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English philosopher, educator, and theologian, Mary Astell (1666–1713) was born in Newcastle, England, but moved to London when she was orphaned by the age of 18. When she was 23, William and Mary were crowned in England after the Glorious Revolution of 1688. Astell had been educated by her uncle, Ralph Astell, who influenced her royalist beliefs, and she remained a loyal Tory.

In London, Astell embarked on a career as a commissioned pamphleteer. Her entire body of work was condensed into an eleven-year period. Her early works are strongly polemical, expressing contempt for democracy, religious toleration, separation of church and state, and patriarchy. Astell has been identified as the “first English feminist,” one of her most quoted lines being “If all Men are born free, how is it that all Women are born slaves?”

Astell believed that individuals of all classes should be educated beyond basic skills and that women need to find their own voices. Although critical of the theories of John Locke and leading Enlightenment figures who dominated the political thought of Europe, Astell extended those theories to women. She contended that women, like men, were both intelligent and rational and deserved the benefits of education.

Astell’s views on the roles of women was highly influenced by the French salonnieres, particularly Madeleine de Scudery, and by French philosopher René Descartes. Believing that education was a viable alternative to what was doomed to be unhappy marriages, Astell argued that females should be trained to support themselves. In 1694, Astell articulated her evolving views in A Serious Proposal to the Ladies for the Advancement of the True and Greatest Interest by a Lover of Her Sex. The book presented Astell’s radical proposal that her wealthy friends finance the founding of a college for women.

In 1697 she wrote A Serious Proposal to the Ladies for the Advancement of Their True Greatest Interest, recommending a religious order where women could retire to study and support one another without the permanent commitment of a nunnery. British writer Daniel Defoe was so taken with Astell’s proposal that he demanded that Parliament make it a felony for men to solicit women in these secluded areas.

Astell’s proposal for higher education for women was received with skepticism, and she turned her attention to the Chelsea Charity School, created to educate the daughters of English veterans. She was particularly interested in educating orphans who needed to support themselves. Her involvement in this project continued until 1724.

Astell was a devout Anglican. Her correspondence with John Norris, a prominent Platonic philosopher, was published in 1695 as Letters Concerning the Love of God. Astell and Norris both criticized what they viewed as John Locke’s rejection of religion. Astell’s theological views were further articulated in 1705 in The Christian Religion, As Profess’d by a Daughter of the Church of England.

In 1700, Some Reflections upon Marriage, Occasion’d by the Duke and Duchess of Mazarine’s Case was published. Astell was interested not only in justifying the Duchess’s decision to leave her cruel and jealous husband but in pointing out that marriage was inherently unequal. Astell did not, however, exonerate women. She insisted that both sexes shared the blame for perpetuating the inequities.

Bibliography:

Hill, Bridget, ed. The First English Feminist: Reflections upon Marriage and Other Writings by Mary Astell. Adlershot, U.K.: Gower, 1986.
Hunt, Margaret, Margaret Jacob, Phyllis Mack, and Ruth Perry, eds. Women and the Enlightenment. New York: Haworth, 1984.
Smith, Florence M. Mary Astell. New York: Columbia University Press, 1916.
Springborg, Patricia. Mary Astell:Theorist of Freedom from Dominion. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2005.
Sutherland, Christine Mason. Eloquence of Mary Astell. Calgary, A.B.: University of Calgary, 2005.