Mary Astell, Reflections on Marriage

Jennie Batchelor (University of Kent at Canterbury)
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Mary Astell's

Reflections Upon Marriage

(1700) is, in many ways, the philosophical antecedent to her previous work,

A Serious Proposal to the Ladies

(Part I 1694; Part II 1697). In its exploration of the fundamental inequality of marriage and the unhappy consequences of an ill-judged match, the

Reflections

outlined many of the problems for which her earlier proposal for female education offered a solution.

Astell's Reflections was inspired by the marriage and acrimonious split of her notorious neighbour, the Duchess of Mazarine. In Mazarine's story, Astell found a perfect exemplum of the “dangers of an ill Education and an unequal marriage” her text explores. The Duke of Mazarine was cruel, mad, jealous, extravagant with money and in every way his wife's inferior. When the Duchess

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Citation: Batchelor, Jennie. "Reflections on Marriage". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 25 October 2002 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=2446, accessed 19 March 2024.]

2446 Reflections on Marriage 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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