El Liceo General del Bello Sexo (1804), de Antonio Marqués y Espejo, una tentativa fallida para la ilustración de la mujer

Abstract

In the light of the new details regarding Marqués y Espejo’s life and work, we have wanted to examine in this paper the material which he submitted to the censorship in 1804 to publish the newspaper Liceo General del Bello Sexo o Décadas Eruditas y Morales de las Damas; a project that, however, could not become a reality due to political reasons. Marqués y Espejo was committed to the ideals of the Enlightenment, and aware of the fact that the education of young women was making its way into a man-centered society and literature. He was probably led by a special sensitivity towards the female universe because of his job, and he knew that a better training of women would have an effect on society as a whole. All these reasons explain why he attempted to raise women’s cultural level through lessons which he decided to teach in the aforementioned magazine.

Keywords

• Marqués y Espejo (Antonio)
• Liceo General del Bello Sexo (1804)
• Enlightenment
• education of women
• empathy with women
• female readers