Fiona Macleod created many works in the\u00a0little magazine The Evergreen: A Northern Seasonal<\/em>, primarily Celtic tales. Macleod was a creation of William Sharp, who was an avid writer himself. The creation of Macleod and her three Celtic stories \u201cThe Anointed Man\u201d vol. 1, \u201cThe Snow-Sleep of Angus Ogue\u201d vol. 4 and the \u201cKingdom of the Earth\u201d vol. 3. are representative of the points of view Victorian society had on women during the fin de si\u00e8cle of the 19th<\/sup> century that would have also been valued in The Evergreen<\/em>, which can be seen through Patrick Geddes contribution (author of The Evergreen<\/em>) in the \u201cMoral Evolution of Sex\u201d.<\/p>\n William Sharp who worked alongside Patrick Geddes as editor and author in creating The Evergreen<\/em> played an integral role in evoking the message the magazine was aiming to portray: celebrating Celtics in a non-idealistic way, forward and humanistic thinking. Sharp brought along his experience of working on his own magazine The Pagan Review<\/em> which dealt with Pagan and Celtic history making him an ideal candidate in participating in the theme of Celtic revival in The Evergreen <\/em>(Kooistra, \u201cGeneral Introduction\u201d). He himself contributed to the first three volumes of The Evergreen<\/em>: \u201cThe Norland Wind\u201d vol.1, \u201cThe Hill Water\u201d, vol.2 and \u201cOceanus\u201d vol. 3.<\/p>\n Additionally, William Sharp contributed to The Evergreen<\/em> through his female pseudonym, Fiona Macleod. Sharp had created other pseudonyms in his lifetime such a W.H. Brooks when working on The Pagan Review<\/em>, however, Macleod, through The Evergreen<\/em> and other works, drew much more attention and success (Denisoff). Macleod at the time was believed to be a separate individual until Sharps death in 1905 which is when she was finally revealed to be his creation. Sharp was known by his wife to be struggling with his identity, he often felt that he had another personality of a woman, Macleod was a manifestation of that personality. (Ferguson 117)<\/p>\n Fiona Macleod\u2019s work primarily focussed on Celtic revival, her contribution to The Evergreen<\/em> was abundant, contributing an average of three works per volume. (Kooistra, \u201cGeneral Introduction\u201d) Often Macleod\u2019s works were not regarded as factual, rather Macleod took inspiration from Celtic stories when writing her work. (Ferguson, 135) She was so successful in her Celtic revival that John Duncan\u2019s illustration Anima Celtica (Celtic spirit), featuring a woman writer surrounded by Celtic images is often associated with Fiona Macleod (Kooistra, \u201cCritical Introduction\u201d). This is powerful imagery in the sense that it centers a woman writer showing the forward thinking of The Evergreen<\/em> that accepted women into literature.<\/p>\n Despite popular belief that William Sharp merely represents himself as a woman to express an inner identity, he also uses Fiona Macleod to his advantage as a means for representation to resonate with Victorian women by catering to the essentialist point of view. This is shown through the representation of woman in Macleod\u2019s work as well as her role as a woman is in relation to The Evergreen<\/em> as a whole considering the context of nature prevalent to the entire magazine coinciding with essentialist ideas. Since essentialist ideas we\u2019re prevalent to this time, being a male author would have possibly lowered the success considering the themes held in these Celtic tales: nature, Beauty, love etc. In combination with this, creating a successful female writer was a deliberate choice made by William Sharp to grab the attention of women and the Darwinist point of view that would have been emerging through the \u201cnew women\u201d of the era, that women are entirely capable of being authors and working-class women<\/p>\n The Evergreen<\/em> was a progressive little magazine attempting to question and push forward views held in the fin de si\u00e8cle Victorian society. This includes challenging the subordination of Victorian woman (Kooistra, \u201cCritical Introduction\u201d). Biology in The Evergreen<\/em> is a central theme of understanding the world through a scientific lens. Each season in each volume held a section analyzing the biology of the seasons, in this way woman are also viewed from a biological standpoint which is what leads to The Evergreen<\/em> having an essentialist view on gender roles. Essentialism embraces the idea that a woman\u2019s essence has fixed feminine characteristics such as being empathetic, nurturing, gentle, etc. (Kooistra, \u201cCritical Introduction\u201d)<\/p>\n While