What is it about?
This essay examines the use of pseudonyms among nineteenth-century American women writers. It situates pseudonymity in the context of coverture, the laws governing women's status in marriage, and it focuses in particular on Louisa May Alcott, whose career showcases the benefits of pseudonyms and the dangers of literary attribution.
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Why is it important?
This essay challenges the longstanding assumption that only women published anonymously. Instead, this essay shows that anonymity was much more widespread than we realize, and it signaled class status, not gender. However, by the second quarter of the nineteenth century, pseudonyms were particularly favored by women.
Perspectives
This essay was the product of many years of research. I collected data for a long time, stashing away examples while I was working on other projects. I was grateful for an opportunity to write about Louisa May Alcott's lesser-known writings.
Claudia Stokes
Trinity University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Pseudonymous Was a Woman: Pen Names, Louisa May Alcott, and Feme Covert, Legacy A Journal of American Women Writers, January 2022, Project Muse,
DOI: 10.1353/leg.2022.a904360.
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