Here’s the question for Classics Club members this month:
“Dead
white guys” are all too often the focus when it comes to discussions of
the Western Canon. We’d love to see members highlight classic works or
authors that are overlooked in the canon that deserve recognition.”
This question immediately made me think of the
incredible female authors who had to publish under male pseudonyms. They
were just as talented as their male counterparts, but when they would
submit a manuscript to the publisher they were often turned down because
of their gender or if the work was published it was assumed to be a
light romance because it was written by a woman.
George Eliot, the author of Silas Marner and
Middlemarch, is actually Mary Anne Evans. Wuthering Heights’ author
Emily Bronte published under the name Ellis Bell, while her sisters
Charlotte Bronte (Jane Eyre, Villette) went by Currer Bell and Anne
picked the moniker Acton. Louisa May Alcott chose the name A.M. Barnard
when publishing her thrilling short stories. Jane Austen published most
of her work anonymously.
The Dead White Guys stereotype that is associated withe
classic western canon is not incorrect, especially considering how many
great and successful authors fit that description. But it’s important
to realize there are hundreds of other authors out there with just as
many wonderful books to their names.
