But, alas! what poor Woman is ever taught that she should have a higher Design than to get her a Husband?
Interpretation
This quote criticizes societal expectations placed on women, suggesting they are taught to prioritize marriage above personal ambitions.
Mary Astell highlights the limitations imposed on women by societal norms, indicating that from a young age, they are conditioned to believe their primary goal in life is to marry. This statement challenges the notion that women should aspire only to find a husband, advocating for a broader understanding of women's roles and potential beyond traditional expectations.
In practice
In a speech advocating for women's rights, this quote could be used to emphasize the need for broader aspirations among women.
Hitherto I have courted Truth with a kind of Romantick Passion, in spite of all Difficulties and Discouragements: for knowledge is thought so unnecessary an Accomplishment for a Woman, that few will give themselves the Trouble to assist us in the Attainment of it.
How can a Man respect his Wife when he has a contemptible Opinion of her and her Sex?
Although it has been said by men of more wit than wisdom, and perhaps more malice than either, that women are naturally incapable of acting prudently, or that they are necessarily determined to folly, I must by no means grant it.
If God had not intended that Women shou'd use their Reason, He wou'd not have given them any, 'for He does nothing in vain.
Some women will spend thirty minutes to an hour preparing for church externally (putting on special clothes and makeup, etc.). What would happen if we all spent the same amount of time preparing internally for church—with prayer and meditation?
While we have prisons it matters little which of us occupy the cells.
What is the most beautiful in virile men is something feminine; what is most beautiful in feminine women is something masculine.
Meditation means this opening out of the soul to the Divine and letting the Divine shine in without obstruction from the personal self. Therefore it means renunciation. It means throwing away everything that one has, and waiting empty for the light to come in.
The individual is not accountable to society for his actions in so far as these concern the interests of no person but himself.
When we look into the human heart we see the lust, the greed, the hate, the pride, the anger, and the jealousies that are so destructive. This is at the heart of the human predicament, and the Scriptures call this condition sin.
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