Anna Doyle Wheeler
Anna Doyle Wheeler was a notable essayist and feminist thinker in the nineteenth century, born in 1785 in Limerick, Ireland. Raised in a privileged background as the daughter of an Anglican archbishop, she faced personal challenges, including an unhappy marriage at a young age to Francis Massy Wheeler. After leaving her husband in 1812, she explored various political ideologies, eventually aligning herself with socialist principles and becoming an outspoken critic of competitive individualism and private property. Wheeler’s writings express her belief in women's rights, famously articulated in her collaboration with William Thompson on "Appeal of One-Half the Human Race, Women, Against the Pretensions of the Other Half, Men" published in 1825. This work critiques the institution of marriage, likening it to slavery, and argues against the traditional family structure that she viewed as oppressive to women. Throughout her life, Wheeler was active in lecturing on women's rights and contributing to radical journals, making significant strides in advocating for social change and gender equality during her time. Her legacy is recognized as part of the broader feminist movement of the era.
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Subject Terms
Anna Doyle Wheeler
Writer
- Born: 1785
- Birthplace: Limerick, Ireland
- Died: 1848
- Place of death: London, England
Biography
Anna Doyle Wheeler was a nineteenth century essayist who was motivated by her feminist views to become a lecturer. She was born in Limerick, Ireland, in 1785, the daughter of wealthy Irish Protestants. Her father was a well-respected Anglican archbishop and her mother was well known as a very attractive woman. Married at age fifteen to the seventeen-year-old Francis Massy Wheeler, the young bride moved to her husband’s estate of Ballywire at Lizard Connell in Limerick. Wheeler bore her husband six children, only two of whom survived childhood. Wheeler’s marriage was an unhappy one, and she sought solace in reading, perusing works about politics and philosophy.
In 1812, Wheeler left her husband and with the help of her uncle moved into the Government House in Guernsey. She remained there for four years before returning to Ireland. In 1818, Wheeler and her children settled into a socialist community in Normandy, France. Socialism intrigued Wheeler and she became an outspoken critic of what she called competitive individualism and the holding of private property. She embraced the politics of the group but her youngest daughter, Rosina, objected to the lifestyle that her mother was living and returned to London to live with her great-uncle.
In 1820, Wheeler’s estranged husband died, and she returned with her daughter Henrietta to Ireland. Since her husband left his estate to Henrietta, Wheeler resided with her brother on his estate near Dublin for the next three years. In 1823, Wheeler was in Paris, where she made the acquaintance of the French socialist Charles Fourier. Later that year in London, Wheeler sought to advance the ideas of socialists Fourier and Henri de Saint-Simon, associating with various radicals and befriending various artists. It was during this period that Wheeler met William Thompson, who became her partner in her socialist endeavors.
Wheeler and Thompson wrote Appeal of One-Half the Human Race, Women, Against the Pretensions of the Other Half, Men, to Retain Them in Political and Thence in Civil and Domestic Slavery (1825), which was originally meant as a rebuttal to an article against women’s suffrage that appeared in the Encyclopedia Britannica. Wheeler expresses the belief that marriage was like slavery and robbed women of the right to have their own opinions. Her criticism of the family structure in society is largely a cry against patriarchal traditions. She objects to the idea of love as a type of bondage that deprives women of reason. After the publication of their book, Wheeler began lecturing on the topic of women’s rights throughout London and contributed numerous pieces to radical journals.