Universiteit Gent Academiejaar 2006 – 2007

“Had God Intended Women as a Finer Sort of Cattle, He Would Not Have Made Them Reasonable”

Female Education in Seventeenth – Century Literary Texts

Promotor: Verhandeling voorgelegd aan de Prof. Dr. Jean Pierre Vander Motten Faculteit Letteren en Wijsbegeerte voor het verkrijgen van de graad van licentiaat in de taal – en letterkunde: Germaanse Talen, door Fientje Van der Spiegel

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would gladly like to thank Prof. dr. Jean Pierre Vander Motten, for helping me during the course of my inquiry and for teaching me numerous useful and interesting things.

I show my gratitude to my parents, who made it possible for me to do what many of the women discussed in my thesis simply were not able to do, viz. to study. I am also very grateful to my brother Rogier and all of my friends, both in Ghent and at home, for supporting me all the time.

Special thanks goes to my friend Filip, who was always there for me with love and support.

1 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction 5

Chapter 1: History of Women’s Education 8 1. Introduction 8 2. Before the Seventeenth Century 8 2.1. Greeks and Romans 8 2.2. Angles and Saxons 10 2.3. The Middle Ages 12 2.4. The Tudors 15 3. Female Education in the Seventeenth Century 18 3.1. The Early Stuarts 18 3.2. The Commonwealth 19 3.3. After the Restoration: the Later Stuarts 20

Chapter 2: Perceptions about Women and Education in the 25 Seventeenth Century 1. Introduction 25 2. Influences from the Middle Ages 25 3. Influence from Enlightenment Thinkers 27 4. Women and Learning in Literature 29 4.1. Conduct Books 29 4.2. Popular Literature 30 5. William Cavendish’s The Variety (1649) 32 5.1. The Author 32 5.2. “ The Variety” (1649) 35 5.2.1. General Information 35 5.2.2. Content 35 5.2.3. Female Education in The Variety 37

2 Chapter 3: Female Education for Religious Purposes 42 1. Religious Context in the 17th Century 42 2. Edward Chamberlayne’s An Academy or Colledge: wherein Young Ladies 43 and Gentlewomen May at a very moderate Expence be duly instructed (1671) 2.1. The Author 43 2.2. An Academy or Colledge (1671) 44 2.2.1. General Information 44 2.2.2. Female Education in Edward Chamberlayne’s An Academy or 45 Colledge 3. Mary Astell’s A Serious Proposal to the Ladies, for the Advancement of 49 their true and greatest Interest (1694) 3.1. The Author 49 3.2. A Serious Proposal (1694) 51 3.2.1. General Information 51 3.2.2. Female Education in A Serious Proposal to the Ladies 51 3.2.2.1. Consequences of the Lack of Female Education 51 3.2.2.2. Vices and Virtues 52 3.2.2.3. The solution: the Establishment of a Retreat 54 3.2.2.4. The Establishment of a Retreat: Practical Arrangements 56 3.2.2.5. Disadvantages of not Living in a Retreat 58 3.2.2.6. Advantages of Living in a Retreat 60 3.2.2.6.1. Spiritual Advantages 60 3.2.2.6.2. Practical Advantages 62 3.2.2.7. Custom Being Replaced by Reason 62 3.2.2.8. Reactions on Astell’s Proposal 63 4. Conclusion 65

Chapter 4: Female Education for Intellectual Purposes 67 1. The Seventeenth Century: the Age of Reason and Scientific Development 67 1.1. The Universities 67 1.2. The Royal Society 68 2. Margaret Cavendish’s The Female Academy (1662) 70 2.1. The Author 70

3 2.2. The Female Academy (1662) 72 2.2.1. General Information 72 2.2.2. Female Education in The Female Academy 72 2.2.2.1. The concept of the Female Academy 72 2.2.2.2. The Behaviour of Women 73 2.2.2.3. Margaret Cavendish as a Playwright 74 2.2.2.4. The Gentlemen’s Academy 77 2.2.2.5. Do Women have as much wisdom and Wit as Men? 79 3. Bathsua Makin’s An Essay To Revive the Antient Education of Gentlewomen 81 (1673) 3.1. The Author 81 3.2. An Essay To Revive the Antient Education of Gentlewomen 81 (1673) 3.2.1. General Information 81 3.2.2. Female Education in An Essay To Revive the Antient Education 82 of Gentlewomen 3.2.2.1. The Introduction 82 3.2.2.2. Women Are Not Brainless 84 3.2.2.3. Educating Women Is Not Useless 86 3.2.2.4. Objections and Answers 88 3.2.2.4.1. Anna Maria Van Schurman Van Utrecht 88 3.2.2.4.2. Objections and Answers in An Essay To 89 Revive the Antient Education of Gentlewomen 3.2.2.5. Practical Arrangements 91 4. Conclusion 91

Conclusions 93

Bibliography 99

4 INTRODUCTION

The title of my dissertation might be considered representative for the attitude towards women’s education in nowadays society as well as in numerous other cultures driven by the male population of the society at hand. However, this quote comes from a very specific time in a “normal” (all things considered) society: 17th century England1. This era of England’s history is indeed quite specific since it witnessed a number of fundamental changes that later became the distinguishing characteristic of the yet to be born world power of the UK:

− religion was firmly (and sometimes violently) established as the Anglican Church and none other. This despite a range of alternative religious beliefs (Roman Catholics, puritans, Anabaptists, Quakers, Presbyterians, Congregationalists, Levellers,… to name but a few).

− The state organisation finally turned into a monarchy after the turbulent period with Oliver Cromwell.

− Society more and more opened its borders to start the conquering period in later centuries, thus turning England into the first world power on earth by the end of the nineteenth century.

It should come as no surprise that in such an environment and in view of the position of women in day to day life, education of the female population was not a hot topic. Indeed, although scientific developments of a very fundamental nature, induced by people such as Robert Hooke, Robert Boyle, William Harvey and above all Isaac Newton were made in that period and subsequently properly acknowledged in society by the extended programs in academic circles (e.g. the universities of Oxford and Cambridge) and by the establishment of the Royal Society (still very much alive today), it meant little (but not nothing) for the female part of the population. In my thesis, I have set out a research for finding some sources and texts or publications that take as subject the education of women in the 17th century. In this, I have made use of a number of sources which I believe never have been integrated into one comprehensive inquiry. Broadly speaking they all include a number of thoughts, reasoning,

1 The quote comes from Bathsua Makin’s Essay To Revive the Antient Education of Gentlewomen (p.23)

5 statements and indeed also a number of actions following the underlying principle as shown in the text at hand.

As we will gradually discover, there existed in the early seventeenth century in England a number of set ideas about the two questions raised when considering the education of women:

1. Is an education for a woman at all possible and /or advisable?

2. And if so, what should be the form and content of such education?

In my investigation I will dwell on these two essential questions for each text considered. It took some research to dig up texts or documents explicitly and uniquely related to 17th century view on the education of women in England. Given that England at the time was a society governed and driven by men, the effort for finding such documents is no surprise. Moreover, the texts do not deal with education as such, but do take the form of either a pamphlet or a “publicity document” or still a more or less normal play. None of the texts I investigated can thus be considered as a genuine investigation on female education in its own right, but this is all we have and presumably all that there is available on this subject (note that this would require a more in depth analysis, but the extent and content of it is however not possible in the restricted framework of the current thesis). The authors of the texts I analysed are, sexually speaking, not representative for the population: 60% of it is written by a woman. I have ordered and treated my researched documents according to the context within which female education is represented. We can subdivide these texts (with the exception of William Cavendish’s) into two categories: 1. those that see education for women as serving a higher purpose, viz. the strengthening of Anglican faith. 2. those that defend female education for the pure intellectual development of the women.

On the following page is a list of documents we have analysed:

6 # Author Title Form Publication date

1 Cavendish, William The Variety Drama 1649

2 Chamberlayne, An Academy or Colledge: Pamphlet 1671 Edward wherein Young Ladies and (publicity) Gentlewomen May at a very moderate Expence be duly instructed.

3 Astell, Mary A serious Proposal To the Essay 1694 Ladies, For the Advancement of their true and greatest Interest.

4 Cavendish, Margaret The Female Academy. Drama 1662

5 Makin, Bathsua An Essay to revive the Antient Essay (publicity) 1673 Education of Gentlewomen, in Religion, Manners, Arts and Tongues.

Additional to these documents, I consulted a large number of more or less related publications, partly for historic relevance, partly for specific information on either the authors or the content of the texts analysed2.

2 Full references to the works used and mentioned in the footnotes are to be found in the extensive bibliography at the end of this thesis.

7 CHAPTER 1: HISTORY OF WOMEN’S EDUCATION

1. Introduction No investigation of an historical subject such as the one I have set out to analyse can be conducted without having first put it in a historic perspective. This specifically applies to the subject of the history of education, and education for women in particular. The scarcity of historical documentation on the subject as presented in my thesis makes it all the more important to explore as much information as possible for arriving at a complete and truthful description of education for women in seventeenth-century England. The debate about education for women is as old as education itself. In order to understand how female education came to be what it was in the 17th century, it is useful to look at how the schooling systems for women have evolved over time before that period3.

2. Before the Seventeenth Century 2.1. Greeks and Romans The first traces of female education in the Western world are to be found in the first society that established an organised educational system. Although in Ancient Greece most girls were taught at home by their mother and only learned domestic skills, there were some exceptions. The Greek divided the population of women in two groups: the wives and the courtesans4. The first group consisted of women who received an education by their mother at home. They were taught domestic duties, such as spinning and weaving, but also reading and writing. They were expected to obey their husbands and to have no thoughts of their own. The second group, the courtesans or hetaerae, were less bound to men and were able to develop their intellectual capacities in special schools. Some of them even set up salons, like those we find in 18th-century Europe. Men usually spoke very disdainfully about these learned women. A notable exception to the secluded life most Greek women faced, is the system practiced in the city-state of Sparta. Girls as well as boys left home at the age of seven to go to school. They both received a very hard training. Girls were taught wrestling, boxing, gymnastics and combat skills. This type of education fitted into the Spartan philosophy: they

3 For the historica loverview, I will roughly follow the structure as presented in Mary Cathcart Borer’s Willingly to School: A History of Women’s Education 4 Crystal, Ellie, Antient Greek Education

8 thought that strong women would give birth to strong children, who could defend and further develop the state. One of the first to write about education, was the Greek philosopher Plato5. In his famous dialogue Nomoi (The Laws), he defended education for both boys and girls. His purpose, however, was not the recognition of men and women being equal. Aiming at establishing a stable society, Plato wanted to bring the people of Athens under control. This, according to him, should be done by educating all Athenians. They should be taught dancing, mime, callisthenics, choric art and playing the lyre. The happy few who were appointed to follow higher education should also get ciphering, arithmetic and astronomy. The most important courses for boys and girls are physical training and horsemanship. This way, they would be able to defend the city, that was under a constant threat of attack at the time Plato wrote his Nomoi. Because education is so important in Plato’s society, he was in favour of appointing a special “minister” of education to control the schools. That minister should be chosen among the best public servers. He also should be more than fifty years old. But despite Plato’s revolutionary ideas, most women in Ancient Greece did not pursue any education other than the one they could serve society best with and kept to domestic tasks. In the Roman period, the structure of society became more and more male-dominated. Citizens who could afford it, sent their sons and daughters to school, where they learned reading, writing and calculus. But as opposed to the boys, girls could not engage in higher education. They were sent back to their homes to be instructed by their mothers about the things a good housewife should know for running a household and please her husband. With the arrival of Christianity, the Church Fathers defined the position of men and women in the eyes of God. One of the first to do so, was Clement of Alexandria6 (±150 – 211/5). Clement’s parents presumably were Athenian citizens. Having been brought up in the Hellenistic philosophical tradition, Clement’s plan was to prove that this philosophy was compatible with the Christian faith. He used the metaphor of the two cities, a trope that would be used later by Augustine in his De Civitate Dei. He discerned the City of Heaven and the City of the Earth but, unlike Augustine, Clement did not say that the City of Heaven was the institutional Church. Instead, he applied the Greek philosophical terms logos and nomos to this dichotomy. A Christian should live under the Logos as a citizen of the City of Heaven, and under the Nomos as a citizen on earth. Whenever the two visions conflict with each other, one should choose the higher law of the Logos. Men and women are equal in the

5 Borer, Mary Cathcart, Willingly to School, p. 13 – 15 6 Fredericksen, Linwood, Clement of Alexandria in Encyclopaedia Britannica

9 eyes of God because they are subjected to the same Nomoi (Laws) of good and evil. But, despite the assumed equality of the sexes, Clement did specify the explicit functions a woman has in society as well. According to him, God’s plan was that the women should spend their time with prayer, of course, but also with spinning, weaving, embroidery, caring for the household and preparing food. They also should behave benevolently and modestly at all times. The best place to bring up a girl, was in the secluded world of a nunnery, a sheltered place where they could devote themselves to purity and piety. The concept of the nunnery will prove to be very important for the development of female education in England as well as in the rest of Western Europe. However, this kind of upbringing was only for girls of noble birth. All women are equal in the eyes of God, but noble girls are more equal than others because they were considered to be closer to God.

2.2. Angles and Saxons During the period the Angles, Saxons and Jutes came to Britain, Christianity spread throughout the continent. In order to maintain itself, the Catholic Church started to establish schools next to the cathedrals and churches. There, the people could learn the “only true faith” and so the Church gave a new boost to its campaign to win the souls of the people. Britain was converted to Christianity in two steps. In 563, the Irish recluse Columba7 came to Scotland and founded the monastery on the isle of Iona. From there, the conversion of Scotland and Northumbria by the Celtic Church began. The second step in the Christianisation process, was the marriage of King Ethelbert of Kent with Bertha, the daughter of the Christian king of Paris, Charibert I 8. She brought the Christian bishop Liudard with her to Canterbury, the capital of Kent. In 598, Pope Gregory sent a Christian mission with Saint Augustine to England to visit Queen Bertha and convert England. But more importantly, Queen Bertha had been educated in a French convent9. When she came to England to marry Ethelbert, she brought this tradition with her. The early monasteries and nunneries thus became centres of learning. The nuns of course had their religious duties, but an important part of their time was devoted to study. Most of the students were girls who intended to stay in the monastery, but, as the reputation of the monasteries and nunneries grew, children of the royalty and the nobility were sent there as well. Like so many times in the history of women’s education, English children who were not of noble blood, could not participate in the educational system.

7 Drabble, Margaret et al., “Columba”, in The Oxford Companion to English Literature 8 Borer, Mary Cathcart, Willingly to School, p. 21 – 23 9 Nelson, Janet L. “Bertha”in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography

10 Basic educational materials included books on Latin grammar, philosophy, science and mathematics. There were few copies of those books, because they all had to be copied by the nuns themselves. In the middle of the eighth century, the nuns would also have had access to the works of Aldhelm10 (who wrote De Laudibus Virginitatus, an advice for the nuns about how they should organise their studies) and Bede, as well as to the works of some Classical writers, like Pliny, Aristotle, Virgil and Cicero. One of the best known examples of such a nunnery as centre of learning, is Whitby Abbey, led by Saint Hild. Apart from the nunneries, there were also some anchoresses who lived a secluded life. Sometimes they took some female pupils as well. But this practice was condemned by the church. According to the bishops, an anchoress should devote her whole life to God, not to the upbringing of girls. Teaching by anchoresses disappeared very quickly. Towards the end of the eighth century, however, there was a decline of learning in the nunneries. That is probably why the old Saxon custom of fosterage was taken up again11. Instead of sending their children to a monastery or nunnery, the nobility sent them to other families of the same social class where they would receive training and education. The children of the high nobility might even be allowed to go to the royal court. And it only got worse for the nunneries in the ninth century. Invading Vikings destroyed and plundered monasteries and nunneries, most of which were never restored. A new revival in learning came when Alfred the Great was crowned king of Wessex in 871. He invested a considerable amount of money in the organization of an educational system for boys, not only for the ones of noble birth, but also for those of a more humble birth. It is not certain, though, whether girls were admitted as well. Nonetheless, Alfred’s own daughters received a very thorough education at the royal court or in the abbeys of Wilton or Winchester. Alfred himself had been educated by his own mother, Osburg. The tradition of educating the royal princesses was continued for several generations to come, until the reign of Edward the Confessor. Notorious examples from that period are Queen Edith, Edward’s wife, who was educated at Wilton Abbey, and Margaret of Scotland12. Margaret, Edward’s great-niece, married Malcolm III of Scotland (who defeated the historical Macbeth) and promoted learning at her husband’s court. She was canonized in 1250 and is the patroness of scholars in Scotland (feast day: November 16; feast day in Scotland: June 16)

10 Borer, Mary Cathcart, Willingly to School, p. 24 11 Borer, Mary Cathcart, Willingly to School, p. 26 – 27 12 Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Margaret of Scotland, Saint”

11 During the monastic or Benedictine revival of the 10th century, the importance of Christianity in daily life grew. The church decided that you had to know your Creed and Pater Noster in order to be able to receive a Christian burial. To give all children the chance to learn these things, priests set up schools for free instruction. These schools were accessible to both boys and girls. Sometimes, the priest gave additional lessons of Latin to pupils who helped him in religious services as a server. When a server rose to become a ‘holy water clerk’, he received some money for this. With this money he could afford to pay more Latin lessons and find a way to engage in higher education. But since only boys were admitted to act as a server, girls were excluded from these opportunities as well.

2.3. The Middle Ages The arrival of William the Conqueror in 1066 was quite dramatical for the fate of women. William introduced the feudal system in England, which meant that women were excluded from owing their own land (as they did before) and that some of their legal rights were restricted 13 . There were also significant changes for women of the nobility. The Normans not only brought their feudal system to England, but also their language. In order to be accepted in the highest social classes, the children of the English nobility had to learn French. With the growing importance of court life, girls were also taught how to behave correctly in a group of noblemen and –women. Emphasis was more laid on these accomplishments than on the intellectual capacities of the girls. Around the same time, the monastic reformers decided not to accept any girls who would not take their vows after they had received their education. A close contact with girls from the outside world was considered too distracting for the nuns. If the girls refused to take their vows, the bishops stopped all financial aid for the schools in the nunneries14. Another regrettable thing is that the Church was not particularly interested in the new developments in science. Wandering scholars spread those new developments across the continent as well as England. Because the Church was not particularly keen to organise education on a more scientific basis, the scholars established schools for themselves: the first universities. Oxford was the first university in England, established in the twelfth century. Only a century later, the university at Cambridge was founded. Unfortunately, girls were not allowed at the universities, so they missed yet another opportunity to get a decent and thorough education.

