This study deals with the feminist issue in Emilia Pardo Bazan's non-fictional work The first part of the dissertation examines the conditions of the woman in Spain from a political, educational and social point of view in the second half of the XIX century, as well as the motivating forces which kept most of the women of the time from participating actively in the feminine cause The feminist ideas of Emilia Pardo Bazan as revealed in her extensive non-fictional works are then presented and discussed The polemics which arose among Pardo Bazan's contemporaries because of her feminist ideas are there addressed together with her reactions to this criticism The conclusion includes a composite sketch, as revealed in her non-fictional writings, of Emilia Pardo-Bazan's concept of what the status and role of the intellectual of her time could and ought to be