The first part of this work (1694) argues that wealthy women who do not intend to marry should use their dowries to finance residential women's colleges to provide the recommended education for upper- and middle-class women. The second part of this work (1697) is also included here.

A Serious Proposal to the Ladies is a 1694 book via English writer Mary Astell which outlines Astell's plan for an all-lady university where ladies might obtain a non-secular and secular training on par with that of their male opposite numbers. Astell's innovative advocacy of same educational opportunities for ladies, as well as her belief that girls are the intellectual equals of fellows, has earned her the title of one of the international's first feminist writers and, in line with some, the title of "first English feminist."A Serious Proposal to the Ladies acquired a truthful amount of backlash and criticism for the views expressed at some point of. Some condemned the have an impact on Catholicism seemed to have on Astell's plan and the institutions defined within the text. Others, however, sincerely rejected Astell's feminist perspectives and the concept of providing same academic opportunities to women. Writers which include Jonathan Swift and Richard Steele appeared to reject each factors. In a guide called Tatler, Swift and Steele wrote essays attacking A Serious Proposal. These essays mocked Astell's perspectives and the nunnery-fashion organization she proposed to serve as a college for girls.However, even as many rejected Astell's work, A Serious Proposal enjoyed a high diploma of recognition and praise amongst girl readers and huge-sufficient move to set up Astell as an influential parent in contemporary English society. Although none of her other works obtained the same quantity of attention as A Serious Proposal, Astell endured to write down essays and posted letters for several years. In 1697, an accompanying piece to A Serious Proposal to the Ladies changed into posted, titled A Serious Proposal, Part II.

Mary Astell's A Serious Proposal to the Ladies is one of the most important and neglected works advocating the establishment of women's academies. Its reception was so controversial that Astell responded with a lengthy sequel, also in this volume. The cause of great notoriety, Astell's Proposal was imitated by Defoe in his "An Academy for Women," parodied in the Tatler, satirized on the stage, plagiarized by Bishop Berkeley, and later mocked by Gilbert and Sullivan in Princess Ida.Throughout her life, in her personal relationships as well as in her role as a public intellectual, the English thinker Mary Astell (1666-1731) supported women, wrote to and for women, and, to the greatest extent possible, moved from advocacy for to action on behalf of women. In her first published work, A Serious Proposal to the Ladies (London 1694), Astell proposed the establishment of an educational institution for women aimed solely at fulfilling their needs, a place where women could withdraw from a harsh and threatening world controlled by men and organized to suit men's desires, irrespective of women's. Perhaps nowhere is her feminist position more clearly articulated than on the title page of this, her first publication: she addresses herself to women, her aim is "the advancement of their true and greatest interest," and she identifies herself as "a lover of her sex."But, despite its importance, no previously available edition of A Serious Proposal to the Ladies has addressed the complications of Astell's prose style, and none has added the kind of glossing and notes that will assist student readers in their engagement with her distinctive voice. This edition, designed for classroom use, provides an ample introduction, a carefully modernized text, helpful glosses and notes, and a useful bibliography with references for further reading.

Mary Astell's A Serious Proposal to the Ladies is one of the most important and neglected works advocating the establishment of women's academies. Its reception was so controversial that Astell responded with a lengthy sequel, also in this volume. The cause of great notoriety, Astell's Proposal was imitated by Defoe in his "An Academy for Women," parodied in the Tatler, satirized on the stage, plagiarized by Bishop Berkeley, and later mocked by Gilbert and Sullivan in Princess Ida.Throughout her life, in her personal relationships as well as in her role as a public intellectual, the English thinker Mary Astell (1666-1731) supported women, wrote to and for women, and, to the greatest extent possible, moved from advocacy for to action on behalf of women. In her first published work, A Serious Proposal to the Ladies (London 1694), Astell proposed the establishment of an educational institution for women aimed solely at fulfilling their needs, a place where women could withdraw from a harsh and threatening world controlled by men and organized to suit men's desires, irrespective of women's. Perhaps nowhere is her feminist position more clearly articulated than on the title page of this, her first publication: she addresses herself to women, her aim is "the advancement of their true and greatest interest," and she identifies herself as "a lover of her sex."But, despite its importance, no previously available edition of A Serious Proposal to the Ladies has addressed the complications of Astell's prose style, and none has added the kind of glossing and notes that will assist student readers in their engagement with her distinctive voice. This edition, designed for classroom use, provides an ample introduction, a carefully modernized text, helpful glosses and notes, and a useful bibliography with references for further reading.

Often referred to as a proto-feminist, early modern English philosopher and rhetorician Mary Astell was a pious supporter of monarchy who wrote about gender equality at a time when society tightly constrained female agency. This diverse collection of essays situates her ideas in feminist, historical, and philosophical contexts. Focusing on Astell’s work and thought, this book explores the degree to which she can be considered a “feminist” in light of her adherence to Cartesianism, Christian theology, and Tory politics. The contributors explore the philosophical underpinnings of Astell’s outspoken advocacy for the autonomy and education of women; examine the intricacies underlying her theories of power, community, and female resistance to unlawful authority; and reveal the similarities between her own philosophy of gender and sexual politics and feminist theorizing today. A broad-ranging look at one of the most important female writers of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, this volume will be especially valuable to students and scholars of feminist history and philosophy and the early modern era. Aside from the editors, the contributors are Kathleen A. Ahearn, Jacqueline Broad, Karen Detlefsen, Susan Paterson Glover, Marcy P. Lascano, Elisabeth Hedrick Moser, Christine Mason Sutherland, and Nancy Tuana.