The Evergreen<\/em> did value an essentialist ideology, equality amongst women and men were also valued through a Darwinist ideology that would have been emerging at the time. (Kooistra, “Critical Introduction) Charles Darwin believed in women\u2019s education as a means of improvement, change, and evolution. Victorian women at the time of Darwin\u2019s release of The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex<\/p>\n were inspired by this ideology (33). However, people still felt inclined to stick to the status quo, which can be seen through this response to women\u2019s excitement into reading Darwin, \u201cAccording to The Globe \u2018We dare not say what ladies ought to read or ought not to read nowadays, but we may venture to hint that they should not be seen floundering beyond their depth\u2019\u201d. (Richardson 38) Woman were still regarded as being inferior to men, which may explain why William Sharp felt that using Fiona Macleod as a successful female writer helped question these reactions while her success in taking on a role as a woman writer would have also been an inspiration to many of these women wanting to push the boundaries of their role in society.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Moral Evolution of Sex\u201d by Patrick Geddes is a sample of his views on gender, which is important to decipher considering he is also the author of The Evergreen<\/em>, his views would be reflected in the entirety of the magazine. The \u201cMoral Evolution of Sex\u201d provides an of acceptance for the \u201cnew woman\u201d in the Victorian era, which represented woman as \u201cindependent, physically adept, and mentally acute, and able to work, study, and socialize on a par with men\u201d (Rudnick) while still embracing the idea that motherhood for a woman is the essence of a woman\u2019s being and that is not to be considered a weakness or a negative thing. This is shown when Patrick Geddes in the \u201cMoral Evolution of Sex\u201d states, \u201cyet let us not over-pity the queen-mother\u201d (Geddes 73), because a mother is happy to raise her child: \u201cwhat mother but will smile and say [\u2026] was I not happiest with my babes?\u201d\u00a0 (73) In fact, even when a woman worker chooses to work, at the end of the day she still \u201ccarries the poison sting\u201d which refers to a woman\u2019s reproductive organs. (73) This is to say that regardless of what a woman chooses to do with her life, it is an unchangeable fact that a woman has what a man lacks, the ability to give birth and that she cannot run from her essence.<\/p>\n The \u201cMoral Evolution of Sex\u201d further discusses that there is no difference to whether a woman fulfills domestic needs or those that are a part of society, it should not come as a surprise that women are capable of such a thing: \u201cdid you never see that every one of your domestics is a new woman, a worker-bee, who has gone out to labour in the world\u2026\u201d (74). It is not to say that women are better than men but rather they each have their own strengths and weakness, \u201cthat each sex not only expresses its own quality, its own superiority over the other, but uses this to develop the other\u201d (80)<\/p>\n Fiona Macleod created three works that will be examined in this exhibition: \u201cThe Anointed Man\u201d vol. 1, \u201cThe Snow-Sleep of Angus Ogue\u201d vol.4 and the \u201cKingdom of the Earth\u201d vol. 3.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Anointed Man\u201d is a tale about a man named Alasdair who despite losing three brothers within a span of three months still finds beauty in the world. He tells a story to a young female friend in order to explain how he became the anointed man; he was a child when he was touched by fairy ointment which causes him to see beauty and happiness even in the darkest of times.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Kingdom of the Earth\u201d is a religious tale combining Christianity and paganism. It is about a blind old gypsy king who speaks to young Jesus (King of Elements). With Mary, his mother\u2019s tears, he is able to restore youth to the king and cure his sight. He then creates nine runes (Garden of God): Four winds, Deep seas, Lochs and rivers, Green trees, Man, Birth, Death, Soul, and mud, dross and the slime of evil.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Snow-Sleep of Angus Ogue\u201d is a mythological tale about Angus Ogue the god of youth and beauty who sleeps a winter sleep for a thousand years. Other Gods attempt to wake him but cannot, until he is finally awoken by Orchil.