Existing comment:
Your Humble Servant, SILENCE DOGOOD
"Being still a Boy, and suspecting that my Brother would object to printing any Thing of mine in his Paper if he knew it to be mine, I contriv'd to disguise my Hand, & writing an anonymous Paper I put it in at Night under the Door of the Printing House," wrote Benjamin Franklin about his letters under the pseudonym Silence Dogood. During a six-month period in 1722, Benjamin penned fifteen letters from this clever, sharp-tongued widow who held a satiric view of the world and cast a critical eye on the pretentions of Bostonians. Commenting on love and courtship as well as the travails of aging, Mrs. Dogood soon gained a devoted following, as well as a few marriage proposals. Franklin continued writing under pseudonyms throughout his life, creating full characters for his pen-names Harry Meanwell, Alice Addertongue, Timothy Turnstone, and of course, poor Richard Saunders.
Benjamin Franklin. "Silence Dogood Essay Five," originally printed in The New-England Courant, May 28, 1722. Reprinted in The New-England Courant: A Selection of Certain Issues Containing the Writings of Benjamin Franklin. Boston: The American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 1956. Facsimile. |