“Behind a Mask, or A Woman’s Power” is a psychologically intriguing tale woven by Louisa May Alcott, which she terms as one of her “blood-and-thunder tales” that she wrote under the pseudonym of A.M. Barnard. Alcott’s choice to write under a pseudonym is interesting because it seems to have allowed her to compose narratives with incisive social critiques rather than the veiled ones that appear in her better known works, such as Little Women.
Jean Muir
Consequently, Alcott creates an archetypal femme fatale in her character Jean Muir, providing her with “a mysterious past, an electrifying present, and a revengeful future.” Muir, subsequently, employs her theatrical talents in “coquetries and subterfuges” to win over every male in the Coventry family. She consummates her revenge on them by taking an elderly lover, Sir John Coventry, entirely so that she has the security of his title. “Behind a Mask” is an open window into Alcott’s bitter battle against a domineering patriarchy and its attempt to rob her of autonomy and happiness, which reveals the darker-side of her feminine psyche.
Jean Muir appears in the Coventry household to be Bella’s governess on Lady Sydney’s recommendation, but the reasons that she left the Sydney household is cloaked in mystery. Muir, when questioned on this, only hints that young Sydney had fallen in love with her and she left to prevent any foolishness on his part. This increases Gerald Coventry’s already arouse skepticism, which he initially voiced after Muir theatrically fainted and, after reviving, curiously retorted “the last scene shall be still better” to Gerald, in response to his snide comment on the theatricality of the faint.
This introduction to Muir foreshadows her future machinations, which results in numerous catastrophes around the Coventry household: Edward almost murders his older brother, Gerald breaks off his tentative engagement with Lucia, and the prior familial bliss of the Coventry household deteriorates. Alcott purposefully invests Muir’s past with mystery and her current person with alluring qualities so that she can manipulate all the Coventry men.
Unmasking Jean Muir
Muir’s manipulation of the male figures in “Behind a Mask” is motivated entirely by revenge. Her notes to her fellow actress friend are evidence of her vengeful machinations. She reveals that Sydney was “shocked and retreated” from marriage with her after learning that she was previously an actress. We also learn that Muir is the daughter of Lady Howard’s husband and Muir’s father was “a worthless man who married her [Lady Howard] for her money.” Moreover, Muir grew up to falsely claim Lady Howard as her mother, married an actor, lived recklessly, and eventually was divorced from her husband because of their tumultuous relationship.
The letters also reveal that she hated Gerald from the start because his “indolence” was the reason she did not receive a carriage to the Coventry estate. Her masterful scheme was to charm Edward, then Gerald, but reject them both in favor of Sir John, their elderly uncle. Muir makes this her scheme because she is desperately chasing Sir John’s noble title because it will provide her with financial security and social distinction. Furthermore, in choosing the elderly man, she shames and humbles the other two younger Coventry men. Alcott roots all of this revenge in a deep-seeded animosity generated by the injustices suffered by Muir at the hand of a society designed only for the success of men and is inhospitable to women.
Alcott struggled with many of the same issues that Jean Muir conquers with deception and theatrics. Alcott fought desperately to provide for her family; coincidentally, it was her motivation to write “Behind a Mask.” Thus, Alcott addresses the injustice of the patriarchal society that she battles daily through a femme fatale character, who inverts the traditional power dynamic between men and women. This edgy and morally dubious character conquers every male that she comes in contact with and triumphs in her revenge over not just the men in her life but mankind by securing her comfort and happiness via the manipulation of the patriarchal system itself.
Sources
- Alcott, Louisa May. “Behind a Mask, or A Woman’s Power”. Behind a Mask: The Unknown Thrillers of Louisa May Alcott. Ed. Madeleine Stern. New York: Harper Perennial, 2004. P. 3-104.
- Stern, Madeleine. “Introduction”. Behind a Mask: The Unknown Thrillers of Louisa May Alcott. Ed. Madeleine Stern. New York: Harper Perennial, 2004. p. vii-xxviii.
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