<\/p>\n These three Celtic tales cater to the essentialist ideology of The Evergreen<\/em> because of the role woman play throughout through its themes of nurture, nature, love, and beauty. When looking at Fiona MacLeod\u2019s Celtic tales a male protagonist is dominant in the stories, however the women, although not in the forefront, are just as important to the stories. Both \u201cThe Snow-Sleep of Angus Ogue\u201d and \u201cThe Anointed Man\u201d are written from the point of view of women and the “Kingdom of the Earth” would take the voice of the narrator i.e. Fiona MacLeod. This is important to note because the narrator is the lens in which the story is told. By making it a woman in all three stories centralizes woman giving them importance. It shows that a woman is a capable and understanding person worth hearing a story from. It also gives women importance and helps carry the perspective that The Evergreen<\/em> would want to represent: nature, love, and beauty, which would make sense to the readers of The Evergreen<\/em>.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Anointed Man\u201d has two female figures. The first plays the role of narrator and of a curious young woman in love with a man twice her age. She is confused about the anointed man and what seems to be a lack of empathy while looking upon a dreary land after the death of his two brothers and the sickness of another. The second female character is the Morag of the Falls, who also plays an empathetic character. She approaches the Anointed Man\u2019s father to explain to him that he is being foolish and explains what has happened to his son. (101-105) Both female characters play the role of an empathetic woman, showing the contrast from the lack of empathy in the men, especially that of the father. The essentialist idea of women is further developed by the maternal quality of the Morag of the Falls. Although she is not the mother or wife, the way she defends the anointed man, she provides an instinctual decision to act that way. Furthermore, it pushes forward the notion that women are curious being who want to learn and understand, catering to the Darwinist view that woman is deserving of education.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Snow-Sleep of Angus Ogue\u201d consists of one female character which is the Orchil. She also plays the point of view of the story their role although not the protagonist plays more of an active role in the comparison to the other male characters. She seems to be a wise character, with knowledge of spring (Angus Ogue) that the other gods lack. This brings together the idea of women to nature. She also evokes maternal qualities to Angus Ogue. While he sleeps three druids attempt to wake him, she protects him from their sounds as if a mother is protecting her child\u2019s sleep. When snow falls she puts a band around Ben Monach which seems symbolic to a mother placing a blanket over her child as they sleep to protect them from the cold (118-123). Finally, she is represented as mother nature. She at the end of the story awakes Angus Ogue by saying, \u201cawake eternal spring\u201d (122) her being given this dialogue emphasizes her as the one to be in control of the awakening of spring.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Kingdom of the Earth\u201d has only one female character, Mary the Virgin, another maternal figure. She plays the role of supporting her son. Jesus is told by the gypsy king that nature is his mother and the mother of Mary (120-123).<\/p>\n These themes that take place in \u201cThe Anointed Man\u201d and \u201cThe Snow-Sleep of Angus Ogue\u201d and \u201cThe Kingdom of the Earth\u201d are considered feminine through the essentialist lens. The women in these stories also follow these defined characteristics. Therefore, to the Victorian society, it wouldn\u2019t have made sense to see them being authored by a man, which is why it would seem probable that William Sharp would have used a Fiona MacLeod to resonate with Victorian society. In fact, he specifically states that: \u201chad Fiona Macleod been revealed as a man the entire architecture built upon her would have collapsed.\u201d (Ferguson, 160) However, these characters are not weak characters or characters that can be dismissed, they are central to the story as much as the male characters. By joining the characters in this way Sharp shows the balance that The Evergreen<\/em> values of woman and men needing one another and being equal in their own ways while putting emphasis especially on the maternal qualities such as empathy and nurturement that the \u201cMoral Evolution of Sex\u201d showed to be a women\u2019s essence.