In 1765, William Blackstone published his influential Commentaries on the Laws of England, which formalized the legal concept of coverture. This doctrine dictated that a woman's legal rights were subsumed by her husband upon marriage, effectively rendering her legally invisible. Blackstone's work had a lasting impact on English law and societal views on marriage, influencing legal systems in many English-speaking countries and shaping women's rights discussions for generations.

The legal concept of coverture formalized by Blackstone provided the legal antagonist for early feminist writers like Mary Wollstonecraft. Her works, alongside poems from the era, protested female legal non-existence and sought to redefine women's roles in society and literature.