13 Borer, Mary Cathcart, Willingly to School, p.31 – 32 14 Borer, Mary Cathcart, Willingly to School, p. 34 – 36

12 The nunneries and monasteries lost their prestige soon after the founding of the universities. This made the situation for female education even worse. The nunneries were no longer centres of learning. Their main purpose, apart from dedicating one’s life to God, was to be a safe place where unmarried women could get old in a more or less respectable way. The exclusion of women from universities and the disappearance of the nunneries as centres of learning, brought female education to a standstill by the middle of the thirteenth century. During the long reign of Edward III, from 1327 to 1377, two important changes happened in English society: the emergence of England as a trading nation and the construction of a considerable number of cathedrals all over the country. In the fourteenth century, England was particularly famous for the wool trade (partly instigated by Flemish immigrants). Strangely enough, the Black Death that struck the country in 1348 provided a boost for the wool industry. Because many peasants had died, the fields were left uncultivated and the land was grassed over for the sheep. The traders organized themselves in so-called “guilds”, similar to those on the continent15. In these guilds, children could be trained to learn a particular craft or trade. Because women could enter a business or could inherit it, they could enter these guild schools as well and they got the same curriculum as their male colleagues. This probably consisted of reading, writing, arithmetic, the Psalter and the alphabet. It was during this time of prosperity that many churches and cathedrals were built. These also proved to be of paramount importance for the development of the educational system in England, because it was there that the first grammar schools were established. Unfortunately, only boys were admitted to the cathedral- and church schools. Towards the end of the fourteenth century, the status of women in trade changed. After the country had recovered from the losses it suffered from the Black Death, trade and agriculture began to be considered typically male areas. If women could not be traders or farmers anymore, they were not accepted at the guild schools either. So by the beginning of the fifteenth century, this last opportunity for female education had disappeared. Moreover, with the Hundred Years War going on and the throne constantly under threat, there was little interest in female education. Little is known about the public education for girls16. Probably, they received some elementary education in a so-called petty school, where they learned to read and write. Other girls were educated at home by their parents, or they were sent away to another household

15 Borer, Mary Cathcart, Willingly to School, p. 41 16 Borer, Mary Cathcart, Willingly to School, p. 42

13 for training, similar to what was done in the Anglo-Saxon period. In these households they learned sewing, embroidery, music and dancing. This training took several years and was meant for girls from the upper middle and upper social classes. Probably the most important educational change in English society which is the introduction of the printing press by William Caxton17 in 1476, had an enormous influence on the spread of knowledge and ideas. Important for the story of female education is a book printed by Caxton: The Boke of the Knight of la Tour-Laudry (1484; original in French published in 1371) , a guide for the upbringing of noble girls. Good behaviour was emphasized, not as an end in itself, but as a way to get a decent, i.e. rich, husband. Nothing is mentioned about the intellectual capacities of the girls. Despite these rather conservative views, there were still some famous learned women in the late Middle Ages. Mostly these are to be found at the English court. Richard II’s wife, Anne of Bohemia18, supported John Wycliff in his struggle against the church and his attempt to publish the gospels in the vernacular instead of in Latin. She herself possessed gospels in Czech, German, and of course, in Latin. Margaret of Anjou, the wife of Edward IV19, founded Queen’s College20 Cambridge in 1448. Unusually, the College was re-founded in 1465 by Elizabeth Woodville, the second wife of Edward IV. In 1505, Lady Margaret Beaufort, the mother of Henry VII, enlarged the original God’s house in Cambridge and thus re-founded Christ’s College 21 , the college John Milton was to attend. She also gave readerships in theology at both Oxford and Cambridge University. By founding a university, Margaret Beaufort did not help female education as such, but in doing so, demonstrated that a woman was capable of higher intellectual studies as well. By the end of the Middle Ages, the Wars of the Roses (1455-1485/1487) was a greater priority than female education. With the court constantly entwined in battles and intrigues, the development of women’s intellectual capacities suddenly seemed of less importance. The Church had lost interest in female education as well22. The nunneries hardly got funds from the church to organize education, so they took on all paying pupils. This was dramatic for the quality of the education provided.

17 Drabble, Margaret et al., “Caxton, William” in The Oxford Companion to English Literature 18 Borer, Mary Cathcart, Willingly to School, p. 47 19 Chesire, Paul, “Edward IV” in King, Queens, Chiefs and Rulers. A Source Book. 20 http://www.queens.cam.ac.uk/default.asp?MIS=8 21 http://www.christs.cam.ac.uk/info/history.html 22 Borer, Mary Cathcart, Willingly to School, p.50

14 2.4. The Tudors The Tudor period was one witnessing a lot of dramatic changes, not only in Europe, with the emergence of Renaissance thinking and Protestantism, but also in English society itself, with the establishment of the Church of England. The discovery of America and other countries beyond the Atlantic horizon proved for once and for all that the earth was not flat. This is something the Greek already knew (Eratosthenes of Cyrene even calculated the circumference of the earth. Despite the limited material and knowledge he had, he miscalculated the real circumference of the earth by only 0,4 percent!), but this knowledge had been suppressed by the Church. The people were now confronted with something completely new 23: the truths they believed in and that were presented by the Church, turned out to be flawed. This resulted in people questioning other so-called truths. Vesalius investigated human anatomy and proved some theories of Aristotle and Galen, upon which medicine was based until then, to be wrong. Copernicus showed the world that, contrary to what the Church said, the earth was a planet circling round the sun and not the other way around. Consequently, the earth was not the centre of the universe anymore. Erasmus too criticized the fact that the Church misled the people and kept them ignorant on purpose. Many writers began to defend a good educational system, for girls as well. Sir Thomas More was one of the first to ask for a decent education for girls and he proved that this was possible by supervising his own daughters’ education. In his Utopia, he talks about the influence society and political problems have on education. Juan Luis Vives24 also wrote several treatises about education. Henry VIII asked him to develop a plan for the education of his eldest daughter, princess Mary. Vives designed for her a heavy programme, with the study of the classics (Cicero, Seneca, Plutarch and Plato), of the Church Fathers and the Bible, and, a novelty in the curriculum, Thomas More’s Utopia and the work of Erasmus. For Henry VIII’s first wife, Queen Catherine, he wrote De institutione foeminae Christianae (“On the Instruction of a Christian Woman”). Vives said that education had a stabilizing effect on a woman’s character, but he did not think the new sciences would be suitable to them. He was also one of the first to mention the importance of education for the poor, both boys and girls, in his De Subventione Pauperum (“On Aid for the Poor”). Only by getting a decent education, the poor would be able to support themselves and find a job that can provide them a living. The girls should learn the usual household

23 Borer, Mary Cathcart, Willingly to School, p. 51 24 Encyclopedia Britannica, Vives, Juan Louis

15 tasks, and when they show sufficient intellectual capacities, they should be allowed access to some form of higher education. The other important change in English society is the Reformation. The dissolution of the monasteries and abbeys started in 1536. With their disappearance, the schools attached to these monasteries and nunneries went as well. The loss of the nunneries was not that dramatic for female education, since the quality of education provided there had already dropped. Sadly enough, and despite Henry VIII’s promise, the money he raised from selling the dominions of the Church was not invested for the establishment of new schools for girls25. The boys were slightly better off, for Henry refunded eleven important cathedral schools and opened about fifty grammar schools for them. With the Chantries Act of 154826, under the reign of Edward VI, the schools attached to chantries and chapels disappeared as well. And although Edward promised to re-establish all the schools, his reign was too short for this plan to be carried out. King Edward did help the development of a general education system, but only in an indirect way. He inherited Bridewell Palace and, as a result of the plea made by bishop Ridley, allowed that one third would be used as a house of reform. The intention was to transform the poor and the needy into worthy citizens by training and educating them. Similar institutions were established in London, like St. Thomas’s Hospital or Christ’s Hospital. Young people were allowed as well27. They could learn to read and write. The boys also got arithmetic. The girls were trained in needlework, spinning, weaving and embroidery, together with the reading of the Bible. These reform houses can be seen as the first boarding schools for girls in England. Under Queen Mary, Bridewell and similar institutions were considered places of detention rather than schools. However, Elizabeth I again took up her father’s educational program. Throughout the country grammar schools were established, although these again showed little interest in the education for girls. Apart from the girls at Christ’s hospital, the only places for girls’ education were the so-called petty schools. Boys and girls learned to read and to write there. At the age of seven, they left the petty school; the boys to go to grammar school, the girls to go home. If they were lucky, they were instructed further by their mother.

25 Encyclopaedia Britannica, “The English Reformation” in Education, History of 26 Borer, Mary Cathcart, Willingly to School, p. 56 27 Borer, Mary Cathcart, Willingly to School, p. 58 – 60

16 Amongst the nobility and at court, there were still highly educated women. One of the most well known examples is Queen Elizabeth I, whose teacher was Roger Ascham28. She spoke French, Italian and Latin fluently and could understand Greek very well. But towards the end of the Tudor period, and certainly after new manners from the continent (especially from France and Italy) reached the English isles, romantic accomplishments such as music, dancing and poetry were considered more socially acceptable for a young noblewoman than the knowledge of the classics. This meant a serious deterioration of intellectual education for women. At around the same period, reactions were written to the de-intellectualization of female education. The first of these reactions we see on the continent, in Germany29. Luther pleaded for better education so that everybody, men and women, could read the word of God. Thomas Becon30 (1512/13 – 1567), who had been in exile, heard these new ideas in Europe and brought them with him when he returned to England. In A New Catechism (1564) he wrote: “Can mothers bring up their children virtuously when they themselves lack virtue?”. The second one to defend female education was Richard Mulcaster (1531/2 – 1611). Mulcaster31 was a schoolmaster himself at St Paul’s School in London. He had good contacts with learned men in England (like Sir Philip Sydney), but also with foreigners who stayed in England, like Emmanuel van Meteren (1535 – 1612), Abraham Ortelius (1527 – 1598) and Janus Dousa (1545 – 1604). His ambition was to write a book about the analysis of the educational system at his time. Unfortunately, his work remained unfinished; he was only able to complete the first two parts of it, namely Positions Concerning the Training up of Children and The First Part of the Elementarie. In his Positions, Mulcaster followed the theory of Plato: education should be useful for the further and successful development of the state. Therefore, his educational system would be open for both male and female subjects.32 They should receive more or less the same basic education, although he did not think women were apt at understanding mathematics and he disapproved of women continuing in school for a higher education. Mulcaster had a remarkable influence on Ben Jonson, who relied on Mulcaster’s educational theories while writing his English grammar.

28 Borer, Mary Cathcart, Willingly to School, p. 62 29 Borer, Mary Cathcart, Willingly to School, p. 70 30 Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Early English Reformers” in Education, History of 31 Barker, William, “Mulcaster, Richard” in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography 32 Mulcaster dedicated his work to Queen Elizabeth I, who was a perfect example of a learned woman.

17 Although some schools for girls were established at the end of the sixteenth century by people who fled the religious persecutions in France and the Netherlands33, the problem of providing good education for girls persisted until the end of the seventeenth century. The biggest problem girls’ schools faced, was to find teachers. From this point of view, Luther and Becon were right: women cannot teach girls if they themselves are not educated. Criticism concerning the lamentable state of female education would only grow louder during the following century.

3. Female Education in the Seventeenth Century 3.1. The Early Stuarts During the period of the early Stuarts, an increasing number of pamphlets were dealing with improving the educational system. Edmund Coote 34 (d. 1609) wanted to overcome the shortage of capable teachers. His The Scolemaister was a textbook for pupils, but it also served as a guide for teachers. By always keeping one page ahead of the pupils, they could learn the curriculum themselves and teach it to the pupils. King James I was not very fond of female education (and of females in general). In this matter, he was probably influenced by the Scotsman John Knox35 and his work First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstrous Regiment of Women36 (1558) in which he wrote that women are “weak, frail, impatient, feeble an foolish”. James’s own daughter Elizabeth was educated in the household of Lord and Lady Harrington. The things she learned there, however, were mere accomplishments (the usual mixture of needlework and good behaviour) than intellectual things. It was nonetheless during the reign of King James I that the custom of boarding girls at noble families resulted in the establishment of the first boarding schools for the wealthy girls37. The first one was Ladies Hall at Deptford for the daughters of nobility and gentry. Little is known about the workings of this school; but probably the girls brought their own maids and servants with them. They also performed masques at the Royal Court. Similar boarding schools were established, mostly in the neighbourhood of London. At one moment,

33 Borer, Mary Cathcart, Willingly to School, p. 72 34 Borer, Mary Cathcart, Willingly to School, p. 73 – 74 35 Dawson, Jane E.A., “Knox, John” in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography 36 We must notice that the word “regiment” here bears no relation to a troop of soldiers. It has to be interpreted in the old sense as “rule, authority”. John Knox wrote his treatise when Mary, Queen of Scots was on the throne in Scotland and Mary I was Queen of England. Whit it he wants to make clear that women are not apt to lead a country. 37 Borer, Mary Cathcart, Willingly to School, p. 77

18 there were so many boarding schools for wealthy girls in the suburban area of Hackney, that the place was commonly known as “The Ladies’ University of Female Arts”. The curriculum generally consisted of needlework, French, sometimes Italian, dancing and music. Music had been very important and popular since Elizabethan times and most educated people could read music notes or could play at least one instrument. The problem with these boarding schools was that the teachers should not be intelligent at all; as long as they were high born so that they could teach the girls the right manners and accomplishments. Furthermore, a considerable number of the teaching staff at the boarding schools consisted of religious refugees from the Continent, who brought with them their attachment to the Catholicism38. The Gunpowder Plot during James I’s reign was the political culmination of these catholic feelings. Another consequence of these strong feelings is the fact that many wealthy Roman-Catholic parents sent their sons and daughters to France or Flanders to be taught there at catholic schools. An Act of 1624 forced those children to come back to England and to have a Protestant education. Poor girls were still able to get an education and acquire an apprenticeship at institutions like the Bridewell. The problem was that they only got the most humble jobs, usually work as a servant or maid, after their apprenticeship.

3.2. The Commonwealth In the Interregnum, Great Britain was led by the Puritan soldier – statesman Oliver Cromwell and, after Oliver’s death, his son Richard. Traumatic as this period may have been for the English people, it was not a bad period for the development of education. For the first time in history, the idea was put forward that the State should supply the possibility for education for its subjects39. Cromwell set up a programme of education because he thought that a lot of the misbehaviour of the nobility and the gentry originated in the wrong sort of education. He was enthusiastic about reforming the universities, although the Puritans actually wanted to close them down. Many Puritan reformers published pamphlets for the reorganisation of education40. Samuel Hartlib proposed in his London’s Charity Enlarged (1650) to raise funds so that schools for the poor could be established. In 1653, he founded the Committee for the Advancement of Learning. The main purpose of this committee was the state organization of a general elementary educational system. John Dury advocated in his work The Reformed

38 Borer, Mary Cathcart, Willingly to School, p. 76 39 Borer, Mary Cathcart, Willingly to School, p. 80 40 Encyclopaedia Britannica, “The Puritan Reformers” in Education, History of

19 School (1651) the establishment of teaching societies under the supervision of the State. He also wanted pupils to be taught useful sciences instead of things they would not use in their later lives. Probably the most famous of the Puritan reformers was John Milton. Of Education (1644) deals with the perfect training for boys in the spirit of the late Renaissance – early Enlightenment. John Milton’s work already hinted at it: these proposals for reform were only meant for boys’ schools. Female education was not regarded as a necessity or was not even considered as a possibility, certainly not in the austere Puritan community. A good example of this are Milton’s own daughters41. Although they did not understand a single word of it, he had them read texts to him in Latin, Greek, Hebrew, French, Italian and Spanish. Unfortunately for the daughters, the idea to teach his girls all these strange languages did not cross Milton’s mind. When Milton married his third wife, his daughters left home and were trained in the trade of embroidery.

3.3. After the Restoration: the Later Stuarts When Charles II returned to England and the monarchy was restored in 1660, it was again court life that influenced social life (whereas during the Commonwealth, the main source of influence was Puritanism). Sadly enough, although there was a lot of interest in women at the court of Charles II, there was not that much interest in their education. Nevertheless, Charles took care of the education of the two daughters of his brother, the later queens Mary and Anne, by appointing their teachers42. Their schooling differed not much from the one other girls of noble blood received. The training consisted of music, dancing, French and divinity (no higher courses like history or the Classics, like queens or princesses received in Tudor times). Bishop Compton (1631/2 – 1713) especially took care of their instructions in the theories of the Church of England. This was particularly important for Charles. Because Charles had no children with his legitimate wife Catherine of Braganza, his brother James was his heir. But James was a Roman-Catholic. This caused a lot of tension in Parliament, that wanted Charles to appoint his Protestant but illegitimate son James, the Duke of Monmouth, as his rightful heir to the throne43. To Parliament’s dismay, Charles refused to do so. He knew he could not change his brother’s religious belief, so he made sure that James’s heirs, his daughters, were indoctrinated with the instructions of the Church of

41 Borer, Mary Cathcart, Willingly to School, p. 81 42 Borer, Mary Cathcart, Willingly to School, p. 95 43 Seaward, Paul, “Charles II” in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography

20 England. Mary and Anne received their education not as an end as such, but in order to finally establish peace in an England that had been torn apart by religious disputes since Henry VIII founded the Church of England. Although new sciences were developed and discoveries were made, especially by the newly established Royal Society (1660), the general level of education declined, also for boys. This has to do with the fact that those new sciences were not studied in the grammar schools or even in the universities. The reputation of the grammar schools was for more than one reason in sharp decline after the Restoration. They were suspected to have been breeding grounds for rebels, dissenters and revolutionists. The famous philosopher Thomas Hobbes44 thought revolutionary ideas originated in the study of the classics and ancient history (for example the glorious republic of Rome, which is applauded in the texts of Cicero). Another reason for the decline of education in the second half of the seventeenth century is the fact that Dissenters were not allowed to teach at grammar schools anymore. Around the same time, voices rose to teach more practical courses in the grammar schools. This, together with the banning of teachers not of Anglican faith, resulted in the founding of the so-called Dissenting Academies45. These Academies very soon got a very high reputation, much higher than the universities at that time. This was due to the fact that the Dissenting Academies took the advice of Puritan reformers, like Samuel Hartlib, seriously. It was also the only place where one could study the new sciences, which were not studied at the universities. The Dissenting Academies with their practical curriculum were such a success that even non-Dissenters sent their children there. One of the best Dissenting Academies was the one at Newington Green, which was led by Charles Morton. His most famous pupil was Daniel Defoe, who would later plead for an educational system for women based upon practical courses, like he learned at the Dissenting Academy. When James ascended to the throne in 1685, he was not accepted by Anglican England, nor was he by Parliament. Three years later, Parliament invited James’s daughter and her Protestant husband William of Orange to come to England as King and Queen. James’s reign was far too short to have any influence on the development of female education. There was still no public education for girls of humble birth. For the wealthy girls, there was still a considerable number of boarding schools. The problem with these boarding schools was that they showed little or no interest in the intellectual development of the girls. The main thing they learned were accomplishments such as music and dancing, religion and

