Lady Mary Wortley Montagu once wrote under the pseudonym 'Lady President'. Many women used pseudonyms when writing from the 17th – 18th centuries. They were a means to gain some agency in the realms of education and writing; areas that were deemed unsuitable for women's involvement. The pseudonym 'Lady President' is a titillating one for two main reasons. Firstly, the woman using it does not opt for a man's name (as we see from examples such as George Eliot). In addition she gives herself power by prefacing the male role of 'president' with the denomination of a 'lady'.
The nuanced pseudonym is an example of Lady Mary's attention to detail; an aspect prevalent in all of her writing. The 'Lady President' is one of the most colourful figures of the English aristocracy in the 18th century and is remembered for many things, among of which are her Turkish Embassy Letters. The Rare Books and Special Collections Library at UBC has a copy of these letters. I have attempted to frame this project around these letters and to discuss their place within the social and cultural contexts surrounding them. |