Fidelia was a favoured female
pseudonym
A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...
among writers in English in the 18th century.
['' The Feminist Companion to Literature in English. Women Writers from the Middle Ages to the Present'', Virginia Blain, Patricia Clements and Isobel Grundy, eds (London, Batsford, 1990), p. 369.] It was derived from the Latin ''fidelitas'', meaning faithfulness.
Usage
Hester Chapone adopted Fidelia as her
protagonist's pseudonym in "The Story of Fidelia" (1753–1754), in Nos 77–79 of the English newspaper ''
The Adventurer''.
Mary Ann Radcliffe did likewise in a short piece of sentimental fiction.
[Published in ''The Female Advocate: or an Attempt to Recover the Rights of Women from Male Usurpation'' (1799). See Catherine Packham: ''Eighteenth-Century Vitalism: Bodies, Culture, Politics'' (Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012).]
Among the writers who used Fidelia as an author's pseudonym for their own work were the Englishwomen
Mary Astell
Mary Astell (12 November 1666 – 11 May 1731) was an English protofeminist author, philosopher, and rhetorician who advocated for equal educational opportunities for women. Astell is primarily remembered as one of England's inaugural advocate ...
(1666–1731) and
Jane Barker (1652–1732), and the Americans
Sarah Prince Gill (1728–1771),
Hannah Griffitts (a
Quaker, 1727–1817) and Sukey Vickery (1779–1821).
Back in England, the
Lincoln poet who used the name Fidelia in
The Gentleman's Magazine
''The Gentleman's Magazine'' was a monthly magazine founded in London, England, by Edward Cave in January 1731. It ran uninterrupted for almost 200 years, until 1907, ceasing publication altogether in 1922. It was the first to use the term ''m ...
in 1734–1735 may have been Keziah (died 1742), a sister of
John Wesley
John Wesley ( ; 2 March 1791) was an English cleric, Christian theology, theologian, and Evangelism, evangelist who was a principal leader of a Christian revival, revival movement within the Church of England known as Methodism. The societies ...
. She wrote to belittle an award of £50 offered as a poetry prize ("you forget the price of a candle") and propose instead that the prize should be the hand of
Jonathan Swift
Jonathan Swift (30 November 1667 – 19 October 1745) was an Anglo-Irish writer, essayist, satirist, and Anglican cleric. In 1713, he became the Dean (Christianity), dean of St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, and was given the sobriquet "Dean Swi ...
in marriage. This sparked off exchanges of verses with the Welsh poet
Jane Brereton (1685–1740) and the English poet
Elizabeth Carter (1717–1806).
Compliment
In modern times, the description Fidelia has sometimes been used as a compliment to a woman.
References
{{Reflist, 30em
See also
*
List of pseudonyms
This is a list of pseudonyms, in various categories.
A pseudonym is a name adopted by a person for a particular purpose, which differs from their true name. A pseudonym may be used by social activism, activists or politicians for political purpo ...
18th-century English poets
18th-century English women writers
18th-century pseudonymous writers
Pseudonyms
Pseudonymous women writers