44 Borer, Mary Cathcart, Willingly to School, p. 101 45 Novak, Maximillian E., Daniel Defoe. Masterof Fictions. p. 44

21 perhaps a little bit of French. This was all very important with regard to being introduced in the high social classes and find a wealthy husband (preferably with a well-sounding title and, more importantly, an impressive inheritance). Many people condemned the boarding schools for their snobbery and incompetence. Sometimes, husbands took care of their wife’s education. One notorious and rather amusing example of this practice is that of the famous diarist Samuel Pepys46. Probably because her domestic skills were rather poor or in fact, non-existing (Pepys himself called their household ‘sluttish and dirty’), he decided to try and give his wife Elizabeth a more intellectually based training. Her knowledge was very limited when she came over from France and married Samuel Pepys. He decided not to give her a hard time and started with something easy: music. She proved to be very good at it, so he searched her a singing master. Soon afterwards, she asked for a dancing master as well. Pepys thought his wife finally wanted to master the accomplishments an English woman was expected to know. He stopped paying the dancing master when he found out that the master visited Elizabeth more than once a day. So he tried to teach her more serious things: calculus. When she had mastered this, Samuel engaged a painting master for her. Elizabeth, however, was more interested in the master than in the painting, so the painting master soon was dismissed as well. The whole story may seem rather comical, but it shows one of the few opportunities a woman had to get an education: education or instruction at home. In the period between 1660 and 1700, there was still an enormous problem of poverty47. London had known a spectacular growth and the city was full of deprived people, beggars and tramps. The government sought a solution for the problem, but for some reason, they did not think of raising the poor people’s wages or create more opportunities for them. This had to do with the belief that poverty was caused by divine providence. The idea was to offer the poor a form of education, so that they could find a job and support themselves. There already were some possibilities for educating the poor. In almost every town or village there were so-called ‘dame schools’, small schools led by an old woman or man for whom teaching usually was a second job, next to keeping a shop or being a tradesman. The quality of this form of education was terrible. Mostly, the teachers could hardly read or write themselves. Apart from the dame schools, there were the endowed schools, such as Christ’s Hospital. The problem with these schools was that they usually were very small, so only a

46 Borer, Mary Cathcart, Willingly to School, p. 102 – 103 47 Borer, Mary Cathcart, Willingly to School, p. 131 – 132

22 very small percentage of the poor could be allowed. Here as well, the level of teaching was very modest, because the teachers usually were not properly educated themselves. The government had to find other solutions to the problem of poverty. First, they proposed to establish more working schools, modelled after the Tudor institution of Bridewell. Their purpose was, like in Tudor times, to give the poor an education or teach them a craft or trade, so that they could find a job, work their way up out of poverty and provide a living for themselves. This plan soon was cancelled because it would have been far too expensive. They came up with the idea to establish schools where the poor children would learn to read the Bible, so that they could learn to understand why they were poor and accept that they will always live in poverty because it is God’s will. This type of school system even had an extra advantage: by indoctrinating the children with the Anglican faith, the Church of England would create a strong opposition against the Papists and Dissenters. It was decided that the schools would be funded with charitable gifts given by the inhabitants of the community. The school would be led by a committee of prominent persons from the community, such as the vicar or local wealthy people. It was their task to send appeals for money to the members of the community. The Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (S.P.C.K.) was established in 1698 to organize these charity schools 48. The curriculum consisted of reading, writing and calculus for boys and reading, sewing and knitting for girls. The girls might learn to write a bit as well, but the most important thing was that they could read the Bible so that they would become aware of their subordinate position in society, both as poor and as female person. More than ninety percent of the founded charity schools were of Anglican faith, but there were schools established by Roman Catholics, Dissenters and Quakers as well. But as always, finding capable teachers was the biggest problem. There was no training for a teacher; they were advised to look at and learn from older and more experienced colleagues. Sadly enough, the charity schools very soon started to be neglected. After the enthusiasm for the first charity schools, people stopped donating and the schools were constantly short of money. The fact that women were excluded from learning science caused serious limitations to their professional activities as well49. Towards the end of the seventeenth century, and certainly in the eighteenth century, more and more occupations needed a scientific basis. Whereas women in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance frequently acted as doctors and

48 Borer, Mary Cathcart, Willingly to School, p. 137 – 138 49 Shoemaker, Robert B., Gender in English Society 1650 – 1850. The Emergence of Separate Spheres?, p. 201

23 midwives, they were pushed out of these professions after the Reformation because they lacked the knowledge of the new scientific developments in these professions. It was thus logical, with all these failures to organize a good education for girls, that protest was voiced. Hannah Woolley (1622 – 1675), a self-made woman who took care of her own education by learning from various other educated women, has written a lot on the lamentable state of female education in the second half of the seventeenth century50. She complains about the attention that is given to the study of useless accomplishments. They make a woman act like a statue or a mute: she behaves very nicely, but she does not say anything because she does not have a clue what the conversation is about. But what she found even more deplorable, was the enormous number of orphaned children after the Black Death struck England in 1665. Especially for the daughters of the poor this situation was disastrous. Because they very seldom had received some form of education or instruction, they lacked the capabilities to provide themselves a living. Woolley therefore asks parents to make a provision for their children. Preferably save some money to support them, or, if they do not have the financial possibilities, give them a thorough education, so that they will be able to find a job and look after themselves. Another critical voice was that of Daniel Defoe. He wanted to establish an academy for women51. The curriculum should consist of music and dancing, of course, but it should also include French and Italian. Moreover, they should learn communication skills, so that they can be something else than a statue or mute during a conversation between males. In this thesis, I will look closer at some of those critical voices. I will investigate how they wanted to change female education and what were their reasons for doing so. An abundance of critical treatises concerning the tantalizingly inadequate education for girls and young women was published towards the end of the seventeenth century. They heightened pressure on the government and eventually led to the state taking up more and more responsibility for the enhancement of the education of its subjects, both male and female.

50 Considine, John, “Woolley [other married name “Challiner”], Hannah” in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography 51 Novak, Maximillian E., Daniel Defoe. Master of Fictions. p. 117 – 118

24 CHAPTER 2: PERCEPTIONS ABOUT WOMEN AND EDUCATION IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY

1. Introduction In the first chapter we have seen that, despite some commendable initiatives, female education in the seventeenth century was scandalously neglected and tantalizingly inadequate. We will try to find out why there was so little attention for the intellectual development of girls in that age by looking at how people perceived concepts like gender and what influenced their ideas.

2. Influences from the Middle Ages In a time when religion was of paramount importance, it is not difficult to imagine that one of the major influences, also concerning views on men and women, was the Bible52. The story of Creation (Genesis 1 and 2), tells us that God created man first, and then, out of Adam’s rib, he created woman. This was reason enough for medieval people to believe that man was more perfect. But they saw other ‘evidence’ for female inferiority as well. It was Eve who sinned by tasting the forbidden fruit of the tree of knowledge. She was too weak to withstand God’s prohibition and she sinned out of pride (because she believed she could be equal to God if she tasted the fruit). Moreover, when Adam and Eve were banned from Eden, God punished Eve by saying that she would endure pain giving birth to their children and that she would be subjected to her husband’s will. There are many examples illustrating the bad reputation women received from how they are depicted in the Bible. Female Excellence: or, WOMAN display’d, in several Satyrick Poems (1679), written by “A Person of Quality”, is only one of them. The first satirical poem is called A General Satyr on Woman. Already from the first lines, the writer blames women for the fact that men cannot live in Paradise anymore. It seems as if all evil is concentrated in one person: a woman.

A GENERAL SATYR ON WOMAN 53

WOMAN! Thou damn’d hyperbole in Sin, Malign Atropos, Hell and Woes origin. Man, who at first was made in perfect bliss, Was by thy guilt depriv’d of happiness;

52 Shoeman, Robert B., Gender in English Society, 1650 – 1850. The Emergence of Separate Spheres?, p. 16 – 17 53 Person of Quality, Female Excellence: or, WOMAN display’d, in several Satyrick Poems, p. 3

25 Whose soul was so divine, that ‘twas essay’d Its Author’s Image, was by thee betray’d- God did thy Will to but one Law confine, Yet thy immeasur’d Lust turn’d Libertine. Hell’s subtle Serpent did her mind perceive, Saw she was fair, and knew she would deceive; The Devil and she, alas! too well did know The surest way, to work Man’s overthrow; (…) Envy and Malice from thy Fall did grow, Murder and Homicide to thee do owe Their birth, Treason and Rebellion call Thee Mother; Thy Venom’s epidemical Witchcraft and Sorcery from thee did come, And mansions claim within thy womb; Idolatry, and Schism, and Heresie, Swearing, and Lying, and Hypocrisie; Horrid Execrations, and Blasphemy, Fornication, and Adultery. Avarice, Concupiscence, and Gluttony; From thee derive their monstrous progenie.

Although there were voices, like Martin Luther’s, emphasizing the equality of male and female souls that is expressed in the Bible, the old belief of man’s superiority persisted all criticism. Even the growing attention for the veneration of the Virgin Mary did not change this, nor did the reinterpretations of the book Genesis.54 (Those reinterpretations said that Eve was not entirely to blame for the Fall of Man. She was deceived by the snake, while Adam sinned consciously). Another influential theory that was popular during the Middle Ages and the Early Renaissance (but that actually originated in Ancient Greece), was the humoral theory of Aristotle and the similar theories of Galen of Pergamum and Hippocrates55. This theory grew more and more important during the early Renaissance when people were increasingly interested in sciences. (The popularity of this theory is also illustrated by its adaptation in contemporary plays, like Ben Jonson’s Every Man in His Humour and Every Man out of his Humour)56. They started to examine old “scientific” texts by Aristotle and Galen and found in their humoral theories more evidence for female inferiority. The humoral theory says that a person’s temperament is determined by the most dominant of the four corporal fluids in a person’s body. The four cardinal fluids are blood, phlegm, choler (or yellow bile) and melancholy (or black bile). When the four humours are in balance, all is well; but when one of the four humours becomes dominant, this leads to a so-called “complex”. The four

54 Shoemaker, Robert B., Gender in English Society, 1650 – 1850. The Emergence of Separate Spheres?, p. 17 55 Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Humour” 56 Drabble, Margaret et al., ‘Jonson, Ben(jamin)’ in The Oxford Companion to English Literature

26 humours were also linked to the four primary qualities (hot, cold, wet and dry), which again led to specific characteristics in a persons temperament. The following table, adopted from Styan’s Drama. Guide to the Study of Plays., gives a synopsis of the humoral theory57.

Humour Colour Element Physical mix Characteristics Blood Red Air Hot + wet Mirth, courage, lust Choler Yellow Fire Hot + dry Spite, anger, pride Phlegm White Water Cold + wet Obesity, apathy, tedium Melancholy Black Earth Cold + dry Gloom, sullenness, woe

It was believed that men were superior to women because they (the men) were drier and hotter than the wet and cold women. Women were seen as weak, passive and not very lively. This had consequences for what people thought about the intellectual capacities of women. Because women were cold creatures, they lacked the heat to make their blood circulate sufficiently. This also meant that the blood of women did not have enough power to supply the brain with energy, hence the fact that women have smaller brains. The scientists of the time thought it therefore logical that smaller brains equalled weaker brains; thus women could not possibly be as smart as men. 58 Even William Harvey, who discovered the circulation of the blood, held to the principle of the humoral theory and the belief that men were ‘hotter’. He was convinced that it was this heat, rather than their hearts, which accounted for the supply of blood to the brains.

3. Influence from Enlightenment Thinkers During the latter half of the seventeenth century, more and more philosophers published works that could be interpreted as defending an equality between men and women. This development needs to be set against the broader context of the so-called “Querelle des Femmes”, a debate that was held all over Europe about the status and the capacities of women. An influential educational writer on the continent was the French philosopher and mathematician René Descartes59. According to Descartes, all human beings possessed the capacity of reason. He never explicitly mentioned that this means that men and women have the same intellectual capacities, but his thoughts could be interpreted as such. But people

57 Styan, J.L., Drama. Guide to the Study of Plays., p. 59 58 Even Margaret Cavendish said that women’s brains were too ‘soft’ and ‘cold’ for serious intellectual activities. 59 Shoemaker, Robert B., Gender in English Society, 1650 – 1850. The Emergence of Separate Spheres?, p. 46

27 who were not in favour of the equality of the sexes pointed out that you can interpret another topic of Descartes’ philosophy as hinting at an insoluble difference between men and women. Descartes talks about the duality of body and mind. This dualism can be interpreted in a gendered way: mind being the masculine part and body the feminine part of the duality. In England, it was John Locke who exerted an important influence for the equalisation of the sexes, although in a very indirect way60. In 1680, Sir Robert Filmer published his work Patriarcha, about how politics should be taken care of. In it, he compares political power to patriarchal power in a family: both forms of power are based upon authority granted from God.61 Locke wrote Second Treatise of Government (1690) as a positive counterpart to Filmer’s work, because he noticed that people started to look differently at politics62. Instead of a patriarchal power, i.e. in political terms a king, he proposed a marriage between the different political institutions (the King, together with the House of Lords and the House of Commons). As in marriage, the political institutions should be of equal value and their relationship should be a contracted one, not one that was given by divine providence. It was rather natural that Locke wrote his treatise in this manner and at this specific time (1690). The seventeenth century in England is quite notorious for the many quarrels between King and Parliament. Both Charles I and James II had tried to reign without Parliament, in the case of Charles I with devastating consequences for all of the English people, including himself. Locke published his treatise only a year after William and Mary came to the throne after the defeat of James II and the Glorious Revolution63. He hoped (and with him the English people) that the problems between King/Queen and Parliament would be solved once and for all. This could only be the case if King and Parliament ruled together, based upon a mutual contract. In 1689, this contract between Monarch and Parliament was agreed upon. It has been known since then as the Bill of Rights. But by comparing this contract to a marriage contract, Locke also gave voice to the opinion that both spouses should be equal and have equal rights in a marriage. This idea will be of great influence on some late seventeenth century defenders of women’s rights, like Mary Astell.

60 Shoemaker, Robert B., Gender in English Society, 1650 – 1850. The Emergence of Separate Spheres?, p. 45 61 Patriarchal power was given by God to Adam. This power has been passed on from father to son. 62 Encyclopaedia Britannica, ‘Locke, John’ 63 Cheshire, Paul, ‘James II’, in Kings, Queens, Chiefs and Rulers. A Source Book.

28 4. Women and Learning in Literature 4.1. Conduct Books64 ‘Conduct book’ is the generic name given to any sort of literary genre that contains moral instruction. This can be sermons, letters, devotional writing, or just a series of general instructions about how one should behave properly in private as well as in public. Conduct books were already circulating during the late Middle Ages, but they gained an enormous popularity during the sixteenth and seventeenth century (when it was all the more easy to get a copy thanks to the printing press). Usually, these works were written by people (mostly men) of the upper middle and the higher classes. The target public is part of these social classes as well. 65 A famous and popular seventeenth century conduct book is William Gouge’s Of Domesticall Duties (1622) 66 . Although it is a perfect example of the conservative and patriarchal views on gender (women should in all cases obey their husband) and of parenthood (beating a child is not that bad), it also contains some rather revolutionary ideas about child abuse (which was taboo) and domestic violence. In these conduct books, we find many of the influences from the Middle Ages concerning gender roles (see above). The inequality of the sexes was explained by means of biblical stories or theological theories. The humoral theory was of great influence as well. Women were described as “lacking choler” and therefore, they must obey their partner. Another important topic in the conduct books, was the description of specific gender- related vices and virtues. Male virtues are boldness, courage, honesty,… Typical female virtues are modesty, patience, obedience and chastity. Intelligence is not recognised as a virtue of women because they are far too passionate and emotional to control their feelings and think rationally. Therefore, women should not be involved in politics or any other aspect of public life. Each sex was also assigned a certain number of vices or weaknesses. Pride, stubbornness, lust and vanity were some of the weaknesses of the female sex. But ambition was a female vice as well. A woman who wanted to receive a thorough education was thus considered to be far too ambitious. Consequently, female education was regarded as being a sin. Amongst the male vices, it is worth mentioning jealousy, in the sense that his superior position is being undermined by his wife. It is not difficult to imagine that, when women are given the same education as men and have the same intellectual capacities as men, the husbands will consider their patriarchal superiority threatened.

64 Shoemaker, Robert B., Gender in English Society, 1650 – 1850. The Emergence of Separate Spheres?, p. 21 65 This is quite logical, since the lower classes could hardly read or write and since they had to spend more time on surviving techniques than on decorum. 66 Usher, Brett, ‘Gouge, William’ in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography

29 In later conduct books, more attention was paid to female education. It was not for women’s own sake, though, but for the positive moral influence she could have on men. If the mother of a family had been morally educated (alas, seldom intellectually), she could pass on these morals to her sons. In some of the texts I will discuss later in the course of this thesis, we will see the growing importance of the mother to educate/instruct her children, especially concerning religion.

4.2. Popular literature During the seventeenth century, a very popular genre of literature was the so-called chapbook67. Usually, gender roles here are more ambiguous than in the conduct books. Quite often men and women switch roles: the men are depicted as weak (mostly impotent) lazy creatures, while women are lustful, sexually overactive, gossiping, bossy money spenders. Many plays and some shorter prose works were written on the topic of the wife wearing the breeches (eg. The anonymous The Gossips BRAULE, or, The WOMEN weare the BREECHES. A Mock Comedy, printed in 1654). Another clear example of popular literature in which gender roles are enlarged or switched, is the so-called Parliament of Women. During the seventeenth century, we find several of these Parliaments in popular literature. Generally speaking, the stories tell about women setting up their own Parliament in which they take decisions that are thought to be more profitable to their sex. The women usually are depicted as very lustful persons who are always after the men’s money. In the anonymous The Parliament of Women: With the Merry Laws by them newly Enacted; To live in more Ease, Pomp, Pride and Wantonness: But especially that they might have Superiority, and domineer over their Husbands, printed in 1656, we can see very clearly how this genre worked. The setting of the story is Ancient Illustration from "The Parliament of Women" (1656) (Image from EEBO)

67 Shoemaker, Robert B., Gender in English Society, 1650 – 1850. The Emergence of Separate Spheres?, p. 37

30 Rome. The wife of a Roman senator hears that the Senate has passed a law which enables men to have two wives. She gets furious and decides to call in all of her friends to set up a parliament for women in which they make the decisions concerning the relations between men and women. At the end of the story, a series of laws is proposed in which the women make clear what they want. The laws clearly show the reversion of gender that is so typical of the genre: the women are not at all modest, chaste and obedient.

