Mary Astell is perhaps the first
rhetor I have came across this semester that began her career by publishing
anonymously. Although she was writing during the Enlightenment era I understand
that woman rhetors were still not common and as a result were forced to either
write anonymously or through a male name if they ever wished to get published.
Nevertheless, I appreciated the change she tried to instill by proposing the
foundation of a woman’s college. In my opinion, this attempt easily marks
women’s first attempts at striving for an education. Along with her college
proposition, her Serious Proposal to the
Ladies, Part II was a powerful call to action for woman that I found
encouraging. Not only does Astell provide an inspiring proposal to woman, but
she also dictates that woman are capable of turning an advantage into
demonstration of ability towards woman. Astell asks woman, “Why does not a
generous Emulation fire your hearts and inspire you with Noble and Becoming
Resentment?” In her proposal she claims that the only reason men have created a
prejudice towards woman is because woman themselves have allowed this to
happen. If they want equality then they essentially have to demand it. Unless
woman begin to start demanding change they are going to continue to being
condemned in foolishness and shame.
In chapter
four of her text Astell introduces her philosophies. Primarily, she instills
upon the idea of natural logic. The manner in which she introduced her opinion
slightly implied that as a rhetor she has been proven wrong in the past. Again,
Astell is the only rhetor I have read to actually admit wrongdoings in the
sense of philosophy. She claims that if your argument is eventually challenged
and corrected by another “the most we can say for our selves when the weakness
of our Arguments comes to be discover’d is that we were mistaken thro Rashness
or Ignorance.” Personally, I believe this idea damages her credibility as a
rhetor since it demonstrates that she has argued falsely before.
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