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Initially founded as The Freewoman by Dora Marsden as a women’s suffragette magazine, this little magazine evolved over 1911 to 1914 into a little magazine heralding modernism. The magazine did not, however, completely eliminate its feminist tone over the years; instead, its feminist beliefs were transformed into a modernist feminism that focused on individual rights instead of women’s rights collectively. This little magazine included poetry, illustrations, literature reviews and criticisms, as well as evaluations of modern thought and philosophy, philosophic editorials, and essays on the "New Woman." The Freewoman gained steady financial backing from Harriet Shaw Weaver in 1913. Marsden changed the title in 1913 to The New Freewoman with some urging from Ezra Pound, who believed that the magazine should include more avant-garde literature. In the same year, Pound not only became the literary editor but also brought the financial support of John Gould Fletcher to the magazine. "The Egoist, insofar as it reflected Pound's influence, became a review of advanced writing, striking a critical pose and evaluating the prewar tendencies in the political and cultural world" (Hoffman 22).
In November of 1914, the editors decided to change the name of the magazine to "The Egoist" partly due to the influence of Pound, but largely because of Marsden’s own belief that men would continue to dominate women unless women developed their egos. True “egoists” were people who believed that everything revolved around the desire of the individual, for whom "intensive satisfaction of the Self is. . .the one goal in life" (Thacker 187). Maintaining an emphasis on the desires of the individual, The Egoist sought throughout its course to encourage the artist to cast off all intellectual inhibitions and lose respect for all outworn institutions.
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Last Update 10/04