Who was Mary Astell (1666-1731)?:
She was an English rhetorician, feminist writer, and philosopher who devoted her life to learning since she was a woman with a strong desire to learn. She never stopped reading, learning, and writing during a period when women's access to knowledge was viewed as as a loss of femininity. Mary Astell was a member of the Cambridge-based school of philosophy, which drew its ideas from radical thinkers like Pythagoras, Plato, and Aristotle. She was well-known for the ability she had to engage in conversation with both modern men and women, and especially for her creative approaches to women's social status through philosophical discourse. "A Serious Proposal to the Ladies, for the Advancement of Their True and Greatest Interest (1694)" and "A Serious Proposal, Part II (1697)" are Astell's two most well-known works, which show her idea of creating a new kind of institution for women that would offer both religious and secular education. She claimed that women's lack of educational opportunities, rather than women's inferiority, was the cause of the current intellectual gap between women and men. She was among the first authors to support the notion that women were equally rational as men.
·Situation of women at the time: Western European women in the 17th and 18th centuries lacked formal education and had little legal protection. Astell made the case that women needed to have equal access to education as men in a number of well-known writings. Astell was the first to use philosophy to support her claims for gender equality.
-Inward Beauty above Outward Beauty: "to fix that Beauty, to make it lasting and permanent, which Nature with all the helps of Art, cannot secure:
And to place it out of the reach of Sickness and Old Age, by transferring it from a corruptible Body to an
immortal Mind. An obliging Design, which wou'd procure them inward Beauty, to whom Nature has
unkindly denied the outward; and not permit those Ladies who have comely Bodies, to tarnish their Glory
with deformed Souls" (p. 3)
·This quote highlights that genuine beauty originates from within, emphasizing a person's character and thought over their outward appearance. She believes that inner beauty endures forever, while outward beauty disappears with age and disease. Astell challenges the notion that only physical beauty matters by advising women to value and cultivate their inner qualities rather than obsessing over their appearance.
-The Importance of the mind: "This is a matter infinitely more worthy your Debates, than what Colours are most
agreeable, or whats the Dress becomes you best? Your Glass will not do you half so much service as a
serious reflection on your own Minds; which will discover Irregularities more worthy your Correction, and
keep you from being either too much elated or depress'd by the representations of the other." (p.4)
·Astell believes that thinking on your character and thoughts is of greater importance than concentrating on your appearance. She believes that having a self-evaluation will help you recognize and work on your shortcomings, which will result in a more positive outlook. By doing this, you may keep yourself from feeling too happy or too proud of yourself because of how other people perceive you.
- The many capabilities of women: "And not entertain such a degrading thought of our own worth, as to imagine that our Souls were given us only for the service of our Bodies, and that the best improvement we can make of these, is to attract the eyes of men. We value them too much, and our selves too little, if we place any part of our worth in their Opinion; and do not think our selves capable of Nobler Things than the pitiful Conquest of some worthless heart." (p.5) + "For, since GOD has given Women as well as Men intelligent Souls, why should they be forbidden to
improve them? Since he has not denied us the faculty of Thinking, why shou'd we not (at least in gratitude
to him) employ our Thoughts on himself, their noblest Object, and not unworthily bestow them on Trifles
and Gaities and secular Affairs?" (p.17)
·Astell says that we shouldn't minimize our value by thinking that it is only related to pleasing and appealing men. She believes that our souls and innate capacities are intended for far more significant goals than gaining temporary emotions. Putting importance on other people's opinions devalues us; we are naturally capable of much greater and more significant achievements than simply gaining the love of someone whose value may be in doubt.
-Women are denied the opportunity to improve their minds: "So that instead of inquiring
why all Women are not wise and good, we have reason to wonder that there are any so. Were the men as
much neglected, and as little care taken to cultivate and improve them, perhaps they wou'd be so far from
surpassing those whom they now despise, that they themselves wou'd sink into the greatest stupidity and
brutality". (p.6) + "But if our Nature is spoil'd,
instead of being improv'd at first; if from our Infancy, we are nurs'd up in Ignorance and Vanity; are taught
to be Proud and Petulent, Delicate and Fantastick, Humorous and Inconstant, 'tis not strange that the ill
effects of this Conduct appears in all the future Actions of our Lives" (p.8) + "Whereas Women were they rightly Educated, had they obtain'd a well inform'd and
discerning Mind, they would be proof against all these Batteries, see through and scorn those little silly
Artifices which are us'd to ensnare and deceive them." (p. 10)
·Men would probably suffer from a lack of moral and intellectual growth and would even turn foolish and violent if they were subjected to the same kind of neglect. This argument challenges the cultural norms of the time, when women were frequently excluded from educational and personal growth and instead were given household duties.
-The retirement: "we will call it a Religious Retirement, and such as shall have a double aspect, being not only
a Retreat from the World for those who desire that advantage; but likewise, an institution and previous
discipline, to fit us to do the greatest good in it; such an institution as this (if I do not mightily deceive my
self,) would be the most probable method to amend the present, and improve the future Age." (p. 14) + "No Provocations are given in this Amicable Society, but to Love and to good Works, which will afford
such an entertaining employment, that you'l have as little inclination as leisure to pursue those Follies
which in the time of your ignorance pass'd with you under the name of love" (p. 15) + "It shall not so cut you off from the world,
as to hinder you from bettering and improving it; but rather qualify you to do it the greatest Good, and be a
Seminary to stock the Kingdom with pious and prudent Ladies; whose good Example it is to be hop'd, will
so influence the rest of their Sex, that Women may no longer pass for those little useless and impertinent Animals, which the ill conduct of too many, has caus'd them to be mistaken for" (p. 16)
·Women would be more prepared to make a significant contribution to the world and society around them if they were to develop their moral and intellectual faculties in a controlled setting such as a kind of religious retirement where they gain knowledge and learn from each other to make the world a better place and to set an example for all of the women that come after that deserve the opportunity to expand their knowledge.
Works Cited
Astell, Mary. A Serious Proposal to the Ladies, for the Advancement of their True and Greatest Interest. By a Lover of Her SEX. London. 1694.
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