Testament of Youth

From the start of Testament of Youth to the finish, Brittain discusses her feminist philosophy in deeply personal terms, and these discussions become more meaningful after the end of World War I when the feminist movement gathered political momentum in England. At first, Brittain’s feminist leanings manifest in intellectual ways; she seeks and must insist, for example, on the pursuit of a higher education that is automatically granted to her brother Edward by the sake of his gender alone. As Brittain starts her career as a professional writer while studying history at Oxford, she focuses her writing on the experience of women in various contexts, and eventually, she becomes part of the feminist movement in an even more active capacity when she becomes a part of Lady Rhondda’s Six Point Group. At this time, Brittain is an avid participant in the pursuit for more rights for women; women were granted the right to vote in 1918 after four years of contributing to the war effort in many different ways, but social and legal limitations were still in place. After deciding to marry George Catlin, Brittain links the political to the personal by making the controversial decision to keep her own last name, and the struggle she has while trying to obtain a passport reflecting her married status while still