Today Mary Astell is known as the first English feminist. In certain respects this title is something of a misnomer. The feminist concerns of Astell's work, including her passionate advocation of female education and vehement condemnation of the inequalities of marriage, had been addressed by earlier women writers such as Bathsua Makin and Anna Van Schurman. Equally, Astell's status as a feminist writer has troubled some critics who struggle to equate her assertion of the rights of women in marriage with her High Tory Anglican principles and her belief in the Divine Right of Kings. Unfortunately, little concrete biographical evidence exists to chronicle Astell's life. Unlike the better known feminist writer and novelist Mary Wollstonecra

This article in full comprises 2078 words but only the first 150 or so words are available to non-members.

All our articles have been written recently by experts in their field, more than 95% of them university professors. To read about membership, please click here.

First published 21 March 2002

Citation: Batchelor, Jennie. "Mary Astell". The Literary Encyclopedia. 21 March 2002.
[http://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=168, accessed 20 November 2009.]