Daughter of a coal merchant, Mary Astell moved to London as a young woman and made her living as a writer at a time when almost no woman could. A devout Anglican and a political Tory, she used the reasoning of Descartes to argue that women have minds as capable as men's. She proposed a college where women could study and pray, and she sharply criticized marriages that turned wives into servants.
Core ideas
Women have the same power of reason as men and deserve a real education
A marriage without friendship and respect is a kind of tyranny
Faith and reason work together, and every soul is equal before God
The tradition: Early feminist (Anglican)
Early feminism defended the dignity and education of women long before the vote was on the table. Astell is one of its first English voices, and an unusual one: a conservative Christian who argued from reason.
