‘The public face of feminism'

Writing of the experiences and aspirations of the First World War women’s movement, Olive Schreiner’s comments raise questions for the modern reader:

You will look back at us with astonishment! You will wonder at passionate struggles that accomplished so little; at the, to you, obvious paths to attain our ends which we did not take; at the intolerable evils before which it will seem to you we sat down passive; at the great truths staring us in the face, which we failed to see; at the truths we grasped at, but could never quite get our fingers round. ¹