BY LISTENING attentively to female voices rather than focusing exclusively on male historical sources, it has been possible to show that the Jewish women discussed in this study were neither simple bystanders in the enlightened world of their time nor yet mere mediators who facilitated the cultural activity of men (the main role often attributed to the salonnieres). The ample evidence presented clearly positions these women as both agents of culture and creators of culture: as intellectuals in their own right. Experiencing and expressing a nascent feminist consciousness, they actively opposed attempts to silence women, rejected demands for their selfabnegation, and contested the denial of independent female thought, striving instead to constitute themselves and other women as autonomous human beings. They joined the expanding public sphere that was developing in Europe, at times through formal literary activity, but also through less conspicuous practices such as conversation and letter-writing. They internalized ideas and values from the world of the Enlightenment, such as the acquisition of knowledge, the pursuit of happiness, the desire for self-improvement, and the critical stance, which in their case (as in that of other contemporary women) encouraged a feminist outlook. It is true that central currents of Enlightenment thought fostered anti-feminist ideas, helping to perpetuate women's subordinated position in society and culture by endorsing the ageold patriarchal tradition with modern claims; but there were other strands of Enlightenment thought that encouraged feminist positions and aspirations. We have seen how these Jewish women turned their own critical eyes on the social, cultural, and at times political reality around them, and drew on basic principles of the Enlightenment to support their claim to the right to participate, as women, in the advancement of public reason. In this spirit they applied gender criticism to the dominant discourse, calling into question the social and cultural norms that constrained women's lives, scrutinizing even the patriarchal institution of marriage, in extreme cases to the point of undermining its foundations. Although, as noted in the Introduction, the Enlightenment was not the only influence on the cultural world of these women, it is revealed as a vital element in understanding their thought and actions.