity and "new woman." By using stream-of-consciousness as a new literary device, Woolf put a voice to women's intellectual explorations. However, though British society had become accustomed to female writers adopting male identity, it was not yet ready to welcome Orlando, a novel where the book's namesake, transforms himself into Lady Orlando. This bold literary move stirred controversy. According to Hastings (2008: 31),

Woolf slowly acclimates her reader to the notion of sex and gender being disengaged from each other and ultimately replaced with an androgynous personhood that comfortably pulls from all realms of personal attributes.

The infusion of works by early writers publishing under male pen names and that by subsequent writers ensured a gradual, safe, and strategic transformation of the public psyche, thus creating a higher degree of acceptance in the society. The publication of progressive literature by feminist authors under male pen names enabled them to attain positive distinctiveness through temporary abandonment of self-identity, and allowed the evolution of the "New Woman" to become more normalized through public acquiescence. The acceptance gradually eradicated the long-held gender-dichotomized literary categories and this allowed female authors in the late nineteenth century to publish works in their own name, defending the concept of "New Woman," ultimately leading to the development of Modernist literature.

4.Conclusion

Literature played a central role in the revolutionary process of feminist triumph. During a time when women were oppressed not only by the societal norms favouring patriarchy, but also by the church dictating inner ethical values, with neither a social life as an active doer, nor an internal existence as a passive-yet-free thinker and questioner, female feminist authors fought for Victorian feminism ideals with the help of male pen names that allowed them to attain positive self-distinctiveness in order to have their ideas published and then taken seriously by the masses. Authors like Austen, Wollstonecraft, the Bronte sisters, Eliot, Sand, and Alcott used their pen to propagate feminine power and rights, introducing strong-minded, independent, female characters to the Victorian public, and inspiring women to rethink traditional, limiting beliefs about how a woman should behave and exist in society. Their novels were powerful means of publicizing existing controversial problems in Victorian society, and of providing the female community with the most fundamental platform that would enable safe self-expression, and would lead to the emergence of the New Woman, who was no longer afraid to voice her worldview.

Mihaela Georgiana Manasia is an Assistant Professor of English and French at the Department of Languages and Educational Sciences of "Constantin Brâncuşi" University of Târgu Jiu. She holds a PhD in Philology from the University of Craiova. She has attended many international conferences and her interests include linguistic and literary theories as well as Foreign Language Teaching.

E-mail address: [email protected]

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