"As it can't but be uneasie to the Person who pays it, so he who receives it will be sometimes disappointed when he expects to find it, for that Woman must be endow'd with a Wisdom and Goodness much above what we suppose the Sex capable of, I fear much greater than e're a Man can pretend to, who can so constantly conquer her Passions, and divest her self even of Innocent Self-love, as to give up the Cause when she is in the right, and to submit her enlightned Reason, to the imperious Dictates of a blind Will, and wild Imagination, even when she clearly perceives the ill Consequences of it, the Imprudence, nay Folly and Madness of such a Conduct."
— Astell, Mary (1666-1731)
Author
Work Title
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for John Nutt
Date
1700
Metaphor
"As it can't but be uneasie to the Person who pays it, so he who receives it will be sometimes disappointed when he expects to find it, for that Woman must be endow'd with a Wisdom and Goodness much above what we suppose the Sex capable of, I fear much greater than e're a Man can pretend to, who can so constantly conquer her Passions, and divest her self even of Innocent Self-love, as to give up the Cause when she is in the right, and to submit her enlightned Reason, to the imperious Dictates of a blind Will, and wild Imagination, even when she clearly perceives the ill Consequences of it, the Imprudence, nay Folly and Madness of such a Conduct."
Metaphor in Context
A meer Obedience, such as is paid only to Authority, and not out of Love and a sense of the Justice and Reasonableness of the Command, will be of an uncertain Tenure. As it can't but be uneasie to the Person who pays it, so he who receives it will be sometimes disappointed when he expects to find it, for that Woman must be endow'd with a Wisdom and Goodness much above what we suppose the Sex capable of, I fear much greater than e're a Man can pretend to, who can so constantly conquer her Passions, and divest her self even of Innocent Self-love, as to give up the Cause when she is in the right, and to submit her enlightned Reason, to the imperious Dictates of a blind Will, and wild Imagination, even when she clearly perceives the ill Consequences of it, the Imprudence, nay Folly and Madness of such a Conduct.
(p. 35)
(p. 35)
Categories
Provenance
Reading
Citation
6 entries in ESTC (1700, 1703, 1706, 1730).
Some Reflections Upon Marriage, Occasion'd by the Duke & Dutchess of Mazarine's Case; Which Is Also Consider'd. (London: Printed for John Nutt near Stationers-Hall, 1700). <Link to ESTC><Link to Penn's Women Writers>
Some Reflections Upon Marriage, Occasion'd by the Duke & Dutchess of Mazarine's Case; Which Is Also Consider'd. (London: Printed for John Nutt near Stationers-Hall, 1700). <Link to ESTC><Link to Penn's Women Writers>
Date of Entry
04/25/2014
