The article presents the point of view of the literary critic, publicist, novelist Yevgeny Solovyov-Andreevich on the literary process, the women's issue in society and literature of the 19th century through his literary-critical activities. The literary critic sees the beginning of the emancipation of women in the abolition of serfdom and considers the patriarchal structure of society and the family obsolete. He emphasizes that the path to women's emancipation has gone through several stages and believes that it is not complete. Solovyov took a number of actions to draw attention to the problem of attitudes towards women. The critic supported the writer Anastasia Verbitskaya, the author of works about the fate of women “The Spirit of the Times” and “Keys of Happiness”, who advocated the equality of women and men, calling on women to self-develop. Under the pseudonym Andreevich, on behalf of the poet's friend Alexandra Smirnova, he spoke about Alexander Pushkin’s respectful attitude towards women. Andreevich, a literary critic, also considered female images in the works of Zinaida Gippius’s storybook “Mirrors”, particularly, in the story “Golden Flower”.