Women Naming Women: The Use of Sobriquets by Aphra Behn, Anne Finch, and Katherine Philips

Abstract Sobriquets were commonly used by British writers of the late 16th and 17th centuries. The sobriquets chosen by Aphra Behn, Anne Finch, and Katherine Philips, the three central women poets of the period, their literary sources, and their associations and significance are discussed. Each of t...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Martha Rainbolt
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University Library System, University of Pittsburgh 2002-06-01
Series:Names
Online Access:http://ans-names.pitt.edu/ans/article/view/1657
Description
Summary:Abstract Sobriquets were commonly used by British writers of the late 16th and 17th centuries. The sobriquets chosen by Aphra Behn, Anne Finch, and Katherine Philips, the three central women poets of the period, their literary sources, and their associations and significance are discussed. Each of the three writers names herself and her friends and in so doing transcends the alternatives of invisibility or notoriety, apparently the only choices available to women writers of the time. By using sobriquets, the writers identify themselves and their friends as inhabitants of a different and unorthodox world, but one which includes recognition as writers and as members of a community of writers.
ISSN:0027-7738
1756-2279