Inés Joyes y Blake facts for kids

Inés Joyes y Blake (born December 27, 1731 – died 1808) was an important Spanish writer and translator. She lived during a time called the Age of Enlightenment, when new ideas about reason and human rights were popular. Inés Joyes y Blake became well-known for translating a famous book called The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abissinia by Samuel Johnson. She also added her own essay to this book, titled "Apología de las mujeres" (which means "Apology of Women"). This essay is considered one of the very first feminist writings in Spain, where she spoke up for women's rights.

Inés Joyes' Life Story

Inés Joyes y Blake was born in Madrid, Spain, on December 27, 1731. Her family was Catholic, with a mother from France and a father from Ireland. Many Irish families lived in Spain at that time. Inés's family was involved in business and became quite wealthy.

Education and Languages

Because her family was well-off, Inés received a much better education than most women of her time. She was very smart and learned several languages, including English, French, and Spanish. She also took part in cultural meetings with other thinkers of the Enlightenment period.

Marriage and Family Life

In 1752, Inés married Agustín Blake, a merchant who was also a relative of her mother. Their marriage was arranged, which was common then, to help their families' social and economic standing. Inés and Agustín had nine children together – five boys and four girls – over 20 years.

They had many connections with influential people in their community. Inés focused on her family duties, but she also helped with her husband's business. They first lived in Málaga, and then from 1767 to 1771, they moved to Vélez-Málaga. After her husband passed away in 1782, Inés took over his business. She lived in Málaga until she died in 1808.

Her Important Translation

Inés Joyes kept her connection to Irish culture and language. This helped her in 1798 when she translated the English philosophical novel The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abissinia by Samuel Johnson. This was the first time this book was translated into Spanish.

Inés was 67 years old when she did this important work. She also added her own essay, "Apología de las mujeres" (Apology of Women), to the translated book. This essay is her only known work that still exists today. It showed her advanced ideas about women's rights during the Enlightenment. She was part of a group of women in Spain and Europe who started to highlight the unfair treatment of women in society.

Why Her Work Matters Today

Even though Inés Joyes lived a quiet life, her translation and essay were not widely noticed at the time. However, recent studies of her writing show how important her ideas were for early feminist thought.

Inés Joyes' Ideas and Writings

Her translation of the novel The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abissinia by Samuel Johnson (on left) includes the one of the first feminist essays in Spain (on the right)

"Apología de las mujeres" is an essay that Inés Joyes wrote for her daughters. It was written as a letter and added to her translation of Rasselas, Prince of Abissinia. In this essay, she wrote about the situation of women in her time. She spoke out against the poor education women received and the unfairness and double standards they faced in society.

Speaking from Experience

Inés wrote the essay using "I," sharing her own experiences to make her points stronger. She showed a realistic picture of family life, different from the perfect image often seen in books back then. She believed that family was important for society, but she also saw that women had limited opportunities within it. Their identity and social standing were often tied only to marriage.

Women's Role in Society

In her essay, Inés Joyes explored how women interacted with public life in 18th-century Spain. She strongly argued that women could use their reason and intellect. She wanted women to understand their own smarts and worth, encouraging them to believe in themselves despite what men might think. She clearly criticized the social inequalities that kept women focused only on family life. She was especially concerned about women's education and their role in society.

Thoughts on Education

Inés Joyes agreed with ideas from other thinkers, like Marquise de Lambert. They believed that keeping women uneducated was a way to keep them under male control. Inés explained that family and marriage were not the only ways for women to find happiness. She encouraged women to find joy and satisfaction in activities like reading and studying.

Challenging Double Standards

One important criticism in Inés Joyes's work was about the moral double standard. This meant that men and women were judged by very different rules, especially in family matters and life choices. This was a unique idea that other thinkers of her time didn't often explore. She showed how women were discriminated against and called for changes in customs and for equal treatment between men and women.

In her essay, Inés encouraged women to develop their own intellectual, moral, and emotional independence to find happiness. This shows that she was a clear-thinking, brave person who did not simply accept the ideas about women that were common during the Enlightenment.

A Long-Standing Debate

"Apología" was part of a long discussion about women's roles. For example, in 1726, Father Feijóo published "Defensa de las mujeres" (Defense of Women), which caused a big debate. In the 1790s, women across Europe started demanding more rights. Inés Joyes's work, like that of other writers such as Josefa Amar y Borbón, focused on the inequalities women faced in their private lives and in social settings: family, education, relationships, and writing. It's possible that Inés Joyes, knowing Enlightenment ideas, might have read A Vindication of the Rights of Woman by Mary Wollstonecraft, which could explain some similarities in her essay.

Impact of Her Work

"Apología" did not have a big impact when it was first published. Even though it was announced in newspapers like the Gaceta and Diario de Madrid [es], it was not reprinted until 2009. Later translators of Rasselas in the 1800s didn't even mention her essay.

See also

In Spanish: Inés Joyes y Blake para niños

• Josefa Amar y Borbón, 18th-century Spanish writer and translator
• Margarita Hickey, 18th-century Spanish poet, translator, and geographer