Episode 11: Proto-feminism in Britain and Ireland – 1714 to 1785

In Episode 11, Dr Mary Jo MacDonald of the University of Jyväskylä explores how the end of the Licensing Act, sweeping political change, and a revolution in intellectual culture opened unprecedented opportunities for women to shape political, social, and intellectual life in Britain and Ireland. The film highlights major proto‑feminist thinkers of the late 17th and 18th centuries, including Judith Drake, who defended women’s equal intellectual capacities in In Defence of the Female Sex; Mary Astell, the 'Cartesian feminist' who proposed The Female Academy; and Margaret Cavendish, the visionary writer-philosopher behind The Blazing World.

It also celebrates the 'Triumvirate of Wit': Aphra Behn, the boundary‑breaking writer and ex‑spy; Eliza Haywood, one of the era’s most prolific authors; and Delarivier Manley, the political satirist behind The New Atalantis. Their works shaped early party identities and pushed women into the centre of public debate. The episode closes by connecting these writers to the later Blue Stockings Society, a movement that championed women’s education and intellectual collaboration, reflecting the lasting legacy of these pioneering voices.