THE CHIEF HEADS OF THE WOMENS LAWS 68

First, That instead of allowing men two wives, women, especially the stronger, and greater vessel, should have two or three husbands. (…) That women may feast, banquet, and gossip when and where they please. Likewise it is thought fit and convenient by us, that all rich and stale Bachelors, do forthwith marry poor widows that have no means to live on, and so become Fathers the first day. Item, That it is thought meet, that rich widows shall marry Gentlemens [sic] youngest sons that have no means to maintain themselves. Item, Let our husbands remember, though it be a trick of them to forsake our beds in the Dog- dayes69, yet let them take notice there is no Dog-nights, and that it was at the first but a trick of their own invention to save their labour and money too, which act we disallow for ever (…) Item, That that man which promises a pretty Maid a good turn, and doth not perform it in three months, shall lose his what do you call them.

The laws passed in the Parliament of Women show that the ideal image of the chaste, obedient women we came across in the conduct books, is totally reversed. The women’s main goal is having sex and spending money. Some popular literature (especially satires) concerning women and their rights also talks about the lack of female education. We will discover more examples of this (although not all of them can be regarded as popular literature), but it is worth mentioning the example of Sylvia’s Revenge and the answer to it, so that we can have an idea about the general way of thinking about women and their education. Sylvia’s Revenge (1688) was written as an answer to Satyr against Women, of which Robert Gould probably was the author. In the dedicatory epistle, the anonymous author of Sylvia’s Revenge complains about the lack of female education and we get the impression that it is due to that lack that women behave like they do.

68 Anonymous, The Parliament of Women: With the Merry Laws by them newly Enacted, B4r – B4v 69 The “Dog-dayes” refer to the period towards the end of Summer, when Sirius, the most bright star of the nocturnal sky and part of the constellation Canis Major (= Larger Dog), appears. It was then believed that this big star would add extra heat to the warmth of the Sun, thus accounting for the hot days at the end of August and the beginning of September.

31 (…) Gentlemen I hope you’l [sic] Excuse the want of Learning in a Woman; since upon my word I never read Suetonius nor Tranquillus, for all you know; That a Box of Marmelade, Culpeppers Midwifery, a Prayer-Book and two or three Plays, is all the Furniture of a Womans Study.70

This was the answer to it by the author of the Satyr against Women in his work A satirical Epistle to the Female Author of a Poem Call’d Sylvia’s Revenge (1691):

Leave, leave thy Scribling Itch, and write no more, When you began ‘twas time to give it o’re: What has this Age produc’d from Female Pens, But a wide boldness that outstrides the Mens? Succeeding Times will see the difference plain, And wonder at a Style so loose and vain, And what should make the Women rise so high In love of Vice, and scorn of Modesty:71

In this passage, we can clearly see that intelligence for women was considered as a vice. It was not done that a woman would try to outclass her husband. Most of these fiery epistles and texts seem to have been written by men who were afraid of losing their authority over their wives. This probably was one of the main reasons why female education was regarded as unnecessary or even dangerous in the eyes of men: they had the constant fear that women would develop their own ideas and ideals. And this would have meant the end of the supremacy of the male part of the population over the female part.

5. William Cavendish’s The Variety (1649) 5.1. The Author72 William Cavendish was born on 16 December 1593 at Handsworth Manor in Yorkshire. His parents were of noble blood. His father, Sir Charles Cavendish, was the youngest son of Elizabeth Talbot, the countess of Shrewsbury; his mother Catherine was the daughter of Cuthbert, Baron Ogle (The Ogle family was already a noble family during the reign of Edward IV). William and his younger brother Charles (1595? – 1654) were initially educated at the household of their uncle, the duke of Shrewsbury. In 1608, William entered St. John’s College in Cambridge. But he was not particularly keen on academic studies (this in contrast to his brother, who would become a famous mathematician) and he soon went to the Royal Mews. It was here that he developed his passion for horse riding.

70 Anonymous, Sylvia’s Revenge, or, a SATYR against MAN, A1v 71 Anonymous (Robert Gould?), A Satyrical Epistle to the Female Author of a Poem Call’d SYLVIA’S REVENGE, p. 22 72 Hulse, Lynn, ‘Cavendish, William, first duke of Newcastle upon Tyne’ in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography

32 In 1614, Cavendish was elected MP for East Retford. While he was in London, he met the playwright Ben Jonson and soon afterwards became his disciple. Jonson’s work would have a serious influence on the literary work of William Cavendish. No doubt this also includes the humoral theory that was of such a great influence on the way people looked at men and women (see above). In fact, when William inherited Bolsover Castle (also known as “the Little Castle”) after his father’s death in 1617, he redecorated the anteroom of the castle with wall paintings of the four humours (these and other wall paintings at Bolsover still count as the most beautiful surviving wall paintings of Jacobean England). On 24 October 1618, Cavendish married Elizabeth Howard. Their marriage produced four children: Jane (1622 – 1669), Charles (1626? – 1659), Elizabeth (1627? – 1663) and Henry (1630 – 1691). Around 1630, William was trying to apply for a job at the royal court. In 1632, Lord Cottington asked Cavendish to ensure the passage of king Charles I through Nottinghamshire on his way to his coronation in Scotland. Cavendish saw his chance and invited the monarch at Welbeck, where he entertained him with a grand spectacle. William asked his old friend Ben Jonson to write a play for the royal visit. Jonson was in need for money, so he accepted to provide the text for The King’s Entertainment. The whole banquet is thought to have cost between £4000 and £5000. But despite the enormous cost, the King did not grant Cavendish an office at court. Two years later, in 1634, the King visited William Cavendish again, this time accompanied by his wife Queen Henrietta Maria. Cavendish tried even harder to please the royal household, spending a dazzling amount of money (between £14,000 and £15,000!) on an absolutely stunning spectacle, for which Ben Jonson wrote Love’s Welcome at Bolsover. The Earl of Clarendon said of William Cavendish: “He loved monarchy, as it was the foundation and support of his own greatness”. But the King did not reward Cavendish with the office at the royal court he so hoped for. But William’s reputation as a literary maecenas was now established. During the Caroline period (i.e. during the reign of Charles I), William Cavendish started to write plays, poems and prose himself. The play I will analyse, The Variety, was probably written between 1639 and 1641, although it was not published until 1649, together with another of Cavendish’s plays, The Country Captaine. In 1638, Cavendish finally realized his ambition to execute an office at the royal court: he was appointed Gentleman of the Bedchamber and governor of the young prince Charles (the later Charles II). He acquitted himself very seriously of his task, spending another £40,000 of his personal money. He took care that Charles learned practical things, and saw to it that he be not too much concerned with religion (hence Cavendish’s famous

33 quote: “Beware of too much devotion for a king, for one may be a good man, but a bad king”)73. In 1640, England was heading towards a civil war and Cavendish was asked to perform more military duties for his king. The first task William had to perform was to rescue Lord Strafford from the scaffold. Two weeks later, on 29 May 1641, Strafford was beheaded. Luckily for him, Cavendish was never charged after his rather unsuccessful campaign; but he was forced to resign from his office of governor of prince Charles. Despite William mourning the death of his wife Elizabeth in 1643, Charles I already had new duties for him to perform: he had to secure the northern countries (Northumbria, Durham, Cumberland and Westmorland) from falling into the hands of the Roundheads. Cavendish raised an army of 8000 men, who were known as Newcastle’s Lambs or the Whitecoats. After a series of victories, the tide William Cavendish, 1st Duke of began to turn for the Royalist army. On 22 February Newcastle 1644, William, who in the meantime was granted the title of Marquess of Newcastle, arrived in York. The following night, the weather was so atrocious that William decided to lower his guards because he thought the Scots, who were on the Roundheads’ side, would never cross the river Tyne in these bad weather conditions. He proved to be wrong: that night, the Scots did cross the Tyne. But it was not until the Battle of Marston Moor (2 July 1644) that the two armies met. The Royalist army was run over by the Roundheads; half of Newcastle’s men were slaughtered. William himself went into exile. Via Rotterdam and Brussels, he came to Paris, where he joined the royal household of Queen Henrietta Maria and where he met and married his second wife, Margaret Lucas. Not long afterwards, the couple moved to Antwerp, where they lived in the townhouse that was once owned by the famous painter Peter Paul Rubens. During their stay in Antwerp, William, his brother Charles and his wife Margaret invited many important persons of the time, such as the philosopher Thomas Hobbes (1588 – 1679) and the Dutch scientist and

73 Fraser, Antonia, King Charles II, p. 23

34 diplomat Constantijn Huygens (1596 – 1687). William and Charles also continued their scientific and philosophical researches, a habit of them since they were students. When the Cavendishes returned to England after the Restoration, William got all the titles, lands and manors back that he owned before his departure. But the buildings were in need of repair. Cavendish hoped that Charles II would thank him for his loyalty by offering him a major office in his newly formed government, but he hoped in vain. William was so disappointed that he even refused to go to the coronation of his former pupil. He retired at his manor houses Welbeck and Bolsover and spent his time with his horses. He still acted as a patron for artists, mostly writers, such as Thomas Shadwell. In 1673, three years after Charles II had granted him and his family a burial place in Westminster Abbey, William’s wife Margaret died. He published her literary writings in 1676 as Letters and Poems in Honour of the Incomparable Princess Margaret, Duchess of Newcastle. William himself died on Christmas day of the same year and was buried next to his wife at Westminster Abbey.

5.2. “The Variety” 5.2.1. General information The Variety was published together with The Country Captaine as Two comedies, written by a Person of Honor in 1649, but it was written about ten years earlier. Both plays were performed by the King’s Men at the Blackfriars Theatre. The Variety is a comedy which also contains some songs, set to music by William Lawes, the King’s Men’s composer during the period between 1630 and 1641.

5.2.2. Content The Variety is an example of a typical comedy: there are many developing amorous relations between the different characters, which lead to confusion but in the end, all ends well with a series of weddings. One of the main characters is Sir William, who is a suitor to Lady Beaufield, a widow. She is being described by Sir William as being “the only Magnetick widdow [sic] I’th town”. According to Alexandra Bennett, this epithet hints at the title of one of Ben Jonson’s plays: The Magnetick Lady, or Humors Reconcil’d (1632; first published in 1641)74. The Lady in this play, Lady Loadstone “draws unto her guests of all sorts”, or, as Compass, the play’s hero, puts it:

74 Drabble, Margaret et al., ‘Magnetic Lady, the’ in The Oxford Companion to English Literature

35 … Where there are Gentlewomen, and male Guests, Of severall humors, cariage [sic], constitution, Profession too: but so diametrall, One to another, and so much oppos’d, As if I can but hold them all together, And draw’hem to a sufferance of themselves, But till the Dissolution of the Dinner;75

In William Cavendish’s play too, the “Magnetick Lady” attracts all sorts of people and the main action of the play takes place at her house. And like in Jonson’s play, the Lady is not very keen on remarrying (at least not in the beginning of the play). Lady Beaufield has a daughter, Mistress Lucy, who has two men suitors: Simpleton and Master Newman. Simpleton has also brought his mother with him to marry her to a rich nobleman. Master Manley is a somewhat strange character, who longs for the old days under Queen Elizabeth I and is therefore dressed in “the habit of Leister” (i.e. in the way the earl of Leicester used to dress). He criticises the way things go among the nobility in his own days, and especially the attention that is being paid to outward appearance (symbolised in the play by Monsieur Galliard, the French dancing master). Master Newman, the other more “worldly” character, helps Manley in challenging Galliard’s views on the importance of elegance. In the midst of all these relationships stands Mistress Voluble. She is reputed for being able to predict the future and many of the characters in the play come and ask her advice concerning their love life. Simpleton and Newman both come to her and ask whether they will be Mistress Lucy’s partner. Voluble says she will recommend

Simpleton to Mistress Lucy although she knows that Lucy Front page of "The Variety" (1649) loves Newman more. But Voluble advises against it and (Image from EEBO) says that Simpleton is the perfect husband for her: he may not be smart, but he is very rich (this is probably the reason why Voluble promised Simpleton to win Lucy’s heart for him: she hopes for a reward). The help the future a hand, she also tells Master Newman that his love will turn out not to be successful and that he “will do something in a melancholy mood [that] will endanger [his] neck”.

75 Jonson, Ben, ‘The Magnetick Lady: or, Humors Reconcil’d’ in The Works of Benjamin Jonson

36 It is also Voluble who proposes to make a real Lady of Simpleton’s mother (his mother has learned no manners whatsoever, which is not a good starting point if you are aiming to marry a nobleman). But because Simpleton’s mother is such a slow learner, Voluble asks Miss Nice, the chambermaid, to take the place of the mother when her suitors come to visit her. In the mean time, Simpleton’s mother, who will be veiled and dressed like a chambermaid, will observe the suitors. Voluble has spread the word that there is a rich widow in town, who is looking for a nobleman to marry her. Among the suitors is Sir William, who is embittered because Lady Beaufield shows more interest in Manley. The other suitor is Monsieur Galliard, the dancing-master, who tells the rich widow lies about his possessions in France. Galliard is the one who can convince Nice to come with him and marry him, unaware of the fact that Nice is not the rich widow. Meanwhile, Lucy has told Simpleton that she does not want him. Simpleton then decides to kidnap Lucy. But his plan fails when he and Lucy meet Newman. Newman attacks Simpleton so that Lucy can run away. Simpleton charges Newman with manslaughter (which is slightly exaggerated since Simpleton is only slightly wounded). Lucy accuses Simpleton of rape. The judge refuses to hear Lucy’s or Newman’s testimony because he (i.e. the judge) fancies Simpleton’s mother as well. But when Lady Beaufield and Manley come in, Simpleton sneaks out. Manley, who turns out to be the judge’s cousin, can convince the judge of Newman’s honesty. Then Sir William, who has just married Simpleton’s mother, comes in. When it turns out that Simpleton’s mother is not a rich widow, Sir William wants to charge Voluble. The judge does not want to condemn Voluble because she is a respectable gentlewoman and because he is in love with her. The judge and Voluble marry and Voluble asks forgiveness for all the things she did. She also confesses that she does not know anything about predicting the future. At the end of the story, Newman marries Lucy, and Manley marries Lady Beaufield. Simpleton asks Lucy forgiveness and all ends well.

5.2.3. Female Education in The Variety Although female education serves only as a minor theme in The Variety, the presence of it in the play shows that it was a topic that gave rise to discussions at the time. As I have mentioned in Chapter 1, the beginning of the seventeenth century saw the establishment of a series of boarding schools for girls, especially in Hackney, a suburb of London, then set in a green and quiet surroundings. We have also seen that the courses the girls got there consisted of needlework, French, dancing and music. During the reign of Charles I, the last three of

37 these subjects grew more important, since Charles was married to the French princess Henrietta Maria. The Frenchified atmosphere at the court is reflected in the play by the character of Monsieur Galliard. He is the one who teaches the ladies the accomplishments they normally learn at a boarding school. He is even convinced that dancing and music can save the kingdom, since the people’s minds then are diverted from rebellious thoughts. It was not illogical to think that, if women received an education at a boarding school, they would want to receive an education at a university as well. There have always been voices criticizing on the lamentable state of higher education for women, and it was not different in the early seventeenth century. It is this want of a female academy that William Cavendish satirizes in one of the minor plots of The Variety. The play could have functioned equally well without the scene of the female academy, but in mentioning it anyway, Cavendish hints at the importance of the debate. At the end of the first act, Mistress Voluble asks Lady Beaufield: “Is it your Ladiships pleasure I shall read to day?” (12)76. Beaufield answers that they must not forget their Academy. Lady Beaufield leaves Sir William, whom she had been talking to, and follows Voluble to the Female Academy. In the first scene of the following act, we see Lady Beaufield and her daughter Lucy sitting in the company of other women. Mistress Voluble stands in front, although she says that she is actually “ so weak and unworthy of the Chaire” (13). When Voluble starts to speak, she does this in a very bombastic way, so as to give the impression of a highly intellectual discourse:

It is an infinite favour, (most excellent Ladies) and must needs speak the sweetness of your nature and dispositions, that y’are pleased to hear me, so weak and unworthy of the Chaire, rather deserving to be in the number of Disciples, than a professor in any of the Female Sciences; but as your vertues [sic] are more exemplary, in this honour to me, the Humblest of your Servants, it will become me, in the gratitude to so noble a bounty, not to waste time, but succinctly to deliver, what I could not finish without trespasse on your patience; (13)

But instead of giving a scientific course, Mistress Voluble only talks about the “female sciences”, which consist of fashion and beauty tips. She talks about where you can buy the most beautiful ribbons, lace, gloves,… Voluble’s audience are pleased with the lecture and they admire her very much: they call her “a very learned Gentlewoman” (15) and a “Doctor” (16). But, as Alexandra Bennet quite rightly points out, all the so-called “female sciences” have directly to do with making oneself beautiful in order to seduce a future husband77. Cavendish helps to create the image of the woman as a lustful creature whose only task it is

76 The page numbers refer to the pages of the edition of The Variety of 1649. 77 Bennet, Alexandra, ‘Happy Families and Learned Ladies: Margaret Cavendish, William Cavendish and their onstage academy debate’ in Early Modern Literary Studies

38 to find an attractive (rich) husband. This corresponds to the image of women we saw in some popular literary texts, such as the Parliament of Women (see above). The women in Cavendish’s play, however, still have more decorum and good manners compared to the women in the Parliament of Women: they are not trying to be superior to the men in the play. This goes for all women, except for one: Mistress Voluble. She is depicted as a very powerful woman. Already in the first act, there is a sense of mystery in the figure of Voluble. Master Newman calls her a “Gypsey” (10), but Lucy answers:

LU.: She is of excellent cunning, and has foretold strange things, beleeve [sic] it. NEW.: If my Mistris have an opinion of her Art, she may do me a displeasure; I have heard much talk of this woman, some say she is a Witch too, and weares the Devill in her thumbe Ring, I would not anger one of her Familiars. (10)

A bit later, Sir William tells Master Newman similar things when he asks about the whereabouts of Mistress Voluble:

… she is held a Sibill in the city, and tells oraculously whether the Husband or the Wife shall die first, how, when, and where, and all this sometime by observation of the hand, or forehead; she can see a maid through a maske, and is excellent at stolne [sic] goods, for she can see a theefe through a millstone as well as a conjuring glasse; in brief, she is held prodigious at Divination, and most specially seldome failes in her Judgement of the two destinies: Matrimony, and Hanging, this I have heard Sir. (21)

The characters in the play believe that Voluble is able to predict the future by analysing constellations of the stars. But Voluble is as much a witch as anyone else is: the only thing she does is to try and match people by making them believe that they have to love each other because it is written in the stars. And since one cannot change a constellation in heaven, one has to obey. Simpleton also tells this to Lucy when he tries to kidnap her:

SIM.: Nay, a little further Mistris Lucy, it seems Mrs Voluble told him (i.e. Master Newman) no great good fortune, she saw it in his stares, for you know she wears Astrology at her apron strings; but she told me in private who should be the man, your deere Endymion. LU.: Who I beseech you? SIMP.: The object is presented, and ‘tis in vaine to oppose the Constellations, what must be must be, and there were no more Ladyes in the world, I am the man. (73)

Voluble is thus depicted as a very mighty, but at the same time as a very dangerous woman. She is believed to be able to predict the future, but at the same time, she also deceives people with her predictions (eg. There is no reason why Master Newman should not marry Lucy; but Simpleton is richer and Voluble hopes for a reward). All Voluble’s deceptions are revealed at the end of the play, when it turns out that Simpleton’s mother is not a rich widow. At that point, Voluble admits that she cannot foresee the future and she apologises for it.

