What's In A Name Essay

Why would someone want to change his or her name? That is a tricky question with many answers. One reason authors might change their name is to overcome discrimination that they might receive. Another reason, many men and women might change their names is to publish as many books as they can. The last reason I could think of why someone would want to change his or her name would be to avoid biases and preconceived notions.

When authors wright books they will use pen names to overcome discrimination that they would normally receive if they didn’t use one. As stated in the article “What’s in a Name? “Many woman have had to change their name to get over discrimination and get publishers” Such women like the Charlotte sisters and Joanne Rowling used pen names. In fact Joanne Rowling used two pen names to wright two different series of books. As referenced to in the article What’s in a Name? “If readers associated the narrator of the story with a male author, it would make the story seem more believable”. In addition this just goes to prove that many women believed that the only way …show more content…
When Charlotte Bronte created her novel with the main character Jane Eyre, she wanted to have a main character that challenged the ideal Victorian woman. As stated in Introducing Jane Eyre: An Unlikely Victorian Heroine “Victorian culture that discouraged women from having literary aspirations. Charlotte Bronte is a perfect example of an author who received much bias and preconceived ideas about her when she tried to publish her work. As demonstrated in the article “Letter from Robert Southey to Charlotte Bronte” Literature cannot be the business of a woman’s life, and it ought not to be.” Nevertheless this is a perfect example of what type of bias Charlotte Bronte and many other women received when trying to publish a