Mary Astell and her Relation to 18th Century Poets

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Mary Astell and her Relation to 18th Century Poets
In eighteenth century England, women were stripped of all their assets upon marriage. In short, when a woman married she became the property of her husband. Subjugated and forced to obey a man who may or may not be abusive, violent, or simply unpleasant, these women did not had little choice in the matter. For this reason, none can argue the importance of Mary Astell in the history of women’s liberation. A proto-feminist, Mary Astell penned the groundbreaking essay, “Some Reflections upon Marriage.” However, Mary Astell could be considered harsh, especially when compared to Lady Mary Wortley Montagu and Anne Finch. Both women agreed with Astell to an extent, but neither believed, as Astell did, that there was no circumstance in which marriage would be a happy state for a woman.
Mary Astell’s essay “Some Reflections Upon Marriage” criticized the institution of marriage so harshly, it seemed to suggest, if not state outright, that no woman with even the smallest semblance of an education would even consider marriage as a viable optio...

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