39 What makes the character of Voluble important for us, is that William Cavendish places her at the head of the Female Academy. By doing so, Cavendish voices some of the fears (mostly of men) that arose when the first schools for women were established. They thought that the minds of women would easily be influenced by women like Mistress Voluble. Since women have a weaker mind, they could be deceived and lured into all sorts of affairs. Moreover, the things women are interested in, all have to do with making them more attractive to find a husband. But we could also see things differently. In the seventeenth century (and even earlier), it was important for women to know the right accomplishments to attract wealthy husbands. As in later times (eg. The Victorian age), marrying a wealthy husband often was the only way for a woman to secure a decent future, so sexual attractiveness was very important. In that way, William Cavendish’s Female Academy in The Variety meets all the requirements of the time. The women also take dancing lessons (another important course in that time) by the Frenchman Galliard. So we could read the scene about the Academy of Female Sciences78 both as enlarging and ridiculing contemporary education for girls and women. It is not sure, though, whether William Cavendish wanted to criticize education for girls or whether he wanted to laugh at it. He could be criticizing it by pointing at the fact that all the things the girls learned at the boarding schools were techniques to make them more attractive to men. But when we look at the tradition he is writing in, a tradition that is made up by popular literary texts such as The Parliament of Women, I think it is more likely that he inserted the part of the Female Academy to ridicule education for women. Just like people laughed at women who wanted to be as powerful as their husbands (as we saw in the Parliament), William Cavendish laughs at women who want to be as smart as their husbands. Finally, I would like to hint at a deliciously ironic sentence in The Variety. When Sir William and Master Newman are waiting outside for the women who are lecturing inside, Sir William says to Newman: “They [i.e. the women] are more like to purchase Gresham Colledg, and enlarge it for publick Professors, you may live to see another University built, and only women commence Doctors.” (20). The “Gresham Colledg” Sir William talks about, was a foundation for scientific investigations and experiments established by Sir Thomas Gresham in 159879. It is generally seen as the precursor of the Royal Society. When the latter was established in 1660, the members gathered at the buildings of Gresham College. They

78 This is an obvious hint at “The Ladies’ University of Female Arts”, the name people gave to the town of Hackney, where many boarding schools for girls had been established at the time. 79 Johnson, Francis R., “Gresham College: Precursor of the Royal Society” in Journal of the History of Ideas, p. 414

40 did this until 1710, with the exception of the period between 1666 and 1673, when the Great Fire destroyed parts of the building. Sadly enough, the Royal Society did not gather at their normal place in Gresham College at the time the first woman “purchased Gresham Colledg” (or rather, its successor) on 23 May 166780. And that woman was none other than Margaret Cavendish, William Cavendish’s second wife. We will investigate Margaret’s views on female education later in the course of this dissertation and we will compare them with her husband’s.

80 Battigelli, Anna, Margaret Cavendish and the Exiles of the Mind, p. 110

41 CHAPTER 3: FEMALE EDUCATION FOR RELIGIOUS PURPOSES

1. Religious Context in the 17th Century In England, the seventeenth century was a period of many important changes, not only politically or economically, but also religiously. During the 1640s, the government increasingly lost control over religious practices. Consequently, numerous separatist sects were established. Moreover, the decapitation of Charles I and the establishment of a new form of political establishment (viz. the Commonwealth) indicated to some people that new religious possibilities were coming up as well. The King was also the head of the Church of England. Beheading the king thus equalled killing the symbol of the established religion. With Charles out of the way, other religious sects saw opportunities to rise and gain prominence. The most influential protestant sects were the Unitarians, Quakers, Presbyterians, Puritans, Independents (also called Separatists or Congregationalists) and the Levellers81. Furthermore, the establishment of the Protectorate led some extreme Puritans to believe that another great religious kingdom was at hand. Sects like the Fifth Monarchy Men thought that the Protectorate would be the fifth great monarchy (an ironic name for an establishment that got rid of the monarchy) after the Assyrians, the Persians, the Greek and the Romans. According to some of their interpretations of passages in the bible, Christ would return to the Earth during the Fifth Monarchy to reign for a thousand years. It was not uncommon for women to take a prominent role in these non-conformist sects82. The members of those sects usually believed in the equality of men and women. The Quakers, for example, believed very strongly in the spiritual equality of men and women and they rejected the idea of women being subjected to men. Therefore, women were increasingly engaged in religious life. Important for the story of female education is that writing and teaching were regarded as tasks for women in the non-conformist movements. In 1660, Charles II was not only established as the new King of England, but also as the new head of the Anglican Church. Although Charles had signed the Declaration of Breda (1660), which said that “no-one should be disquieted or called into question for their religious opinions, so long as they did not disturb the peace”83, religious toleration came to

81 Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Religion, History of” 82 Shoemaker, Robert B., Gender in English society, 1650-1850. The Emergence of Separate Spheres?, p. 212 83 Fraser, Antonia, King Charles II, p. 278

42 an end almost immediately after Charles’ restoration. During the period between 1661 and 1665, Edward Hyde, Charles’ prime minister, and his government passed four acts known as the Clarendon Code (after Hyde’s title of 1st Earl of Clarendon)84. This series of acts (the Corporation Act of 1661, the Act of Conformity and the Conventicle Act of 1662, and the Five-Mile Act of 1665) imposed serious restrictions on the religious practices of non- conformists and dissenters. They were excluded from public and religious offices and their services of worship were declared illegal. The Clarendon Code was a form of revenge on the part of the Church of England on the Puritans. This Code directly went against Charles II’s own opinions about religious toleration. He tried to exclude certain people (mostly Roman Catholics) from persecution by proposing a Declaration of Indulgence. But this Declaration failed to pass the House of Lords. Out of fear for persecution, people needed to worship in private. This also meant that women disappeared from public religious life. But since worshipping had to be practiced in private, the importance of religious teaching at home grew as well. And for this aspect, women played a vital role. The task of educating the children in religious matters lay with the mother. Therefore, women are seen in many texts as the ones who hand over religious knowledge and values. This is also the case in the texts by Edward Chamberlayne and Mary Astell, discussed below.

2. Edward Chamberlayne’s An Academy or Colledge: wherein Young Ladies and Gentlewomen May at a very moderate Expence be duly instructed. (1671) 2.1. The Author85 Edward Chamberlayne was born on 13 December 1616. he was the grandson of Sir Thomas Chamberlayne (1504 – 1580), who had been an ambassador to the Low Countries. During the Civil War, the young Edward travelled around Europe, visiting almost every state on the continent. He returned to England on the eve of the Restoration. In 1658, he married Susannah Clifford. The couple had nine children in all, the best-known of whom is the writer and editor John Chamberlayne (1668/69 – 1723). Edward Chamberlayne mainly wrote historical and socio-religious works. Without doubt, his most famous work is Angliae Notitiae, or, The Present State of England (1669)

84 Fraser, Antonia, King Charles II, p. 278 85 Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, “Chamberlayne, Edward (1616-1703)”

43 about England’s social, political, economical, religious and historical state. The book was an instantaneous success. In the year of its publication, two reprints were published and the second edition was translated into French. In all, thirty-five editions were published, the last of which was in 1755, almost one hundred years after it had been written. In 1682, Chamberlayne built further on the success of Angliae Notitiae when he published a similar work for Scotland: Scotiae Judiculum, or, The Present State of Scotland, by A.M. Philopatris. Chamberlayne’s pseudonym, A.M. Philopatris (literally “friend of his home country”), indicates that these works were very much in favour of the restored monarchy. This must not come as a surprise to us, since Chamberlayne was appointed tutor to Henry Fitzroy, 1st Duke of Grafton (1663 – 1690)86, one of Charles II’s illegitimate sons with Barbara Palmer, in 1679 and later became tutor of Prince George of Denmark. During the period between 1667 and 1671, Chamberlayne wrote a number of socio-religious pamphlets, including England’s Wants (1667), The Converted Presbyterian (1668) and An Academy or Colledge: Wherein Young Ladies and Gentlewomen may at a very moderate Expence be duly instructed in the true Protestant Religion (1671), the text which is discussed below. Chamberlayne tried to put his proposals for a better English society into practice by donating £5 a year to charitable organisations. Unfortunately and despite his defence of it, he did not donate money to organize female education but to a boys’ school in his home town Chelsea in London. In 1668, Edward Chamberlayne was elected Member of the Royal Society. He died in May 1713 at his home in Chelsea and was buried in the local churchyard.

2.2. “An Academy or Colledge: Wherein Young Ladies and Gentlewomen may at a very moderate Expence be duly instructed in the true Protestant Religion” (1671) 2.2.1. General Information Chamberlayne’s pamphlet about the establishment of female education was published in 1671, when Chamberlayne himself was already 55 years old. The pamphlet is very short, it counts only ten pages and was published together with another of Chamberlayne’s proposals, namely a “College for Old Men”(7)87. As the title makes clear, the purpose of Chamberlayne’s Academy is that English women will be taught the protestant (i.e. Anglican) religion.

86 Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, ‘FitzRoy [formerly Palmer], Henry, first duke of Grafton (1663– 1690)’ 87 All page numbers mentioned between brackets refer to the 1671 edition of Chamberlayne’s pamphlet.

44 2.2.2. Female Education in Edward Chamberlayne’s Academy or Colledge The first page of Chamberlayne’s pamphlet is actually a summary of the theory explained in the following pages. He tells his readers that it is his purpose to establish a college for young women, teaching the protestant religion. The teachers at this college should be “widdows [sic] or virgins that have resolved to lead the rest of their lives in a single retir’d Religious way” (front page)88. He also says that his college will be modelled on German examples of protestant colleges. What he exactly means by this, is not clear, since he does not return to the subject in the latter part of his pamphlet. What he probably means is that in Germany, due to Martin Luther’s influential theories and readings, women were regarded more equal to men, as we have seen in the first chapter. Luther thought it important that everyone, both men and women, learned to read and write, so that they could all understand the word of God. For this purpose, schools were built next to and almost entirely sponsored by a church or cathedral. Chamberlayne may have refered to a newly Front Page of "An Academy or Colledge" (1671) (Image from EEBO) established school system in Gotha, a county in Germany. In 1642, Andreas Reyher published, on demand of Duke Ernst the Pious, a treatise about educational reformation that is known as the Gothaer Schulmethodus.89 Apart from compulsory education for children from the age of five, the treatise mentioned that, additional to the usual courses (reading, writing, arithmetic, singing and religion), a wide range of other, more practical courses should be taught. Examples of such courses are natural history, domestic economy, local history,… In Edward Chamberlayne’s college, the main purpose of the education of the girls is of course religion, but they will be taught other things as well:

Moreover, there will come at due times the best and ablest teachers in London for Singing, Dancing, Musical Instruments, Writing, French Tongue, Fashionable Dresses, all sorts of Needle Works; for Confectionary, Cookery, Pastery; for Distilling of Waters, making Perfumes, making of some sort of Physical and Chyrurgical Medicins and Salves for the Poor, &c. (6)

88 This page has no number; it is the title page. 89 Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Education, History of, ‘The Schools of Gotha’”

45 When we look at these courses, we can see that the normal curriculum has been extended with some noticeable courses. The “Distilling of Waters” and the “making [of] Perfumes” could be seen as elementary courses of chemistry. Remarkable also are the courses that teach medicine. Due to the increasing knowledge of the human body, diseases and remedies, medicine was more and more considered a part of purely scientific knowledge. And since only men had access to scientific knowledge, women were pushed out of these professions, although women had been acting as doctors and midwives since the Middle Ages (see also Chapter 1). But why did Edward Chamberlayne feel the need to reform the educational system for girls? This undoubtedly has to do with religious developments. According to Chamberlayne, English women were renowned all over Europe for their good behaviour; at least “before the late unhappy Troubles in England” (1). With these “late unhappy Troubles”, Chamberlayne clearly hints at the Civil War (later in his pamphlet, he also talks about “our late unnatural War”). It was not the Civil war as such that brought a change in the behaviour of the English women, but rather the lack of control that went with it. As already mentioned, this vacuum of governmental control caused the growing prominence of all sorts of Protestant and Roman-Catholic sects “…and with them Irreligion, Atheism and Debauchery” (2). Chamberlayne was not the only one who worried about the loss of true protestant values in England. As he himself says:

it is by many Godly prudent men judged very expedient, that most earnest endeavors should speedily be used by some extraordinary way of Education to reduce (if possible) the Female Sex of England to their Pristine Values. (2)

Chamberlayne and other men choose to educate women because it was thought that they would exert a positive influence on their husbands, their servants and, most importantly, their children. The influence a mother has on her children is unquestionably considerable. Moreover, she is responsible for their earliest opinions. If children are indoctrinated with the true Anglican faith right from childhood, chances are that they will never forget it or renounce it. In this way, Chamberlayne takes over the techniques used by the sects he wants to destroy. As already been mentioned above, the non-conformists and dissenters had to worship and hand over their religion in private since the Clarendon Code. In these sects too, the role of the mother as someone who teaches her children the beginnings of the faith was very important. There were of course other ways of giving one’s daughters a more or less good education. Chamberlayne lists four of them. The first possibility for parents is to send their

46 daughters to one of the Maiden Schools (i.e. boarding schools) in and around London. I have shown in chapter one that despite the abundance of boarding schools for girls in the suburbs of London, this led to little or no improvement for the intellectual development of the girls. This complaint is also made by Chamberlayne. He lived in Chelsea, a place which was also renowned for its many boarding schools. So he saw what was going on there. He calls the boarding schools places:

…where either through the Unskilfulness, or Negligence; through the Unfaithfulness, or Covetousness of the Mistresses, too much minding their private profit, the Success oft times hath not answered the Expectation of their Parents and Friends; whereof there are divers lamentable Examples, and grievous Complainings. (3)

The second possibility of educating one’s daughter is sending her to a monastery abroad. This was mostly done by parents who wanted their children to be brought up in the tradition of the Roman-Catholic Church. Since Catholics could not do this in England, for obvious reasons, they had to send their children abroad, mostly to France and the area that is now known as Flanders. As already mentioned in the first chapter, James I tried to force these children to come back to England to receive a Protestant education90. But the strong anti- popish feelings that throve during the reign of Charles II forced Roman-Catholic parents to send their children back to the continent. In France and Flanders, there was still the ancient tradition of educating girls at a nunnery. This tradition had also existed in England, but only until the dissolution of the monasteries in 1536, when Henry VIII decided he would have his own Church and repossessed all the grounds, buildings and treasures of the Roman-Catholic institutions all over England. Edward Chamberlayne does not deny that the monasteries and nunneries on the continent serve his goal perfectly: the children who were sent there usually return being very virtuous. But the disadvantage of these institutions is that they are Roman- Catholic. Consequently, the children do not only learn to live virtuously, but they are also taught “Romish Superstitions, and Errours.” (3; original Italics). Moreover, these monasteries and nunneries are very expensive as well. The third possibility is to educate one’s daughters at home, something that was very common in the higher social classes. But this is not a good solution to the problem of female education either, according to Chamberlayne. When you educate your daughters at home, they will be susceptible to all sorts of bad influences and dangers. They are:

…apt to be corrupted, or betrayed by Servants, (of whose unfaithfulness and viciousness there is now a more general complaint than ever;) or else in continual danger to be stoln away by some

90 Borer, Mary, Cathcart, Willingly to School: A History of Women’s Education, p. 76

47 debauched indigent Neighbours; or if they are rich Orphans, to be sold by the Trustees; whereof there are also divers Examples; or to be wholly ignorant and unacquainted with the World; (3)

The fourth and last possibility is to send your daughters to be educated in non-conformist families. These families were renowned for the good education they offered their children. Especially the so-called Dissenting Academies (see Chapter 1) were very famous for their good and useful courses. Chamberlayne does not deny this, he says that these non- conformist families “… perhaps a stricter Education may sometimes be found.” (4). But all these good influences are brought to nothing by the bad influence of a different religion than the Anglican faith. Chamberlayne’s fear was that the young pupils would learn “… schismatical and rebellious principles […], which may one day occasion (if not timely prevented) the final overthrow of the present established Church and State.” (4). To summarize Chamberlayne’s opinion about the possibilities to provide one’s daughters with a good education, we could say that he certainly thinks it a bad idea to keep your children at home for their education. Thus, the solution is that you have to send them away. Unfortunately, the contemporary possibilities to do so all had serious disadvantages in that they exert the wrong influence on the pupils. The boarding schools are not interested in the intellectual development of the girls, and the “popish monasteries” or the non-conformist families both had a bad influence on what was thought to be the right and only religion, namely the Anglican faith. Chamberlayne’s solution is very logical: he feels the need to establish some sort of protestant nunnery. He says that the best way to educate boys is by sending them to a college.

… that for the Education of Sons in all Vertue and Piety, no way hath been found to succeed better generally, than to let them pass their youth in a Collegiate life, under the eye and care of a discreet, learned, pious Tutor, and under the regular Government of the Head and Fellows of a Colledge: (4)

That way, the girls would be away from all sorts of bad influences or dangers, and moreover, they would be indoctrinated with the protestant faith. The college should offer a place for girls to be educated until the day of their wedding, but it should also offer the possibility for those who want to stay unmarried (spinsters and widows) to stay at the college and use their talents for charitable purposes. At the end of the pamphlet, Chamberlayne informs his readers that, should anyone want to send his daughter to such a protestant college, they do not have to look any further:

48 These are therefore to give notice, to all whom it may any way concern, that near London, in a pleasant healthy Soil and Air, there is for both the purposes above mentioned91, proposed a large House, with a Chappel, fair Hall, many commodious Lodgings, and Rooms for all sorts of necessary Offices (5)

What follows, is a description of the site of the school (with gardens, orchards and courts) and of the staff (a Reverend, a governess and divers matrons, all of whom have promised to lead a “retired, single, and religious life” (5)). If the parents want to send their daughters, or if trustees want to send the orphans they are responsible for, to the college, they can take up contact with a number of persons listed at the end of the pamphlet to be provided with further information. Important to notice is that the staff of the school do not expect to profit from their work. The education in the college was thus completely for free! This is very remarkable, since all existing boarding schools asked high admission fees (as still is the case nowadays in England). This also means that every girl, whether she be rich or poor, could enter Chamberlayne’s college. Alas, this enormous democratization of female education never came to existence in Chamberlayne’s time. There are no traces of Chamberlayne or any of the other men he mentions at the end of his pamphlet having established a college for girls. Chamberlayne’s defence of female education turns out to be an ordinary advertisement, and this may seem disappointing at first. But it is a very interesting and important piece of information. The fact that Chamberlayne publishes an advertisement means that there are a considerable number of people interested in this new proposal for female education. This growing interest in education for girls will result in more governmental control of education and the better organisation of schools and schooling system for both boys and girls. But this evolution will not start until the end of the eighteenth century and will continue until the beginning of the twentieth century.

