By Alexis, Sara, Taylor, and Allison Mary Astell “If all Men are born free, how is it that all Women are born Slaves?” By Alexis, Sara, Taylor, and Allison

Who Was She? Mary Astell was born on November 12, 1666, in Newcastle She died on May 11, 1731 Her Father died when she was twelve and her Mother and Aunt died in 1688 She had two brothers, William who died in his childhood, and her other younger brother, Peter She had a informal education from her Uncle

The First English Feminist Mary Astell was a very smart and opinionative lady She thought that women were in need of a proper education That women were just as equal as a man to a man With her opinions at hand, her theories were discarded by men, but some believed her She also got other women to follow her theory

Her Books Astell had two famous books: A Serious Proposal To the Ladies (1694), A Serious Proposal, Part II (1697). And another book that she wrote called For the Advancement of Their True and Greatest Interest and Some Reflections Upon Marriage (1700) Her books explain her opinion on how women are equal to men

Her Life Left without a father, she did not have a dowry, which meant she did not get married After her Aunt and Mother died, she moved to Chelsea, London and became an acquaintance for a group of literary and influential ladies The group assisted Astell in her development and publication for her work Wrote a few books In 1709, she retired and then supported a charity, a school for girls, in Chelsea

Don’t Forget… “Letters Concerning the Love of God” (1695) was not written by Mary Astell, but by John Norris Astell was not mentioned in the book, but later her identity was revealed Even though the book was not written by Mary Astell, those are her letters that she sent back and forth between her and Norris This book explains Astell’s opinion on God and theology