Mary Astell, Reflections on Marriage

Jennie Batchelor (University of Kent at Canterbury)

Ed. by Janet Todd, University of Cambridge
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.05: English Writing and Culture from the Glorious Revolution to the French Revolution, 1689-1789.
Vol. editors: Paul Baines (University of Liverpool), Daniel Cook (University of Dundee), Pat Rogers (University of South Florida), Nicholas Seager (University of Keele)

Domains

Political Science

Dates

First circulation or publication 1700

Places

England (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Essays/ Lectures (any)
Non-fictional prose

Resources

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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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1359 words

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 24 November 2024.]