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Franklin often used pseudonyms to stir up interest in his own newspaper, the Pennsylvania Gazette. In 1729, he wrote a series of letters as "The Busy Body," a character who appointed himself the guardian of the city’s morals. This persona allowed Franklin to critique his competitors and establish the Gazette as a platform for civic discourse.
Mrs. Dogood was a masterpiece of character creation. She was witty, pious, irreverent, and sharp-tongued. In a series of 14 letters, she mocked Harvard pedants (“a miracle of erudition, yet knew nothing”), criticized the hypocrisy of Puritan leaders, and even suggested that women deserved more education. The letters became the talk of Boston. James Franklin and his friends speculated endlessly about the identity of this brilliant widow—never suspecting the pimply apprentice in the back room.
