A serious proposal to the Ladies, for the advancement of their true and greatest interest (In Two Parts) — John Shaqi
A serious proposal to the Ladies, for the advancement of their true and greatest interest (In Two Parts)Astell, Mary
Religion
A serious proposal to the Ladies, for the advancement of their true and greatest interest (In Two Parts)
Astell, Mary
Feminism -- Great Britain -- History -- 18th century -- Sources; Women's rights -- Great Britain -- History -- 18th century -- Sources
How can you be content to be in the World like Tulips in a Garden, to
make a fine _shew_ and be good for nothing; have all your Glories set
in the Grave, or perhaps much sooner! What your own sentiments are I
know not, but I can’t without pity and resentment reflect, that those
Glorious Temples on which your kind Creator has bestow’d such exquisite
workmanship, shou’d enshrine no better than _Ægyptian_ Deities; be
like a garnish’d Sepulchre, which for all its glittering, has nothing
within but emptiness or putrefaction! What a pity it is, that whilst
your Beauty casts a lustre all around you, your Souls which are
infinitely more bright and radiant, (of which if you had but a clear
Idea, as lovely as it is, and as much as you now value it, you wou’d
then despise and neglect the mean _Case_ that encloses it) shou’d be
suffer’d to over-run with Weeds, lie fallow and neglected, unadorn’d
with any Grace! Altho’ the Beauty of the mind is necessary to secure
those Conquests which your Eyes have gain’d, and Time that mortal Enemy
to handsome Faces, has no influence on a lovely Soul, but to better and
improve it. For shame let’s abandon that _Old_, and therefore one wou’d
think, unfashionable employment of pursuing Butter-flies and Trifles!
No longer drudge on in the dull beaten road of Vanity and Folly, which
so many have gone before us, but dare to break the enchanted Circle
that custom has plac’d us in, and scorn the vulgar way of imitating all
the Impertinencies of our Neighbours. Let us learn to pride our selves
in something more excellent than the invention of a Fashion; And not
entertain such a degrading thought of our own _worth_, as to imagine
that our Souls were given us only for the service of our Bodies, and
that the best improvement we can make of these, is to attract the
Eyes of Men. We value _them_ too much, and our _selves_ too little,
if we place any part of our desert in their Opinion; and don’t think
our selves capable of Nobler Things than the pitiful Conquest of some
worthless heart. She who has opportunities of making an interest in
Heaven, of obtaining the love and admiration of GOD and Angels, is too
prodigal of her Time, and injurious to her Charms, to throw them away
on vain insignificant men. She need not make her self so cheap, as
to descend to court their Applauses; for at the greater distance she
keeps, and the more she is above them, the more effectually she secures
their esteem and wonder. Be so generous then, Ladies, as to do nothing
unworthy of you; so true to your Interest, as not to lessen your Empire
and depreciate your Charms. Let not your Thoughts be wholly busied in
observing what respect is paid you, but a part of them at least, in
studying to deserve it. And after all, remember that Goodness is the
truest Greatness; to be wise for your selves the greatest Wit; and
_that_ Beauty the most desirable which will endure to Eternity.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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