Upon its publication in 1866, Alcott’s novella Behind a Mask was met with much criticism and many a raised brow. Its focus on an unconventional woman, during an era that restricted women to the private sphere of their homes, was a matter of surprise. Such response would have been stronger had the audience known that the work’s author was in truth a woman writing under the pen name of A. M. Barnard.
Alcott’s central character embodies the concept of the new woman. Jean Muir is portrayed initially as a 19 year-old Scotch governess who integrates the Coventry family for the benefit of the youngest daughter Bella. So far, this makes of her an independent character living in a state of autonomy with no need of any assistance from male counterparts. Although many women had chosen for themselves a similar course by the second half of the 19th century, governesses and school mistresses were still regarded as anything but genteel. They were employed occasionally for the sake of young daughters, but were alienated nevertheless from the ranks of refined society on account of the unladylike lives they led. Jean Muir suffered the same treatment upon her meeting with the Coventry family for the first time. She was subjected to many an unpleasant question and remark in a scene that proves the injustice of the social-class system and the rigidity of society itself.
But Alcott’s character goes beyond limits and expectations. The reader soon realizes that Jean is much more than a brave poor girl facing the world on her own. In age, she is much older than nineteen, for under her perfect mask of innocence and femininity hides a thirty year-old former actress whose ambitions and desires refuse to be confined by the stiff boundaries of a patriarchal society. What is more, Jean is depicted as a smart, far-sighted, and manipulative woman. She surveys her new employers, analyzes their respective personalities, then proceed accordingly with one design in mind; namely to charm them and have each and all entirely in her power.
The book is often praised by feminist critics for the way with which women sexual desirability is treated. In the patriarchal society of the 19th century, women were often objectified by male authors. They were largely depicted as beautiful and helpless, naïve and reliant on men. In opposition to such a narrow-minded view point, Alcott’s protagonist uses her beauty and desirability to manipulate all the Coventry men and subject them to her power. She feigns weakness and helplessness because she knows such traits are flattering aspects to the male psychology. Thus, she proceeds in cajoling and blinding them with what they desire the most so she can attain her goal with no interference from them.
The story is also a cautionary tale against late-Victorian social class injustice and gender-biased norms which marginalized the greater portion of poor people and left them no hope for social mobility. The novella clearly states that such a system would lead these banished classes to revolt and take their lives in their own hands just like Jean did. Positing her as both protagonist and antagonist in the plot, along with her successful conquest at the end are all proofs that the author herself adopted such views and waged a literary war against the injustice of a patriarchal society.