<\/p>\n Overall, evidence from these three Celtic stories shows that there was a commonality in the way Fiona Macleod portrayed female characters. She adhered to the fixed feminine characteristics assumed by the essentialist point of view. This would have been done deliberately seeing as William Sharp was fully aware that revealing his true identity would ruin the archetype he had created. Sharp knew that these themes, especially in relation to The Evergreen<\/em> being about nature, would make Fiona Macleod a success. The female characters although seem to be less important seeing as they are not the protagonists of the story still define the story, in the act of telling, and giving perspective on the male counterparts. This combination of male and females in the story also show the views of The Evergreen<\/em> as a whole supporting the claim because Patrick Geddes was also in support for the essentialist and Darwinist ideologies which is seen through the \u201cMoral Evolution of Sex\u201d on the ideas that woman and men both play their own roles. Fiona Macleod success is representative of the support for women in literature and their capabilities and William Sharp knew that using this as a pseudonym would have helped to resonate with the woman in Victorian society.<\/p>\n Denisoff, Dennis. \u201cWilliam Sharp [pseud. Fiona Macleod, W.H. Brooks] (1855-1905).\u201d The Yellow Nineties Online. <\/em>Ed. Dennis Denisoff and Lorraine Janzen Kooistra. Ryerson University, 2010. Web. Date Accessed 30 Nov. 2018. http:\/\/www.1890s.ca\/HTML.aspx?s=sharp_bio.html<\/a><\/p>\n Duncan, John. \u201cAnima Celtica. [Celtic Spirit]\u201d The Evergreen: A Northern Seasonal, <\/em>vol.1, Spring 1895, p. 106 The Yellow Nineties Online, <\/em>edited by Lorraine Janzen Kooistra, Ryerson University Centre for Digital Humanities, 2018. https:\/\/1890s.ca\/egv1_duncan_celtica\/<\/a><\/p>\n Geddes, Patrick, and J. Arthur Thomson. \u201cThe Moral Evolution of Sex.\u201d The Evergreen: A Northern Seasonal<\/em>, vol. 3, Summer 1896, 73-85. The Yellow Nineties Online, <\/em>edited by Lorraine Janzen Kooistra, Ryerson University Centre for Digital Humanities, 2018. https:\/\/1890s.ca\/egv3_authorsof_moral\/<\/a><\/p>\n Ferguson, Megan C. \u201cPatrick Geddes and the Celtic Renascence of the 1890s,\u201d Doctoral Dissertation, University of Dundee, 2011.\u00a0https:\/\/core.ac.uk\/download\/pdf\/20479214.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n Kooistra, Lorraine Janzen. \u201cGeneral Introduction to The Evergreen: A Nothern Seasonal (1895-97),\u201d The Yellow Nineties Online, <\/em>edited by Lorraine Janzen Kooistra, Ryerson University for Digital Humanities, 2018. https:\/\/1890s.ca\/the-evergreen-general-introduction\/<\/a><\/p>\n Kooistra, Lorraine Janzen. \u201cCritical Introduction to The Evergreen: A Nothern Seasonal <\/em>Volume 1: Spring 1895.\u201d Evergreen Digital Edition, Yellow Nineties 2.0, <\/em>edited by Lorrain Janzen Kooistra, Ryerson University Centre for Digital Humanities, 2018. https:\/\/1890s.ca\/egv1_introduction\/<\/a><\/p>\n Macleod, Fiona. \u201cThe Anointed Man.\u201d The Evergreen: A Northern Seasonal, <\/em>vol. 1, Spring 1895, pp.101-105. The Yellow Nineties Online, <\/em>edited by Lorraine Janzen Kooistra, Ryerson University Centre for Digital Humanities, 2018.\u00a0https:\/\/1890s.ca\/egv1_macleod_anointed\/<\/a><\/p>\n Macleod, Fiona. \u201cThe Kingdom of Earth.\u201d The Evergreen: A Northern Seasonal, <\/em>vol. 3, Summer 1896, pp. 120-123. The Yellow Nineties Online, <\/em>edited by Lorraine Janzen Kooistra, Ryerson University Centre for Digital Humanities, 2018. https:\/\/1890s.ca\/egv3_macleod_earth\/<\/a><\/p>\n Macleod, Fiona. \u201cThe Snow-Sleep of Angus Ogue.\u201d The Evergreen: A Northern Seasonal, <\/em>vol.4 Winter 1896-7, pp. 118-123. The Yellow Nineties Online, <\/em>edited by Lorraine Janzen Kooistra, Ryerson University Centre for Digital Humanities, 2018. https:\/\/1890s.ca\/egv4_macleod_snow\/<\/a><\/p>\n Richardson, Angelique. \u201cAgainst Finality: Darwin, Mill and The End of Essentialism.\u201d Critical Quarterly, <\/em>vol. 53, no. 4, 2011, pp 21-44. Wiley Online Library, <\/em>https:\/\/doi-org.ezproxy.lib.ryerson.ca\/10.1111\/j.1467-8705.2011.02020.x<\/a><\/p>\nWilliam Sharp (AKA Fiona Macleod)<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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<\/h3>\n
<\/h3>\n
Claim<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n
Essentialism<\/strong><\/h3>\n
The Evergreen<\/em> and \u201cThe Moral Evolution of Sex\u201d<\/strong><\/h3>\n
3 Celtic Tales by Fiona Macleod <\/strong><\/h3>\n
Analysis<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Conclusion<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\nWorks Cited<\/strong><\/h3>\n