3. Mary Astell’s A serious Proposal to the Ladies, for the Advancement of their true and greatest Interest (1694) 3.1. The Author92 Mary Astell was born on 12 November 1666 in Newcastle as the eldest surviving child of Peter Astell and Mary Errington. She grew up in a rich and prosperous family; her father was a successful coal merchant, and her mother’s family was active in the same

91 Both the purposes, being: the education of young ladies in the true protestant faith and the possibility for spinsters and widows to stay at the college to lead a life in charity. 92 Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, “Astell, Mary (1666 – 1731)”

49 branch as well. Mary’s uncle, Ralph Astell, took care of her education, introducing her to the Cambridge – Platonic philosophy he had learned at the university there, and to theology. Around 1687, Mary moved to London. This had probably to do with the troubles in Newcastle at the time of the glorious revolution. Astell’s family had supported Charles I during the Civil War and was now doing the same for James II (the fact that her mother was born in an ancient Roman-Catholic family probably is explains this royalist and Jacobean support as well). She got financial aid from Archbishop William Sancroft and thanked him with a volume of self-composed poetry. Thanks to the Archbishop, Mary was able to buy a house in the residential neighbourhood of Chelsea (note that Edward Chamberlayne was living at the same time in the same area). Astell’s first and best-known work, A Serious Proposal to the Ladies for the Advancement of their true and greatest Interest, was published in 1694. This will be discussed in greater detail further in the course of this thesis. Probably because of the great success of a Serious Proposal (the book went through four editions between it’s first publication and 1701), Mary Astell continued writing about female education and emancipation. In 1697, she published A serious Proposal to the Ladies, Part II, in which she gave women advice about how to think clearly and logically. In contrast to the first part of A Serious Proposal, the second part does not talk much about religion, but rather about knowledge and methods for philosophical thoughts. Three years later, in 1700, Astell published Some Reflections upon Marriage. In this work, we can clearly see the influence of enlightenment thinkers such as René Descartes and John Locke (see Chapter 2). Astell also advised women to think very seriously before they married someone who asked complete obedience from his wife. Later in life, Astell also began to publish more political writings, although all of these texts contained religious feelings (of course, English politics at the time were seriously influenced by religion as well). All four of her works, Moderation Truly Stated (1704), A Fair Way with the Dissenters and their Patrons (1704), An Impartial Enquiry into the Causes of Rebellion and Civil War in this Kingdom (1704) and Bart’lemy Fair, or, An Enquiry after Wit (1709) deal with the danger that went out from Dissenters and non- conformists. Apart from these more or less political works, Astell also wrote a religious credo: The Christian Religion, as Profess’d by a Daughter of the Church of England (1705). At about the same time of her last publication, Bart’lemy Fair, or, An Enquiry after Wit (1709), Astell, together with her friends Lady Elizabeth Hastings and Lady Jones,

50 established a charity school for girls in the Royal Hospital in Chelsea93. As we have seen in Chapter One, the establishment of such schools had become very popular at the time. We must not forget that since 1698, the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (S.P.C.K.) took care of founding charity schools all over the country. Astell was responsible for fund- raising and she also planned the curriculum. The school existed until 1862. In 1731, Mary Astell was diagnosed with breast cancer. Although she underwent an operation in March 1731, she died two months later on 9 May. A week later, she was buried in the churchyard in Chelsea.

3.2. “A Serious Proposal to the Ladies, for the Advancement of their true and greatest Interest” (1694) 3.2.1. General Information A Serious Proposal to the Ladies was published in 1694 as one of the first works that would later be catalogued as literary feminism. Astell’s basic thought that women do have the same intellectual capacities as men, is influenced by Descartes (see Chapter Two). Her proposal consists of the establishment of a religious retreat for women to be educated or to stay if they want to remain unmarried. Her book was rather popular, but provoked a lot of controversy as well. (see below)

3.2.2. Female Education in A Serious Proposal to the Ladies 3.2.2.1. Consequences of the Lack of Female Education Title page from "A Serious Proposal To the Ladies" (1694) Astell starts with the observation that women have far (Image from EEBO) less opportunities and possibilities in life than men have. This is due, quite logically, to their lack of education. But it is not women’s own fault that they are not wise and good; men deny them the education they need to develop their mind. The argument that men use, is that women are incapable of acting prudently and that they are therefore determined to be “folly”. But Astell says that this is not the reason why they should not have a proper education, but one of the consequences of a lack of education.

93 Borer, Mary, Cathcart, Willingly to School: A History of Women’s Education, p. 121

51 But there is more: women do not see the need to be educated either. As we saw in Chapter One, and as been illustrated by William Cavendish’s The Variety in the previous chapter, much more emphasis was laid on so-called accomplishments obtained by women than on wisdom or intelligence. According to Astell, this is men’s fault as well: they only value outward appearance in a woman. A woman thus finds that being beautiful and having the right accomplishments is far more profitable than being intelligent or pious. Consequently, all attention goes to improving one’s beauty and manners, while the development of the mind and soul is totally neglected. The constant pursuit of beauty not only leads to more vanity and pride (see 3.2.2.2.), but also to a decline in piety.

When a poor Young Lady is taught to value her self on nothing but her Cloaths, and to think she’s very fine when well accountred [sic]. When she hears say, that ‘tis Wisdom enough for her to know how to dress her self, that she may become amiable in his eyes, to whom it appertains to be knowing and learned; who can blame her if she lay out her Industry and Money on such Accomplishments, and sometimes extends it farther than her misinformer desires she should? When she sees the vain and the gay, making Parade in the World, and attended with the Courtship and admiration of all about them, no wonder that her tender eyes are dazled [sic] with the Pageantry; and wanting Judgement to pass a due Estimate on them and their Admirers, longs to be such a fine and celebrated thing as they! What tho’ she be sometimes told of another World, she has however a more lively perception of this, and may well think, that if her Instructors were in earnest, when they tell her of hereafter, they would not be so busied and concerned about what happens here. She is, it may be, taught the Principles and Duties of Religion, but not acquainted with the Reasons and Grounds of them; being told, ‘tis enough for her to believe, to examin [sic] why, and wherefore belongs not to her. And therefore, though her Piety may be tall and spreading, yet because it wants Foundation and Root, the first rude Temptation overthrows and blasts it; (49 – 52, original Italics)

In a land that has been torn apart by religious quarrels and conflicts for the last 200 years, this is a very dangerous development, according to Astell. The only way to bring stability into the country, is by establishing a strong Anglican faith. In this way, Astell’s ideas are very parallel to those of Edward Chamberlayne. They both want to establish some sort of retreat where young women can be educated in the true protestant (i.e. Anglican) faith without being distracted by the outside world. Astell also wants women to see how superficial things like beauty and accomplishments are:

Let those therefore who value themselves only on external Accomplishments, consider how liable they are to decay, and how soon they may be depriv’d of them, and that supposing they shou’d continue, they are but sandy Foundations to build Esteem upon. (169)

3.2.2.2. Vices and Virtues A second thing Astell notes is that contemporary women do have the tendency to develop more vices than virtues. This too is due to a lack of proper education for women. According to Astell, all female vices originate from ignorance. And the main vices from

52 which all other vices originate are pride and vanity. These are caused by the expectations people had on women’s behaviour and by the great importance laid on outward appearance and accomplishments. Women must be proud and vain in order to play the game of seduction and find a suitable and rich husband. The antidote for pride and vanity Astell offers is ambition. This may sound strange, as I have pointed out in the previous chapter that ambition is regarded as a vice for women (the fact that women would become too ambitious was a much-heard argument against female education). But for Astell, ambition is a good thing because it encourages women to “aspire to the best things” (9). She says contemporary women are too humble. They should show the ambition to enrich themselves with knowledge and religious education and thereby not only develop their minds but, most importantly, also their souls and so become more virtuous. Through education, they will obtain glory and be able to dwell in “the highest mansions in the Court of Heaven” (10). Moreover, if a woman knows how to perfect herself, she will rightly do so. But if she is kept ignorant, she will pretend to have perfected herself, which is an act of vanity. Or, when she is not able to perfect herself, she will as a form of compensation be proud of what she does have: beauty or money. Astell concludes:

In sum, did not ignorance impose on us, we would never lavish out the greatest part of our Time and Care, on the decoration of a Tenement, in which our Lease is so very short, and which for all our industry, may lose it’s [sic] Beauty e’re that Lease be out, and in the mean while, neglect a more glorious and durable Mansion! (43 – 44)

Astell’s key thought is thus that education helps to be virtuous. And a virtuous life leads to Heaven. An uneducated woman, who does not know what virtue is, will be easily misled by people who want to abuse her. A woman who has received a proper education knows that she should not listen to such rascals, but that she must listen to herself and act according to her own virtues. Astell believes that she who is not only good, but knows why she is good, is too stable to be tempted into sin.

… she who is not only eminently and unmoveably good, but able to give the Reason why she is so; is too firm and stable to be moved into the pitiful Allurements of sin, too wise and too well bottom’d to be undermin’d and supplanted by the strongest Efforts of Temptation. Doubtless a truly Christian Life requires a clear understanding, as well as regular Affections, that both together may move the Will to a direct choice of Good, and a stedfast [sic] adherence to it. For tho the heart may be honest, it is but by chance that the Will is right, if the Understanding be ignorant and Cloudy. (53 – 54)

Therefore, women ought to have a proper, mainly religious, education to learn what the virtues are and why they are virtuous. Because people are so busy and have so little time to reflect upon their own vices and virtues, a retreat offers a perfect solution to do so. In a

53 retreat, the female pupils will lead a secluded life where they have time to think about their inner self, instead of constantly thinking about their outward appearance like they had to do outside of the retreat.

3.2.2.3. The Solution: the Establishment of a Retreat The solution to all of these problems, the thriving vices and the diminishing of piety, is the establishment of a special retreat in which women can be educated in the true protestant faith (cf. Chamberlayne). Astell only mentions her proposal on page 60 of her book, as if she did not want to shock the reader too much. On the previous 60 pages, she talked about what went wrong in contemporary England, and only when she has convinced the reader that something has to be done to prevent all this misery does she offer a proposal:

Now as to the Proposal, it is to erect a Monastry [sic], or if you will (to avoid giving offence to the scrupulous and injudicious, by names which tho innocent in themselves, have been abused by superstitious Practices) we will call it a Religious Retirement, and such as shall have a double aspect, being not only a retreat from the World for those who desire that advantage; but likewise, an institution and previous discipline, to fit us to do the greatest good in it; such an institution as this (if I do not mightily deceive my self,) would be the most probable method to amend the present, and improve the future Age. (60 – 61, original Italics)

Astell’s idea is thus rather similar to Chamberlayne’s, except that Chamberlayne only emphasized women as pious examples for the rest of their environment (especially their children), while Astell also thinks it important that women improve not only their family, but also themselves. As Chamberlayne already mentioned, the concept of the Catholic nunneries was still known from examples on the continent. But Astell wants to avoid at all costs that people would accuse her from having Roman – Catholic sympathies. Therefore, she emphasizes that the name “Monastry” is perhaps not so well chosen because that name has been abused by “superstitious Practices”, i.e. Catholicism. After the troubles with James II, people were very suspicious of Roman – Catholics. There were very good reasons to suspect Astell of being a Roman – Catholic: her mother had been born in a famous and old Roman – Catholic family that had supported Charles I and James II. Astell’s opinion is that religion can only be professed correctly if people understand it. It is as difficult for an uneducated woman to understand religion, as it is for a blind person to understand colours, or for a deaf person to understand sounds (71). If a woman can choose consciously for religion because she has learned to understand it and experiences joy from it, she will not lay her religion down; nor will she take up religion because it has been a custom

54 for ages. Moreover, Astell says that the profound learning of the Anglican faith is necessary to defend oneself against deceivers who “lead captive silly women”. She literally says:

We pretend not that Women shou’d teach in the Church, or usurp Authority where it is not allow’d them; permit us only to understand our own duty, and not be forc’d to take it upon trust from others; to be at least so far learned, as to be able to form in our minds a true Idea of Christianity, it being so very necessary to fence us against the danger of these last and perilous days, in which Deceivers, a part of whose Character is, to lead captive silly Women, need not creep into Houses, since they have Authority to proclaim their Errors on the House top. (84 – 85; original Italics)

As I have already mentioned in the introduction to this chapter, women had an important role to play in non-conformist movements. Quaker women were even able to “teach in Church” and many women held important offices in the hierarchy of the religious sects. But this is not Astell’s objective. In this short excerpt she makes clear that she is absolutely not in favour of any group of dissenters. After all, they are responsible for the decline in piety as well. In the last sentence (“need not creep into Houses…House top.”), Astell undoubtedly hints at the so- called Toleration Act of 1689, which granted the English citizens more religious freedom. As said previously, dissenters were obliged to practice their faith in private out of fear for persecution. But since the Toleration Act had passed Parliament, they were allowed to have public services again, as long as they did not disturb the peace of other people. This is what Astell means with them having the “Authority to proclaim their Errors on the House top”. With all these different sorts of religion no longer performed in private, uneducated women were now an easy prey for dissenters. But the retreat has yet another purpose: when women are educated, they will be more “agreeable and useful” (81) in company. When uneducated women speak, they sound very silly because they know nothing about the world but the perfection of her own outward appearance (cf. what Hannah Woolley said about female conversation in Chapter One). Astell complains that the contemporary female conversations are always about fashion or romances, whereas they should be about establishing virtue in other people’s hearts (romances are the only sources of social advancement and knowledge in general for women; see below). By conversing with other women in the religious retirement, the pupils will learn how they can converse with each other in a virtuous way. When the pupils come out of the retreat, they are meant to be virtuous examples to the rest of the world. Again, this idea is very parallel to Chamberlayne’s proposal. As in Chamberlayne’s pamphlet, women are educated to be examples for their children, servants, husbands,… Astell even goes one step further: she is convinced that an educated woman will have a positive influence on her

55 marriage. First of all, an educated woman will be more likely to find a decent husband and less inclined to run away with some rascal. But if she is married to a brutish husband, she will be able to calm him down by acting prudently and virtuously. Moreover, if she is able to entertain her husband with an ingenious conversation, he will be less likely to run away from her to look for his pleasures elsewhere. Astell also refers to her retreat as a “sacred Mountain” (128). This is a very biblical image and might refer to the story of Moses who went up the sacred mountain Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments from God (Exodus 20, 1 – 17)94. Just like Moses came down to teach his people how to live virtuously, Astell’s pupils will come back to the world as shining examples. Another possibility is that the “sacred Mountain” refers to the famous passage in the Bible about the City on the Hill (Matthew 5, 14: “Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid.”95). This passage was especially popular with the Puritans who left England for America and saw the new – Puritan – colony as an example for the rest of the world (cf. John Winthrop’s A Model of Christian Charity (1630)). Maybe Astell had this passage in mind when she thought of the retreat: that it should be like a city on a hill, an example that cannot be neglected. Just as the Puritans thought that their work in the colony would be looked at and followed all over the world, Astell too hopes that her example will be followed as well as the examples of her virtuous pupils.

3.2.2.4. The Establishment of a Retreat: Practical Arrangements Astell’s retreat is meant for women who scorn the vanities of the contemporary world and know that the so-called “pleasures” of vain and proud women are just empty boxes:

For here, those who are convinc’d of the emptiness of earthly Enjoyments, who are sick of the vanity of the world, and its impertinencies, may find more substantial and satisfying entertainments, and need not be confin’d to what they justly loath. (61 – 62)

Apart from that, the monastery also offers a retreat from the noise and hurry of the world, so that the pupils can devote themselves to the service of God and the improvements of their own minds. But of course, not every girl or young woman was allowed at Astell’s retreat. Pioneering though she may be on female education, she could not be so democratic as to allow common girls into her religious retirement. The pupils should be “Ladies of Quality” (145), “persons whose Dispositions as well as their births are […] generous” (98) or “daughters of Gentlemen who have fallen into decay” to preserve them from “great

94 De Bijbel, Willibrord vertaling, p. 82 95 Cain, William E., American Literature. Volume I, p. 82

56 Dishonours” (149). That Astell is aiming for women from the upper classes, is also made clear by the fact that her retreat, contrary to Chamberlayne’s, asks an admission fee of £500 up to £600! Such a sum of money this could only be paid by the rich and wealthy. But Astell says that her retreat will prove to be worth the expenses.

