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

was unheard of for women, she was looked at as a lesbian for these thoughts. According to the spectrum, Astell technically was and in her “Some Reflections Upon Marriage,” she uses irony, satire, and a vivid depiction of failed marriages to encourage women to stay single and go against the societal norms for women which would be considered queer for the eighteenth century.
Astell has written and published a number of works about feminism during the eighteenth century. Considering the time and the social beliefs this was very bold. Some works from the eighteenth century on rights for women could not even be published with an author because of the male hierarchy in society. “Some Reflections Upon Marriage” completely goes against all of those ideals. Astell was not like most English women in the eighteenth century. She had an education, this was shocking for a women. Her uncle homeschooled Astell while she was a young women. She took this knowledge and discovered she can be more than just a house wife who is objectified by her husband. During this time men only recognized their wives for being important for one purpose only which was bearing and raising their child. Jean-Jacques Rousseau wrote a lengthy piece of work called “The Duties of Women,” stating ideas that women are just subjects to their husbands. He believed there was no other duty a women was needed for other than having a child and running the household, other than that they were there for a man’s pleasure. This is the complete opposite of what Astell stood for. Rousseau could have been the reason Astell even decided to stand up for her rights as a woman. From her early, unexpected education, Mary became “passionate” about political philosophy but she never fought as far as women deserving to have government power like men or run their own businesses, or for a women to become part of the clergy (Perry, 8-9). Astell was a religious woman, she even saw the irony in her own beliefs contradicting with the church’s beliefs. She could have been considered an easy lady because she did sleep around and do whatever she pleased so that went against religious beliefs but even the fact of the matter that her ideas and actions could have her labeled as a lesbian which really goes against the religion.
Mary Astell can be considered queer by a lesbian spectrum written by Adrienne Rich. “Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence,” discusses women’s sexuality. It was published in 1980 which was popular time for feminism and Rich is looking into how feminism and lesbianism can go hand and hand. She believes that women who are just annoyed with the cruel and hierarchal treatment from men led the women to fight for their equality and feminist ideals but she also believes it led to lesbianism of these women. She lists a number of reasons that cause these women to become this way. This is considered the power of men, they have such powers over women for example; the force of sex upon a women is listed and even to use women as “objects in male transactions” (Rich, 132). Rich is considering the affect that even fathers have over their daughters by wedding them off to total strangers without the daughter’s consent. Women during the eighteenth century are forced into marriages with men, it is the societal norm then. Women were looked down upon if they were not able to find a husband, it caused some questioning about that specific woman. Rich describes this spectrum from “deviant to abhorrent or simply rendered invisible” (Rich, 130). She creates this spectrum and names it “lesbian continuum,” to prove that women considered lesbian may not be sexually attracted to women (Rich 135). This idea of lesbian continuum is trying to describe the women who just do not want to be with a man because of the powers of men that caused them to be this way. Feminism plays a role because this women feels like they deserve better than to be forced into unwanted sexual penetration or marrying a complete stranger because her father demands it of her. This women feels she should have her own power, her own mind but this idea is extremely unusual during the eighteenth century, even when Rich’s article was written in the 80’s, women felt the need to find a husband who will support her. Rich was not the first women to describe this queer way of thinking, Astell supports this women empowerment all throughout her essay “Some Reflections Upon Marriage.”
Mary Astell focused on women to stay single within her famous essay.

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

and fall out of love with their wives quickly. Astell satirically depicts a husband as a greedy, selfish person and marriage as a disastrous state rather than “blessed.”
To prove that women should never even think about marriage and all the horrors that come with it, Astell continues to depict the epic failures that come in a marriage. She uses imagery throughout her essay to make sure these women are totally disgusted with men and even the thought of marrying one. She reaches out to women of rich families first. She really hits them hard with the fact that they are only getting married because a man is in love with her family’s money. Her father’s not only giving this man money and land but also handing over his daughter for the husband to use for pleasure and really just pleasure only. The husband gets his cake and eats it too while the wife sits waiting for his beck and call, awfully unfair and miserable for the woman. Astell refers to married women as “slaves” and describes their husband as their rulers. The husband owns a “Kingdom that cannot be moved, an incorruptible crown of glory” (Astell, 2423). The women is depicted as the kingdom, who is being ruled over by her husband, a corrupt leader who will not be stopped. Astell described marriage as torture and abuse, her goal was to keep women from getting married. She may have also instilled constant fear of men and marriage for the readers of this essay.
Mary Astell believed in a way that was like no other before. No women would ever choose to stay single for the rest of their life in England during the eighteenth century. That women was frowned upon, this way of living was out of the oridinary. Mary Astell can be considered queer and based on Rich’s spectrum, she is a lesbian. Astell continued to write feminist essays, she was a powerful voice in England’s Enlightenment period for women’s rights. She could be the reason why women decided to stand up to men and believe they can be more than their objects of pleasure.