Some Reflections upon Marriage

Introduction

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.

Connections

Criticizes

• Two Treatises of Government1689 · John Locke

More works by Mary Astell

• 1694A Serious Proposal to the Ladies