WHAT DO I CALL YOU?
A woman’s name, even now, isn’t just about her. In the 19th century, when women were legally their men’s property, it was more an announcement of who she belonged to, than who she was.
Not Ella Shane, though.
The name she was given – and the one she chose – are very much about her, her time…and how I built her character. She was born Ellen O’Shaughnessy, to Frank and Malka Steinmetz O’Shaughnessy on the Lower East Side on July 23rd, 1865, and took the stage name Ella Shane in her late teens when she made her debut as a mezzo-soprano specializing in trouser roles. That’s the easy part.
What’s behind those names is a bit more complicated.
From the time my swashbuckling opera singer main character came to me, I thought of her as Ella, which was weird. While it’s a classic Gilded Age woman’s name, it’s not one of my favorites. And it just didn’t feel like a real name.
But Ellen, that’s somebody you might know. It was my grandfather’s mother’s name (and my own original middle name), so I knew it was just fine for an Irish woman in the late 19th century. People were also much more likely to choose family names for children back then, so it made sense for Ella to be named for her father’s favorite sister, the aunt who later takes in the orphaned girl.
It also set up a perfect nickname from her beloved cousin Tommy: “Heller”
What about a last name, though?
I actually got the Shane before the O’Shaughnessy. I liked the idea that eventually the Duke would call her by her last name, as if she were a male friend. A great way to show that he thinks of her as an equal…and that she’s special to him.
All that was left was finding a very Irish name that could be shortened to Shane. Not much more obviously Irish than O’Shaughnessy! While the worst of the anti-Irish prejudice had eased by the time Ella started her career, it was still a bad idea for a performer to carry an identifiably ethnic name, especially in an elevated field like opera. In the late 1800s, we’re still most of a century before people start taking pride and joy in their diversity, and Ella would not have seen changing her name as turning her back on her family. It was just part of the job.
It was also a family tradition. We’ll learn more of the details in Ella’s second adventure, A FATAL FIRST NIGHT. Her mother, Malka Steinmetz, left Immigration with a new name for her new life: Molly. And she was far from the first.
Officials often had a hard time pronouncing or spelling any names that sounded “foreign” to them, and didn’t much care about respecting the people they were processing. There are plenty of families who will tell you that first, and often last names were one thing before Ellis Island, and something else entirely after.
So Ella carries a lot of history with her, whatever she’s calling herself at a given moment. In the climactic duel on the catwalk in A FATAL FINALE (it’s not a spoiler to say she’s squaring off against the killer), there’s a “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” moment: she meets her opponent’s gaze, draws herself up, and says “I’m Malka O’Shaughnessy’s daughter, and proud of it.”
Better fighting words never spoken by Miss Ella Shane.
Got a Throwback Thursday idea? Leave it in the comments!
Not Ella Shane, though.
The name she was given – and the one she chose – are very much about her, her time…and how I built her character. She was born Ellen O’Shaughnessy, to Frank and Malka Steinmetz O’Shaughnessy on the Lower East Side on July 23rd, 1865, and took the stage name Ella Shane in her late teens when she made her debut as a mezzo-soprano specializing in trouser roles. That’s the easy part.
What’s behind those names is a bit more complicated.
From the time my swashbuckling opera singer main character came to me, I thought of her as Ella, which was weird. While it’s a classic Gilded Age woman’s name, it’s not one of my favorites. And it just didn’t feel like a real name.
But Ellen, that’s somebody you might know. It was my grandfather’s mother’s name (and my own original middle name), so I knew it was just fine for an Irish woman in the late 19th century. People were also much more likely to choose family names for children back then, so it made sense for Ella to be named for her father’s favorite sister, the aunt who later takes in the orphaned girl.
It also set up a perfect nickname from her beloved cousin Tommy: “Heller”
What about a last name, though?
I actually got the Shane before the O’Shaughnessy. I liked the idea that eventually the Duke would call her by her last name, as if she were a male friend. A great way to show that he thinks of her as an equal…and that she’s special to him.
All that was left was finding a very Irish name that could be shortened to Shane. Not much more obviously Irish than O’Shaughnessy! While the worst of the anti-Irish prejudice had eased by the time Ella started her career, it was still a bad idea for a performer to carry an identifiably ethnic name, especially in an elevated field like opera. In the late 1800s, we’re still most of a century before people start taking pride and joy in their diversity, and Ella would not have seen changing her name as turning her back on her family. It was just part of the job.
It was also a family tradition. We’ll learn more of the details in Ella’s second adventure, A FATAL FIRST NIGHT. Her mother, Malka Steinmetz, left Immigration with a new name for her new life: Molly. And she was far from the first.
Officials often had a hard time pronouncing or spelling any names that sounded “foreign” to them, and didn’t much care about respecting the people they were processing. There are plenty of families who will tell you that first, and often last names were one thing before Ellis Island, and something else entirely after.
So Ella carries a lot of history with her, whatever she’s calling herself at a given moment. In the climactic duel on the catwalk in A FATAL FINALE (it’s not a spoiler to say she’s squaring off against the killer), there’s a “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” moment: she meets her opponent’s gaze, draws herself up, and says “I’m Malka O’Shaughnessy’s daughter, and proud of it.”
Better fighting words never spoken by Miss Ella Shane.
Got a Throwback Thursday idea? Leave it in the comments!
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