Reasonable Tulips: Women's Education and Protofeminist Literature in Late Seventeenth- and Early Eighteenth-Century England
Abstract (300 words maximum)
England in the Early Modern period produced a surge of protofeminist literature in amounts never seen before in the country’s history. Protofeminist authors adamantly argued that access to education would improve the lives of women and those around them, but their motivations for this argument remain largely unexplored. Current historiography has focused on broader themes of expanded literacy and education in England during this period but falls short in exploring the connection between arguments for female education and the slow evolution of female agency. This project will attempt to fill that historiographical gap by examining the works of late seventeenth- and early eighteenth-century English protofeminist authors, such as Bathsua Makin, Mary Astell, Judith Drake, and Lady Mary Chudleigh, as well as contemporary philosophy on knowledge, to better understand the motivations behind their arguments and to determine the desired effect of these publications.
Academic department under which the project should be listed
RCHSS - History & Philosophy
Primary Investigator (PI) Name
Dr. Amy Dunagin
Reasonable Tulips: Women's Education and Protofeminist Literature in Late Seventeenth- and Early Eighteenth-Century England
England in the Early Modern period produced a surge of protofeminist literature in amounts never seen before in the country’s history. Protofeminist authors adamantly argued that access to education would improve the lives of women and those around them, but their motivations for this argument remain largely unexplored. Current historiography has focused on broader themes of expanded literacy and education in England during this period but falls short in exploring the connection between arguments for female education and the slow evolution of female agency. This project will attempt to fill that historiographical gap by examining the works of late seventeenth- and early eighteenth-century English protofeminist authors, such as Bathsua Makin, Mary Astell, Judith Drake, and Lady Mary Chudleigh, as well as contemporary philosophy on knowledge, to better understand the motivations behind their arguments and to determine the desired effect of these publications.