Research Paper On Mary Astell

If a woman is not in a relationship with a man, just single and on her own, she is considered a lesbian. It does not seem reasonable to consider a woman to be a lesbian just because she is not with a man. There is actually a lesbian spectrum for women to follow to check their sexuality either being with a man, single, or being with another woman. Mary Astell was a famous feminist writer in eighteenth century Europe. This time was known as the Enlightenment period, where ideas were reforming against the social norm. She stood up for women’s rights and fought against man’s ideal thoughts about women. She was a single women for her whole life. She never got married, she did not see the purpose in it. During the Enlightenment period, this idea

During the eighteenth century, to go against the normal beliefs was not easy. Some feminist publications were published anonymously because the woman could have been ridiculed for her overarching theories and ideas for women. Not only was Astell courageous to publish this work with her name clearly printed, she even uses satirical and ironic statements about marriages and the mistreatment from men towards their wives. She pointed out questioning how marriage is considered such “a blessed state” but it is rare to even find a husband and wife who are happy in their marriage (Astell, 2421). Throughout her essay she really questions the man’s motives behind getting married. Marrying for love? That is not possible to Mary Astell. “They who marry for love, as they call it, find enough to repent their rash folly, and are not long in being convinced, that whatever fine speeches might be made in the heat of passion, there could be no real kindness between those who can agree to make each other miserable” (Astell, 2421). She is mocking true love, she does not believe it truly exists. To Astell, every man in the world has “no real kindness” and does not really mean the passionate, lovely things he says to his wife. She completely ridicules marriage and all it stands for just within two paragraphs. She is trying to prove to the women that they will not be happy if they are married to a man. Astell even satirized the men who actually do marry for love rather than money. She describes this as a “heroic action, which makes a mighty noise in the world, partly because of its rarity, and partly because of its extravagancy…” (Astell, 2421-22). Only a man who is unlike no other, with heroic intentions and a different way of thinking would marry for love. But Astell still can prove the wife will end up miserable because there are “no great hopes of lasting happiness.” Husbands become uninterested or annoyed easily