The National Tale and the Pseudonymous Author: Mobile Identity in the “Rosalia St. Clair” Novels

Abstract

The novels of Scottish writer Agnes C. Hall, pseud. “Rosalia St. Clair,” have received no critical attention. Hall, however, interestingly revises the national tale to envision a flexible familial and national identity, chosen in a cosmopolitan context. Hall's vaguely but non-specifically ethnic pseudonym presents her first argument for such an identity. Hall adopts from Sydney Owenson's novels an interest in the ways in which characters move across boundaries in order to recover their birthright, but rejects the national tale's use of history and inheritance to define cultural identity. She suggests that only the freedom to change family name and nationality will allow individuals to evade tyrannical parents and governments. In deemphasizing history, she also redefines authenticity to privilege sympathy with one's audience over verisimilitude or faithfulness to origins. Her changing portrayal of characters named “St. Clair” and “Byron” demonstrates her increasing advocacy for a cosmopolitan, freely chosen identity.