Mona Caird
Mona Caird | |
---|---|
Born | Alice Mona Alison 24 May 1854 Ryde, Isle of Wight, England |
Died | 4 February 1932 Hampstead, London, England | (aged 77)
Pen name | G. Noel Hatton |
Occupation | Essayist, novelist, social reformer |
Subjects | Feminism, civil liberties, animal rights |
Literary movement | New Woman |
Years active | 1883–1931 |
Spouse |
James Alexander Henryson
(m. 1877; died 1921) |
Children | 1 |
Alice Mona Alison Caird[1] (née Alison; 24 May 1854[note 1] – 4 February 1932) was an English novelist and essayist known for feminist writings, which were controversial when they were published.[2] She also advocated for animal rights and civil liberties, and contributed to advancing the interests of the New Woman in the public sphere.[3]
Biography
Caird was born in
In December 1877, she married James Alexander Henryson, son of Sir James Caird. Her husband farmed some 1700 acres (688 ha) of estates in Cassencary, Creetown, Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland. Some eight years older, he supported her independence. While he lived at Cassencary and Northbrook House, Micheldever, Hampshire, she spent much time in London and abroad. She mixed with literary people, including Thomas Hardy, who admired her work, and educated herself in the humanities and science.[6] The Cairds had one child, a son born on 22 March 1884 and named Alison James, but whom she called Alister.[7] Her husband adopted the surname Henryson-Caird in 1897; he died in 1921.[8]
Mona Caird died on 4 February 1932 in Hampstead at the age of 77.[9]
Activism
Active in the
Caird was a member of the Theosophical Society from 1904 to 1909. Among her later writings is an illustrated volume of travel essays, Romantic Cities of Provence (1906), and novels: The Stones of Sacrifice (1915), showing harmful effects of self-sacrifice on women, and The Great Wave (1931), a work of social-science fiction attacking the racism of negative eugenics.[10]
Literary works
Caird published her first two novels, Whom Nature Leadeth (1883) and One That Wins (1887), under the
Caird next published the novel The Wing of Azrael (1889), which deals with marital rape. The protagonist, Viola Sedley, murders her cruel husband in self-defence. Next came a short story collection, A Romance of the Moors (1891), where in the title story, a widowed artist, Margaret Ellwood, counsels a young couple to each become independent and self-sufficient. Her best-known novel, The Daughters of Danaus[12] (1894), tells of Hadria Fullerton, who aspires to be a composer, but finds that her obligations to her family and parents and as a wife and mother, allow little time for it. This has since been regarded by some scholars as a classic of feminist literature. Also well known is her short story "The Yellow Drawing-Room" (1892), where Vanora Haydon defies the conventional separation of spheres of men and women. Such works of hers have been called "fiction of the New Woman".[13]
Bibliography
Caird wrote seven novels, several short stories, various essays and a travel book:[14]
- Whom Nature Leadeth (1883) novel
- One That Wins (1887) novel
- Marriage (1888) essay
- "Ideal Marriage" (1888) essay
- The Wing of Azrael (1889) novel
- "The Emancipation of the Family" (1890) essay
- A Romance of The Moors (1891) stories
- "The Yellow Drawing-Room" (1892) story
- "A Defence of the So-Called Wild Women" (1892) essay
- The Daughters of Danaus (1894) novel
- "The Sanctuary of Mercy" (1895) essay
- "A Sentimental View of Vivisection" (1895) essay
- "Vivisection: An Appeal to the Workers" (1895) essay
- "Beyond the Pale: An Appeal on Behalf of the Victims of Vivisection" (1897) extended essay
- The Morality of Marriage and Other Essays on the Status and Destiny of Women (1897) essays
- The Pathway of the Gods (1898) novel
- "The Ethics of Vivisection" (1900) essay
- The Logicians: An episode in dialogue (1902) play
- Romantic Cities of Provence (1906) travel
- "Militant Tactics and Woman's Suffrage" (1908) essay
- "The Stones of Sacrifice" (1915) essay
- The Great Wave (1931) novel
Notes
- ^ Her birth year is sometimes incorrectly given as 1855 or 1858: England and Wales birth records make it clear that her birth was registered in the July–September quarter of 1854.
References
- ^ "Mona Caird Biography". Victorian Era. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
- ISSN 1741-4113.
- ^ ISSN 0961-2025.
- ^ "Caird, Mrs. Mona". Who's Who. Vol. 59. 1907. pp. 272–273.
- ^ John Hector "Family Notices". Examiner (SA: 1853). 24 June 1853. p. 4. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
- ISBN 9781317777588.
- ^ "Family Notices". Express and Telegraph (Adelaide, SA: 1867–1922). 17 May 1884. p. 2. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
- ^ "James Alexander Henryson-Caird (1847-1921)". Leeds University Library. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
- ISBN 978-0-8044-3334-1.
- ^ Kelly, Roger. "Mona Caird". kosmoid.net. Archived from the original on 19 December 2016. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
- ^ "Deviance, disorder and the self: Alice Mona Caird". bbk.ac.uk. Retrieved 2 October 2017.
- ^ The Daughters of Danaus
- S2CID 192526239.
- .
Further reading
- Beverly E. Schneller, "Caird, (Alice) Mona (1854–1932)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004, accessed 21 February 2007
External links
- Works by Mona Caird at Project Gutenberg
- Works by or about Mona Caird at Internet Archive
- Works by Mona Caird at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)