Who will think 500 pounds too much to lay out for the purchase of so much Wisdom and Happiness? Certainly, we shou’d not think them too dearly paid for by a much greater Sum, did not our pitiful and sordid Spirits set a much higher value on Money than it deserves. But granting so much of that dear Idol is given away, a person thus bred, will easily make it up by her Frugality and other Vertues: if she bring less, she will not waste so much, as others do in superfluous and vain Expences. (157 – 158)

Astell also makes an appeal to her readers to donate money, so that the establishment of her religious retreat could soon be started. The monastery will also differ from a Roman – Catholic monastery in that the women are not obliged to take their vows. The choice to enter the retirement must be entirely free. This is necessary, according to Astell, because the duties in God’s service are not meant to impose burdens upon the ladies, for this is considered as counterproductive. It must be emphasized that religion itself contains nothing unpleasant, only the unpleasant things we ourselves have added to religion (such as taking vows when entering a monastery). Astell wants her pupils to know that piety is the most pleasant thing there is in human life. The curriculum consists, according to Astell, only of “useful knowledge” (76), by which she means that this knowledge must be useful for the development of virtues and the better understanding of religion. First of all, women do not have to learn languages, except those that are “necessary to acquaint her with useful Authors” (77) of whom they must not read a great many books, but only some good and well-chosen ones. What Astell exactly means by “useful Authors” is not directly made clear in the text. But somewhat later in the book, Astell tells us:

And since the French Tongue is understood by most Ladies, methinks they may much better improve it by the study of Philosophy (as I hear the French Ladies do,) Des Cartes [sic], Malebranch, and others, than by reading idle Novels and Romances. ‘Tis strange we shou’d be so forward to imitate their Fashions and Fopperies, and have no regard to what is truly imitable in them! And why shall it not be thought as genteel, to understand French Philosophy, as to be accoutred in a French Mode? Let therefore the famous Madam D’acier96, &c. and our own incomparable Orinda, excite the emulation of the English Ladies. (85 – 86, original Italics)

It is known that Astell was well acquainted with philosophy and with the Fench philosophers in particular.97 It is worth noting that some aspects of Astell’s Proposal show remarkable

96 Mme. Dacier was famous all over Europe for her translations of Homer’s Iliad and Odysey. 97 Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, “Astell, Mary (1666 – 1731)”

57 similarities with Traité de l’Education des Filles (1687), a work by François de Salignac de La Mothe – Fénelon 98 , archbishop of Cambrai in France. Like Astell, he notices the importance of women as a religious example for her family and for the rest of society. Moreover, both de Salignac and Astell emphasize the fact that women ought not to learn any modern languages, for they would only corrupt a woman morally. The archbishop further mentions that education should make a woman both accomplished and religious, not “ignorant ou précieuse”. This is also the key thought of Astell’s Proposal. Whether Astell knew about the writings of François de Salignac de La Mothe – Fénelon , I have not been able to find out. But she certainly was acquainted with French philosophical writings, some of which she received from her literary patron, another archbishop: William Sancroft.99 Other occupations of the women in the retreat consisted mainly of doing charitable works, both inside and outside the walls of the monastery. Quite logically, it is useless to cut women off from the outside world, since their task is to improve the world and act as examples therein. In the retirement itself, the ladies will devote their time to God, but also with study (by educating themselves through self-reflection as well as other ladies in the retreat) and with “spiritual and corporal works of mercy” (89), such as relieving the poor, healing the sick, correcting those who err,… In all of their occupations, the pupils will follow strictly the precepts of the Church of England. This means that they will celebrate the Eucharist and that they will follow all periods of Fasts (however this, according to Astell, must not be exaggerated). If they have any free time left, the women will occupy themselves with “harmless and ingenious diversions, Musick particularly” (93). Finally, Astell also mentions some purely practical arrangements. First of all, there will be no luxury in the retreat. All the money they can save has to go to charitable organisations or to the relief of the poor (Astell is of the opinion that this will delight the ladies more than if it were spent on themselves (96)). Another important arrangement is that there will be no male visitors allowed in the retirement. This rule serves two purposes: the ladies will not be distracted from their religious duties, and women who seek a refuge from men can find protection in the monastery too.

3.2.2.5. Disadvantages of not Living in a Retreat Somewhat in the middle of her book, Astell lists a series of disadvantages of living in society to convince her readers that living in a retreat will help them to become more

98 Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Education, History of” 99 Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, “Astell, Mary (1666 – 1731)”

58 virtuous than could be possible in the normal world. The most obvious objection against living in the “normal” world, as has been mentioned several times before, is that that world is full of temptations and vanities. People who live in a sinful world will naturally be more tempted to sin. Moreover, because the world is full of vanities that constantly demand our attention, all other thoughts, and our pious thoughts in particular, are pushed aside. Consequently:

the Mind being prepossess’d and gratefully entertain’d with those pleasing Perceptions which external Objects occasion, takes up with them as its only Good, is not at leisure to taste those delights which arise from a Reflection on itself, nor to receive the Ideas which such a Reflection conveys, and consequently forms all its Notions by such Ideas only as sensation has furnish’d it with, being unacquainted with those more excellent ones which arise from its own operations and a serious reflection on them, and which are necessary to correct the mistakes, and supply the defects of the other. (108 – 109, original Italics)

Ladies who are thus admired for worldly things, such as beauty, will value these things the most. But she who is not, will look for satisfaction in areas “higher than the senses” (110). By taking women out of these earthly vanities, Astell forces them to value other things, specifically their spiritual life. This will also be more enjoyable for the ladies. If they were living in a vain society, they would have paid attention and attributed value to the wrong things. They would be deprived of joy as soon as something goes wrong with those earthly delights (eg. When they grow older and their beauty starts to fade). Those women get a temper as soon as something does not go they way they want it to go, which makes them very inconsistent creatures. Inconsistency is not only another female vice (see Chapter Two), but it is also evidence of a weak and injudicious mind because it has no destination and picks out possibilities at random (116). This would never have happened if these women lived in a retreat. They would have paid attention to the right things: religion and piety. Since spiritual joy is eternal, they would lead a far happier life in Astell’s religious retirement. Moreover, because piety is based upon self-reflection, their minds would be more consistent. Another disadvantage is liberty, or, in Astell’s own words: “Liberty will corrupt an Angel” (117). Liberty not only causes people to fall victim to all sorts of temptations, it has also an effect on how they treat other people. Astell fears that we may become careless in our conversations and be not only rude towards other people, but also towards God:

’Tis become no easy matter to secure our Innocence in our necessary Civilities and daily Conversations; in which, if we have the good luck to avoid such as bring a necessity on us, either of seeming rude to them, or being really so to GOD Almighty, whilst we tamely hear him, our best Friend and Benefactor, affronted, and swallow’d it, at the same time, that we wou’d reckon’t a very pitiful Spirit to hear an Acquaintance traduc’d and hold our Tongue; (117 – 118)

59 Undoubtedly, Astell hints here at the many religious sects that throve in late seventeenth- century England. Since the Toleration Act of 1689, dissenters and non – conformists were allowed to practice their faith in public again. In Astell’s eyes, people were insulting God by speaking about their faith in public. The third disadvantage is concerned with the lack of time people have. They live in a very hectic and noisy world. Therefore, they do not have the time to reflect about their faith, about God or about their own vices and virtues. There is no time for self-reflection. Moreover, people are so concerned about what is going on elsewhere, that they do not have the time to think about what is happening in their own environment. Therefore, it is necessary to relax and to withdraw oneself in the safe environment of the retreat. Because the ladies will not be disturbed by what is going on in the world, they have all the time to contemplate about their inner lives and to concentrate on true devotion to God.

3.2.2.6. Advantages of Living in a Retreat For clarity’s sake, I will split the advantages mentioned by Astell into two groups: spiritual advantages (concerning religion, virtue and education in general, but also concerning spiritual friendships between the women at the retreat) and practical advantages.

3.2.2.6.1. Spiritual Advantages The first of the “spiritual” advantages a retreat offers, is that you live secluded from the vanities and temptations of the outside world. Astell refers to the story of the Fall of Men in Genesis (where, as we saw before, it was the woman who was lured into sin) when she says: “Here are no Serpents to deceive you, whilst you entertain your selves in these delicious Gardens” (67). As mentioned above (3.2.2.5.), this will enable the women in the retreat to concentrate on virtue, piety and their own inner lives. This knowledge will be very useful to them when they return into the world. Piety will become a habit; religion a second nature. The women will not be tempted to sin or to renounce their faith because they have tasted the “Fruits of Paradice” (142) and they will no longer be seduced by the “muddy Pleasures of sensual Delights” (143). Moreover, they will be freed from the custom of believing without knowing and of the custom of leaving women uneducated (see also 3.2.2.7.). Life in a retreat will give women more time as well, because they are cut off from all extravagancies of useless pastimes. Astell quotes from the Bible, where Solomon (who is regarded as a wise king, so his words would have had certain authority, even in Astell’s days) says: “What Fruit have we of all that Sport and Pastime we have taken under the sun?” (119).

60 The second advantage is a very important one, because it shows that Astell is not inclined to restrict education at the retreat to religion alone. She says that life at a retreat is particularly advantageous because it offers learning and leisure, so that women can learn to make use of the Reason God bestowed on them. Just like the nunneries in the Middle Ages, Astell sees her retreat not only as a centre of devotion, but also as a centre of learning:

And by that learning which will be here afforded, and that leisure we have, to enquire after it, and to know and reflect on our own minds, we shall rescue ourselves out of that woful incogitancy [sic] we have slipt into, awaken our sleeping Powers, and make use of that reason which GOD has given us. We shall then begin to wonder at our Folly, that amongst all the pleasures we formerly pursued, we never attended to that most noble and delicious one which the chase of truth affords us; and bless ourselves at last, that our eyes are open’d to discern how much more pleasantly we may be entertain’d by our own Thoughts, than by all the Diversions which the world affords us. (124 – 125)

Astell wants to free women not only from their lack of religious knowledge, but from their lack of general knowledge as well. Apart from “holy emulation” (133), the women at the retirement will also enjoy true friendship, which is considered the second best thing after the love of God. According to Astell, friendship is a virtue that only befalls those who already have many virtues. In those days, she says, true friendship had become very rare because people are so full of self-love that there is no time left to love someone else. Moreover, it is very easy to become friends with the wrong persons because people do have the tendency to disguise their true self. (Astell also says that true friendship is “a blessing many Monarchs will envy” (133), because it must be very difficult for a monarch to know who his true friends are and who is only being friendly because he hopes to be rewarded for it). Wrong friends have a negative, rather than a positive effect on women. To avoid these troubles, we must be able to look into the other person’s soul. The retreat is the best place to do so, because there is no other interest to serve there. Astell emphasizes, however, that the friendship between the ladies at the retreat has nothing to do with “those intimacies that are about in the world, which are often combinations in evil, and at best but insignificant dearnesses” (137). Friendship between the women at the retreat has yet another advantage: because they are freed from selfishness (otherwise they would not have been able to maintain true friendships), they are in the best position to teach other people how to be virtuous. Friends will correct one another’s faults because they want the other to become a better person. We could thus say that friendship both originates from and leads to virtue.

61 3.2.2.6.2. Practical Advantages Apart from the spiritual advantages, the retreat also offers some practical advantages. Most notably, the retirement offers a refuge for women who want to get away from desiring men. A woman can safely stay at the retreat until the day she gets married, although a woman will never be forced to marry if she does not want to:

She will not here be inveigled and impos’d on, will neither be bought nor sold, nor be forced to marry for her own quiet, […]. Or if she be dispos’d to marry, here she may remain in safety till a convenient Match be offer’d by her Friends, and be freed from the danger of a dishonourable one. (146 – 147)

But the retreat also offers employment for women who were educated there. They can work there as teachers for the children of “Persons of Quality” (147), especially on the instruction of their minds, which “shall be the particular care of those of their own rank” (147 – 148). All the other courses, which are of lesser importance in the education of girls (sewing, reading, music, …) will be taught by “meaner persons deputed to that Office” (148). The retreat as a refuge for unmarried women is an idea that we can find back in Chamberlayne’s pamphlet as well. His proposal, too, was that widows or women who wished to remain unmarried would act as teachers in his college. The difference is that Astell only accepts women of noble birth to take care of the important components of education of the young ladies in the retreat, whereas Chamberlayne accepts everyone.

3.2.2.7. Custom Being Replaced by Reason An important part of Astell’s mission consists of putting an end to the old custom that women should not be educated. She does this by emphasizing that God endowed women with reason as well. But she knows that this change has to come from women themselves. They must do something to break with the old habits. They have to accept that their souls are not only meant to serve their bodies or to attract men. Astell says that:

Neither God nor Nature have excluded them from being Ornaments to their Families, and useful in their Generation; there is therefore no reason they should be content to be Cyphers in the World, useless at the best, and in a little time a burden and nuisance to all about them. (24)

In the light of what we have seen in Chapter Two, these sentences are of the utmost importance. Thoughts concerning gender in the seventeenth century were still influenced by opinions that originated in the Middle Ages. God, by which Astell most probably means religion as a whole and the Bible more specifically, determined views on women. Women were regarded as inferior to men and were held responsible for the Fall. Nature had an

62 influence on the thoughts about women as well, viz. in the form of the humoral theory. This theory, as shown in the previous chapter, saw women’s nature as incapable of reasonable thoughts. Although these certainly were deep-rooted ideas, Astell dares to oppose them and tries to show women that, whatever people may believe, nothing can keep them from developing their minds. She tries to express that the belief of women being ignorant is kept alive by custom. Since women do not have the opportunities to learn to think for themselves, they have to look at what women did before them. For the women before them, it was important to find a good husband who could support his wife (especially financially). Therefore, they had to make themselves as attractive as possible. This is also the image of the woman as portrayed in novels and romances. These romances were often the only source of knowledge women had. It is thus quite logical that outward appearance and accomplishments are far more important than intelligence and reason. Of course , Astell is very conscious that it takes a lot of courage to leave the old road:

For Custom has usurpt such an unaccountable Authority, that she who wou’d endeavour to put a stop to its Arbitrary Sway, and reduce it to Reason, is in a fair way to render her self the Butt for all the Fops in Town to shoot their impertinent Censures at. And tho a wise Woman will not value their Censure, yet she cares not to be the subject of their Discourse. The only way then is to retire from the world, as the Isrealites did out of Egypt, lest the Sacrifice we must make of its Follies, shou’d provoke its Spleen. (122 – 123; original Italics)

Astell concludes that the best way to start her attack on custom, is to retire from the world, so that the women will not be disturbed by evil talk.

3.2.2.8. Reactions on Astell’s “Proposal” A text like Astell’s Proposal is of course very likely to provoke many reactions. And Astell knew that most of these oppositions would come from the male part of the population. Therefore, she addresses her male readers at several places in the text. Already at the beginning of the text, she says that men often make more and worse mistakes than women, but that it is not her intention to correct them who think themselves too wise to listen to any advice of a woman. But later, she apologizes for being so rude, although she does say that she cannot see the harm of educating women. She thinks that men will not be in favour of her proposal because they are afraid to lose their monopoly of the “Tree of Knowledge” (87). Another objection men might make is that learning will make a woman proud and vain (although Astell tries to prove the contrary in the rest of the text). But Astell says that the women at her retreat will learn nothing to heighten their pride, only to heighten their devotion. Moreover, men actually have no reason to reject female education, for the sake of

63 their children alone. As Chamberlayne did in his pamphlet, Astell emphasizes that women exert a great influence over men as a mother. If the mother is learned, she can teach her children, who will benefit from it for the rest of their lives:

But the men if they rightly understand their own interest, have no reason to oppose the ingenious Education of the Women, since ‘twou’d go a great way towards reclaiming the men; great is the influence we have over them in their Childhood, in which time, if a Mother be discreet and knowing as well as devout, she has many opportunities to give such a Form and Season to the tender Mind of the Child, as will shew its good effects thro’ all the stages of his Life. But tho’ you should not allow her capable of doing good, ‘tis certain, she may do hurt: If she do not make the Child, she has power to marr him, by suffering her fondness to get the better of discreet affection. (154 – 155; original Italics)

People might also say that it is problematic that a wife should be smarter than her husband (157). Astell does not see any problem in this situation. If this should happen, it is the husband’s own fault for not taking the opportunities to improve his own mind (because men do have considerably more opportunities to be educated than women). And for a not so smart husband, it is better to marry a wise woman, so that she can govern him and correct his mistakes. Or if the husband is a brute, a wise wife could calm him down. These are all speculations about how people could react to her Proposal. But in a way, Astell was right: when the book was published, it did provoke some consternation. Addison and Steele, for example, mocked her ideas and lampooned her as the person who came up with the idea of an “order of Platonick Ladies […] who […] gave out, that Virginity was to be their State of Life during their Mortal Condition, and therefore resolv’d to join their Fortunes and erect a Nunnery”100. Luckily for Astell and the cause of female education she defended, there were also some positive reactions. The best-known of these reactions is Daniel Defoe’s An Essay upon Projects (1697), in which he puts forward the proposal of an “Academy for Women”. His plan included the establishment of an academy for both men and women, in which men would be taught military sciences and women would have the opportunity to learn languages and history 101 . Although he was sympathetic to Astell’s proposal to ameliorate female education, Defoe thought her retreat was too religiously inclined. He thought she was absolutely right about offering women a better form of education, but he chose to put more practical courses in the curriculum “so as to make them understand the world, and be able to

100 Tatler, no.32, June 1709, p.21 – 23 (quoted in: Hill, Bridget, A Refuge from Men: The Idea of a Protestant Nunnery, p. 118) 101 Novak, Maximillian E., Daniel Defoe. Master of Fictions., p. 122

64 know and judge of things when they hear of them”102. We must not forget that Defoe himself had been educated at a Dissenting Academy, where he attended mostly practical courses. There also was an attempt to put Astell’s theory into practice. It is said that “a great Lady” wanted to donate £10,000 to Astell to enable her to establish her religious retreat. It is generally accepted that that Lady was Princess Anne of Denmark, the later Queen Anne, to whom Astell would dedicate A Serious Proposal to the Ladies, Part II (1697)103. Anne was talked out of her enthusiasm, however, by Gilbert Burnet, bishop of Salisbury, who argued that Astell’s monastery would give rise to papist ideas. Strangely enough, bishop Burnet would defend the cause of female education in his own writings. In his History of His Own Times (1734) he says:

The breeding of young women to vanity, dressing and false appearance of wit and behaviour, without proper work or a due measure of knowledge and a serious sense of religion is the cause of the corruption of that sex. Something like monasteries without vows would be a glorious design and might be so set on foot as to be the honour of a Queen on the throne; but I will pursue this no further. (653)104

These words are almost an exact echo of what Astell said in her Proposal forty years earlier. But although Astell’s religious retirement did not materialize at the time, her book, which was a great success, finally made clear to the contemporary leaders of Great Britain and Ireland that something had to be done.

4. Conclusion The religious troubles of the second half of the seventeenth century had left deep traces in the minds of the English people. Many sought for an explanation or cause, and most people thought it was due to the freedom that was granted to dissenters and non-conformists. In order to obtain a stronger belief in the Anglican Church, many thought there ought to be a reform in education so that young children were indoctrinated with Protestantism already from a very early age. The mother was seen as an important factor in the education of children, so it was obvious that women had to be educated as well. This is a feeling that we can retrace in Edward Chamberlayne’s An Academy or Colledge. But there were other reasons why women had to be taught religion. Since the restoration of the “merry monarch” Charles II, a lot of pleasures and pastimes, such as theatre, that had been banned by the Puritan regime during the Commonwealth had been re-

102 Borer, Mary, Cathcart, Willingly to School: A History of Women’s Education, p. 119 103 Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, “Astell, Mary (1666 – 1731)” 104 Burnett, Gilbert, History of His Own Times, p. 653 (quoted in Borer, Mary, Cathcart, Willingly to School: A History of Women’s Education, p.117)

65 established. According to many, this was not a good thing for religion and piety. Citizens, and especially female citizens, were constantly tempted by all sorts of vanities. To change this, women had to learn the basics of religion, piety and charity. This was also Mary Astell’s objective when she wrote A Serious Proposal. But in this book, we find a call for a better general education for women as well. Although texts defending female education still met with a lot of criticism at the end of the seventeenth century, developments towards a better and state-controlled educational system for women was set in motion. In the earliest examples of schools for young ladies, emphasis indeed was laid on religion, although there were voices in seventeenth-century England that asked for scientific education for females as well. This, however, is a development that would only be put into practice several centuries later.

