Some Reflections upon Marriage (Kilka rozważań o małżeństwie)

Wprowadzenie

Astell published the essay anonymously in 1700. The occasion was a much-discussed court case: Hortense Mancini, Duchess of Mazarin, had left her jealous husband and lived in England, and the case was argued over in print. Astell does not oppose marriage as such, but warns women to choose very carefully, because once married they are subject to their husband’s rule without appeal. In the preface to the third edition (1706) she turned the political language of the Whigs against them: if absolute power is wrong in the state, it cannot be right in the family. The text is now read as an early feminist critique of Locke’s political theory.

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• Dwa traktaty o rządzie1689 · John Locke

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