Mary Astell
Letters Concerning the Love of God (1695) Some Reflections upon Marriage (1700) Mary Astell (12 November 1666 – 11 May 1731) was an English protofeminist writer, philosopher, and rhetorician who advocated for equal educational opportunities for women.
In addition to her belief in women's inherent intellectual potential and her thorough exploration of the perils of oppressive husbands, Mary Astell was a staunch High Tory, a conservative pamphleteer, and an advocate for the doctrine of passive obedience.
She was born, she died; she owned a small house for some years; she kept a bank account; she helped to open a charity school in Chelsea: these facts the public listings can supply.
"[5] Although Perry uncovered letters and manuscript fragments, she notes that if Astell had not written to wealthy aristocrats who could afford to pass down entire estates, very little of her life would have survived.
It is unclear if she was involved in any political or social causes during this time, although her later writings suggest an interest in issues related to women's education and equality.
Believing himself bound by his previous oath to James II, he refused to swear allegiance to William III after the 1688 Glorious Revolution and became a Nonjuror.
First published anonymously and signed "By a Lover of her Sex" in 1694, her A Serious Proposal to the Ladies for the Advancement of their True and Greatest Interest presents a plan for an all-female college where women could pursue a life of the mind.
Astell warns that disparity in intelligence, character, and fortune may lead to misery, and recommends that marriage be based on lasting friendship rather than short-lived attraction.
In her last days, she refused to see any of her acquaintances and stayed in a room with her coffin, thinking only of God; she was buried in the churchyard of Chelsea Church in London.
Astell wanted all women to have the same opportunity as men to spend eternity in heaven with God, and she believed that for this they needed to be educated and to understand their experiences.
Patricia Springborg notes that Defoe's own recommendation for an academy for women as detailed in his An Essay Upon Projects did not significantly differ from Astell's original proposal.
She referred only to the Port-Royal Logic as a source of contemporary influence, though still relied upon classical rhetorical theories as she presented her own original ideas.
In her presentation, she offered that rhetoric, as an art, does not require a male education to be master, and listed the means of which a woman could acquire the necessary skills from natural logic, which established Astell as a capable female rhetorician.
She challenged prevailing notions that women were intellectually inferior to men using a form of Cartesian dualism, which holds that the mind and body are two different entities.
She argued that even though men and women differ in body, the two innately share the same kind of mind bestowed by God, and thus are equally capable of intelligent thought.
Furthermore, she thought that the limited educational opportunities for women at the time curtailed their ability to develop their rational faculties, causing them to be perceived as more ignorant.
Therefore, she advocated for a comprehensive education that would enable women to participate in society, engage in intellectual discourse, and contribute to the public sphere.
Astell thought that a proper education was crucial for women to attain social and intellectual independence, allowing them to break free from the constraints imposed by patriarchal society.
Astell held that this education should be composed of subjects traditionally dominated by men, such as philosophy and theology, along with a strong religious component.
[32] Astell asserts that marriage’s current state is far from its original sanctity as a holy institution established by God, because of widespread corruption and immoral behaviour.
[33] Scholars have suggested that Astell's Reflections contain a veiled political subtext challenging the Whig theorists of her time to extend the same authority granted to husbands in the domestic sphere to sovereigns in the state.
[4] Astell makes jabs at John Locke critiquing An Essay Concerning Human Understanding and The Reasonableness of Christianity, along with other works she regards as deist or Socinian.
This thought rests alongside her beliefs in the essential nature of hierarchical distinctions, which she explains by stating that God's works "do not necessarily possess the same degree of perfection".
[36] Some have questioned how Astell could be both a feminist and a High-Church Tory given her disapproval of Locke's political views and her opposition to Whig theories of liberty, resistance and tolerance.
[37] Her Tory politics and English patriotism led her to reflect that "it is better some innocents should suffer than the majesty of government, and herein the divine authority should be violated.
[42] In 2021 a collection of 47 of Astell's books and pamphlets, many of which have her annotations, were identified in the Old Library at Magdalene College, Cambridge by Catherine Sutherland, the Deputy Librarian.
