One of the dominant themes in the novella is the positive treatment of actresses, acting, and theatre, much more positive than contemporary works.[1] Doyle describes such positive treatments of acting as "highlighting Alcott's longtime interest in the theatre. She acted in community groups wrote plays for such groups and attended[...] many performances in Boston".[1] Doyle describes this treatment similar to the treatment of acting in the short stories "V.V.: or Plots and Counterplots" (1865) and "A Double Tragedy: An Actor's Story" (1865), and the novels Work: A Story of Experience (1873) and Jo's Boys (1886).[1] The most apparent permeation of theatre in Behind a Mask is the scene with the tableaux,[1] in which Jean and Gerald hold lurid poses to entertain their audience.
Another theme present in the novella is that of social class. In her article titled "Domestic Conspiracy: Class Conflict and Performance in Louisa May Alcott's 'Behind a Mask,'" Elizabeth Schewe discusses the significance of the main character being a governess, a character who embodies class conflict in nineteenth-century literature. She points out that the governess (a lower-class individual) is teaching Bella, the young lady of the house (an upper-class individual.) In itself, this is a subversion of the social hierarchy.[5]
The attainment of agency also claims thematic precedence in Behind a Mask. Sara Hackenberg suggests that Jean Muir actually adopts the authorship of her own life by assuming many roles: the governess, the teacher, the mesmerizer, the master plotter, and, finally, the surrogate fiction author. Using fiction (or deception) to manipulate "characters" (the Coventry family), Jean creates her own story in which she is both the antagonist and the protagonist.[6]
