Jane Anger
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may have been an actual woman; or the text that was published in this name in 1589 may have been written by a man. There is no doubt of the interest and value of the feminist polemic (in verse as well as prose) which bears her name. It is a contribution to the querelle des femmes (debate about women) which for generations pitted attacks on women with defences of them. Women were a favourite topic for academic disputation; sometimes the same polemicist would argue on each side in turn.
Biography
Hidden Identity, Hidden Life
Jane Anger, feminist author, is presumed to be a British woman writer, but her names are problematic. The first element occurs in full on her title-page. It is given as Ia: (or Ja:) at the beginning of her book (I and J were not yet treated as different letters) and Io: at the end, where Latin phrases are used. This could stand for Joanna, which would be Jane in latinized form. Anger is an extant family name, and may have been hers by birth or marriage. Gent. on her title page might be an abbreviation for gentlewoman as easily as gentleman. A closing poem calls the author she. Yet the name might be a pseudonym, and if so might conceal a man.