66 CHAPTER 4: FEMALE EDUCATION FOR INTELLECTUAL PURPOSES

1. The Seventeenth Century: the Age of Reason and Scientific Development 1.1. The Universities In the Middle Ages, the universities of Oxford and Cambridge often were financially dependent on and thus influenced by the Catholic Church. The dissolution of the monasteries and abbeys in 1536 had an enormous effect on the development of the universities. The old Roman – Catholic colleges were replaced by Anglican ones (Magdalene College in Cambridge, for example, originated out of the old Benedictine college that was known as Buckingham College)105. Private donors took over the funding from the Catholic Church. Henry VIII himself founded Trinity College in Cambridge out of the old Catholic King’s Hall and Michaelhouse. The new universities were concerned with the education of young men as priests for the Church of England. But soon afterwards, the universities began to attract other students as well (especially Trinity College in Cambridge). The change of public also meant a change in curriculum. Henry VIII gave orders to suppress the Faculty of Canon Law and banned scholastic philosophy. Instead, he established professorships for divinity, Hebrew, Greek, physics and civil law. The faculties where one could study Greek and Latin, mathematics or Biblical studies flourished. There was, however, no place for the new sciences that developed during the seventeenth century in England. Isaac Newton, for example, made his most important discoveries (concerning gravity and optics) at his home in Woolsthorpe, while he was away from Cambridge because of the plague. But when Newton returned to Cambridge three years later, enthusiasm for his discoveries (and those of others like Boyle and Hooke) grew at the universities as well. This led to the establishment of professorships for mathematics (which soon would become the dominant study at Cambridge University), chemistry, geometry, astronomy, anatomy, botany, geology and experimental philosophy at the beginning of the eighteenth century. But as always, women were completely excluded from these developments. There hardly was a basic education for women, so it comes as no surprise that women were not

105 From “A Brief History of Cambridge University”, http://www.cam.ac.uk/cambuniv/pubs/history

67 allowed to go to university either. Women had to wait until 1878 to have their own academic halls in Oxford and it would take another 62 years before these academies became full members of the University of Oxford. Since 1974, all Oxford colleges (except St. Hilda’s) are open for both male and female students106.

1.2. The Royal Society107 The Royal Society originated out of a group of scientists who met in the buildings of Gresham College, London. The professors of Gresham College, including Christopher Wren, Robert Boyle, Sir Robert Moray and other, started to gather somewhere in the mid-1640s to discuss the ideas of Francis Bacon. On 26 November 1660, twelve of these professors founded “a College for the Promoting of Physico – Mathematicall Experimentall Learning”. This college met on a weekly basis to discuss various scientific topics and to conduct experiments. In 1661, the college obtained the support of Charles II, who on 15 July 1662 granted it the Royal Charter. Thenceforth, the college was known as the Royal Society. Charles II himself was extremely interested in science and even set up

Gresham College (Image from website scientific experiments himself. It is said that he Royal Society) wanted to test every scientific invention or experiment himself before granting it a patent. He contributed to the collections of the Royal Society by donating numerous curiosities. He was obsessed with clocks (he had seven of them in his bedroom alone!), navigation, mechanics and astronomy (he desperately wanted to possess a lunar globe).108 The Royal Society met in Gresham College until the Great Fire in 1666 (see Chapter Two), which forced the Fellows to move to Arundel House. The society got its first real home in 1710, when the contemporary president of the Royal Society, Sir Isaac Newton, arranged their stay in Crane Court. Women were not allowed at the Royal Society because they were thought to be incapable of showing any form of scientific development, despite the fact that the male members of the Royal Society had received no real scientific education either. Many women protested against this unfair treatment of their sex. The most notable act of protest came from

106 From “A Brief History of the University”, http://www.ox.ac.uk/aboutoxford/history.shtml 107 From “Brief History of the Society”, http://www.royalsoc.ac.uk/page.asp?id=2176 108 Fraser, Antonia, King Charles II, p. 250 – 251

68 Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle. Although she was a woman, she was very well acquainted with the latest scientific developments: she and her husband William invited many scientists at their home and her stepson Henry was a scientist himself. She thought herself very capable of participating in this scientific progress and could not understand why women should not be allowed at the Royal Society. She invited herself for a visit on 23 May 1667109 after she had expressed her deepest desire to go there. The Fellows of the Royal Society first voted whether they should let her in or not. Anna Battigelli quotes from the minutes from that meeting:

Lord Berkeley mentioned, that the duchess of Newcastle had expressed a great desire to come to the society, and to see some of their experiments; but that she desired to be invited. This was seconded by the earl of Carlisle and Dr. Charleton, who pressing, that it might be put to the vote accordingly, whether the duchess of Newcastle should at her desire be invited to be present at the meeting on the Thursday following; it was carried in the affirmative. The ceremonies and subjects for her entertainment were referred to the council. 110

It is not hard to imagine, and Samuel Pepys Arundel House, where the Society gathered between 1666 and 1710 (Image from website confirms this in his diary, that the voting was not Royal Society) easy. Pepys himself says that the decision was only made after heavy debates and that he fears that all the citizens of London will be talking about Margaret’s visit111. When Margaret Cavendish eventually came to the Royal Society, she was entertained with various experiments concerning:

1. Those of colours. 2. The mixing of cold liquors, which upon their infusion grow hot. 3. The swimming of bodies in the midst of water. 4. The dissolving of meat in the oil of vitriol. 5. The weighing of air in a receiver, by means of the rarefying engine. 6. The marbles exactly flattened. 7. Some magnetical experiments, and in particular that of terrella driving away the steeldust at its poles. 8. A good microscope. 112

Although Margaret had exerted a lot of criticism concerning the experimental method used by the Fellows of the Royal Society in her books Observations upon Experimental Philosophy and Blazing World (both published in one volume in 1666), she remained

109 Battigelli, Anna, Margaret Cavendish and the Exiles of the Mind, p. 110 110 Birch, The History of the Royal Society, 2:176 (quoted in Battigelli, Anna, Margaret Cavendish and the Exiles of the Mind, p. 110 – 111) 111 Whitaker, Katie, Mad Madge, p. 302 112 Battigelli, Anna, Margaret Cavendish and the Exiles of the Mind, p. 111

69 remarkably quiet during her visit. Margaret thought that reason was a better basis to perform scientific inquiries than observation, as used by Robert Hooke for his Micrographia, or Some Physiological Descriptions of Minute Bodies (1665)113. But according to Pepys, all she said was that she was full of admiration. This certainly must have been a great relief for the Fellows. But maybe Margaret did not change her mind so drastically as they thought, for in 1668, a year after her visit, she re-edited Observations upon Experimental Philosophy and Blazing World. Margaret’s visit to the all-male bastion of the Royal Society was a powerful statement to show the world that women could be interested in science as well. In various texts Cavendish published, she defends a better female education so that women could develop their minds and be able to do the same things as men did. In what follows, I will discuss one of Margaret’s texts in defence of female education, viz. The Female Academy, one of her plays published in 1662. After that, I will look at another text in defence of a more intellectually inclined education for women, written by Bathsua Makin.

2. Margaret Cavendish’s The Female Academy (1662) 2.1. The Author114 Margaret Cavendish was born around 1623 as Margaret Lucas, youngest daughter of Thomas and his wife Elizabeth Leighton. In her own autobiography, A True Relation (1656), Margaret talks about a happy youth. She was educated by several private tutors who taught her reading, writing, singing, dancing, needle work,… (the normal education for a girl of her class, as we have seen in the first chapter). This happy childhood, however, was put abruptly to an end at the outset of the Civil Wars. Parliamentary troops plundered her family home on 22 August 1642115 because they had discovered that her brother, John Lucas, stored arms and ammunition for the Royalist army. Margaret fled from her native Colchester to Oxford, where she became a maid of honour to Queen Henrietta Maria. The Queen and the rest of the royal family resided in Oxford after they taking from London. This had as a consequence that, when Henrietta Maria fled to France, Margaret had to follow her. It was in Paris that she met her future husband, William Cavendish, the Marquess (later Duke) of Newcastle. After a very short engagement (William had arrived in France in April 1645), the couple were married in November or December 1645. They moved to

113 Whitaker, Katie, Mad Madge, p. 284 114 Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, “Cavendish [née Lucas], Margaret, duchess of Newcastle upon Tyne (1623? – 1673)” 115 Battigelli, Anna, Margaret Cavendish and the Exiles of the Mind, p. 2

70 Amsterdam, where Charles II held his court, and then to the house that once belonged to Peter Paul Rubens in Antwerp. In 1651, Margaret and William’s brother Charles returned to England to claim back some of her husband’s properties. While she was there, she started writing and produced Poems and Fancies (1653). She kept up with the habit of writing when she returned to Antwerp eighteen months later. In 1655, she published both The World’s Olio, about various topics, and Philosophical and Physical Opinions, about her views on natural philosophy, which are quite similar to those of Thomas Hobbes. In 1660, Margaret and William followed Charles II back to England. Because William Cavendish was not granted the office at court he hoped for, the couple left London for the English countryside. In 1662, Margaret published a collection of Plays, including The Female Academy. Like The Female Academy, most

Margaret Cavendish, as depicted on the other plays included discussions about sex, frontispiece of her "Playes", accompanied by gender and the relations between men and Apollo (right), god of the Arts, and Athena/Minerva (left), goddess of wisdom. women. The same is true for her next publication, Orations of Divers Sorts (1662), which includes a question that Margaret had also posed in The Female Academy: whether women being subordinate to men is due to natural inequalities between the sexes or to the fact that women have fewer opportunities than men, mostly caused by a lack of education. The same subjects are found in Plays Never before Printed (1668). Margaret Cavendish died quite suddenly at her countryside estate Welbeck Abbey on 15 December 1673. She was buried three weeks later in Westminster Abbey. In 1676, her husband William published Letters and Poems in honour of the Incomparable Princess, Margaret, Duchess of Newcastle.

71 2.2. “The Female Academy” 2.2.1. General Information The Female Academy is the last play in the collection Playes. Written by the Thrice NOBLE, ILLUSTIOUS and Excellent Princess, the Lady Marchioness of Newcastle (1662). As already mentioned before, the other plays in the collection also deal with issues of gender and sex, as is suggested by titles such as The Female Academy, Loves Adventures, The Lady Contemplation, The Publick Wooing, The Play called Matrimonial Trouble, a Comedy,… Like The Female Academy, they also raise questions about whether women should be subordinate to men and why. The Female Academy is not a play in the strict sense of the word. It does not have a real plot-line, nor does it evolve according to a specific dramatic scheme. It is merely an instrument for Cavendish to make her own ideas clear by means of conversations held between the ladies at the Female Academy. Why she opted for a dramatic form to do so, is made clear in one of the First page of Margaret Cavendish's themes of discourse in the Female Academy, viz. theatre: "Playes" (1662) (Image EEBO)

…, and the plays there Acted are the Humours, Manners, Dispositions, Natures, Customs of men thereon described and acted, whereby the theatres are as Schools to teach Youth good Principles, and instruct them in the Nature and Customs of the World and Mankind, and learn men to know themselves better than by any other way of instruction; and upon these Theatres, they may learn what is noble and good, what base and wicked, what is ridiculous and misbecoming, what graceful and best becoming, what to avoid and what to imitate; (669)116

2.2.2. Female Education in The Female Academy 2.2.2.1. The Concept of the Female Academy The concept of the Female Academy is quite simple: a group of Ladies gathers in a building to talk about different subjects. There are two “grave matrons” (652) who decide what the theme of discourse will be. Then one of the ladies takes the chair and tells the others her views upon that particular theme of discourse. Mostly these are monologues, only seldom is a discussion involved (mostly between the Matron and the Lady Speaker). It is important to know is that the doors and the gate of the Female Academy are open, so that the

116 The page numbers refer to the 1662 edition of Margaret Cavendish’s Playes.

72 people in the street can hear what is going on and comment on it, as a Lady at the beginning of the plays says: “only there is a large open gate, where on the out-side men stand, which come to hear and see them; but no men enter into the Academy, nor women, but those that are put in for Education” (653). Because everyone can freely listen to what is being said in the Female Academy, this gives rise to some discussions, mostly between men. It will also lead to the establishment of a Male Academy, to which I will return later. We must also note that, as in Mary Astell’s Proposal (see Chapter Three), the Female Academy is only admissible to ladies of noble birth, as a conversation at the beginning of the play makes clear:

1 LADY: If you would have your daughter virtuously and wisely educated, you must put her into the Female Academy. 2 LADY: The Female Academy, what is that? 1 LADY: Why a House, wherein a company of young Ladies are instructed by old Matrons; as to speak wittily and rationally, and to behave themselves handsomely, and to live virtuously. […] 2 LADY: I will put my Daughter therein to be instructed. 1 LADY: If your Daughter were not of honourable Birth, they would not receive her, for they take in none but those of antient Descent, as also rich, for it is a place of charges. 2 LADY: Why then they will not refuse my Daughter, for she is both honourably born, and also rich. (653)

When one of the citizens’ wives are trying to get in, she quickly returns and tells her friends who ask her why she came back: “Why, there is no getting in; the Door-keeper beat me back, and said there was no room for Citizens Wives, for the room was only kept for Ladies, and Gentlewomen of Quality.” (662) Oddly enough, the women then decide to go to the Gentlemen’s Academy, for they “will receive us, and use us kindly” (662).

2.2.2.2. The Behaviour of Women Like Mary Astell, Margaret Cavendish also talks about the behaviour of women. As indicated by the two ladies at the beginning of the play, the Academy also functions as a place where one can learn to live virtuously. The lady speaker talks about six principles of good behaviour for women: ceremony (by which she means acting gracefully), civility (being sociable and noble), modesty, humility, friendship and obedience. It is remarkable that Cavendish mentions ‘obedience’ and ‘humility’ among the good qualities of women. It might indicate that Cavendish agrees with women’s subordination to men, although she never explicitly says so. This theme will be discussed later, when we talk about the central question in The Female Academy: whether women have as much wisdom and wit as men?

73 (see 2.2.2.5.). Apart from the six good principles, there are also six principles of bad behaviour: pride, boldness, rudeness, wantonness, disobedience and cruelty (meaning, being cruel towards God being an atheist). In the discussion about vanity, vice and wickedness (672 – 673), we can see that Cavendish’s point of view is very similar to that of Mary Astell (Chapter Three). Both women are convinced that vices originate out of ignorance and that education has an important role to fulfil in the prevention of women committing sins:

for many young Novices, commit many evils through ignorance, not being instructed, and informed plainly and clearly, but darkly, and obscurely, caused by their foolish, cautionary, formal Tutors, or Educators, who hold that erronious [sic] opinion, that Youth ought not to know such, or such Things, or Acts; which if they had known, evil might have been prevented, and not left untill [sic] their evil be known by Practice; so that more evil is rather known by Practice, than Declaration, or instruction of Information: but if our senses are a guide to our Reason, and our Reason a guide to our Understanding, and that the Reason and Understanding governs our Appetites, then tis probable, our Sense, Reason and Understanding, may govern our Will. (673)

But contrary to Astell, Margaret Cavendish is interested in more than teaching the ladies at the Female Academy how to lead a virtuous life. She wants to know whether women are as capable of intellectual thoughts as men are.

2.2.2.3. Margaret Cavendish as a Playwright That Margaret Cavendish considered herself capable of having creative thoughts, is made clear in her views on the theatre. One of the themes of discourse in the Female Academy deals with theatre. The lady speaker of the day talks about what she thinks is a true poet or playwright:

but as I said, some Poets take the Plots out of true History, others out of feigned History, which are Romances, so as their Plots (for the most part) are meer [sic] Translations, and oft times the Wit is also but translated Wit, only metamorphosed after their own way; but the truth is, that some of them their Wit is their own, and their Plots were stoln, or plainly taken, and some their Plots are their own, but the Wit stoln; but of all theft, Wit is never confest; and some neither the Plot nor Wit is their own, and others both Plots and Wit are truly their own; These last Poets (although but very few) are the true Sons of Nature, the other but as adulterate issues; (670)

Considering the form of presentation, we may take it that the thoughts expressed by the women in the Female Academy very much resemble Margaret’s own thoughts. What the female speaker here says, is thus most probably Margaret’s own opinion about what a good and creative playwright is. This becomes all the more interesting when we compare this fragment to a quote from A General Prologue to all my Playes, preceding Cavendish’s collection of plays:

74 But Noble Readers, do not think my Playes, Are such as have been writ in former daies; As Johnson, Shakespear, Beaumont, Fletcher writ; Mine want their Learning, Reading, Language, Wit: The Latin phrases I could never tell, But Johnson could, which made him write so well. Greek, Latin Poets I could never read, Nor their Historians, but our English Speed; I could not steal their Wit, nor Plots out take; All my Playes Plots, my own poor brain did make: From Plutarchs story I ne’r took a Plot, Nor from Romances, nor from Don Quixot, As others have, for to assist their Wit, But upon my own foundation writ; (A7v)

Special attention must be paid to the sentence “I could not steal their Wit, nor Plots out take”. If Margaret did not steal the plots, nor the wit of her plays, she is one of the few “Sons (or in her case: daughters) of Nature”, as she says in The Female Academy. Cavendish thus thought herself capable of creative thoughts, although she says that she is not as good as “Johnson, Shakespear117, Beaumont, Fletcher”. And here we come across a problem that we find in many of Margaret’s texts: her opinions concerning gender and the capability of the sexes of producing intellectual thoughts are very ambiguous (as I shall try to demonstrate later). James Fitzmaurice states: “In the case of Margaret the contradiction (or perhaps ambivalence) that is most bothersome today is her unwillingness to decide whether women have essentially the same intellectual capacity as men or are naturally men’s intellectual inferiors”118. Indeed, although Margaret seems to consider herself a good poet/playwright and capable of creative thoughts, she is at the same time very humble. She apologizes in the prologue to Youths Glory, and Deaths Banquet, one of the plays included in the collection, saying that “if the Play be bad, she’s very sorry, and could wish she had a better Plot, more wit and skill to make a Play that might each several humour take; but she sayes, if your humours are not fixt, or that they are extravagantly mixt; impossible a Play for to present with such variety and temperament;” (121). In both fragments we also see Margaret’s admiration for Ben Jonson expressed. She knew him very well, since he was a friend of her husband’s. In the quote above from Youths Glory, and Deaths Banquet, she refers to the popular tradition of enacting the four humours out on stage (see Chapter Two). If a play succeeded in this, it was considered to be a good play.

117 Although Shakespeare was not that popular at the time, Margaret Cavendish defended him in Sociable Letters. 118 Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, “Cavendish [née Lucas], Margaret, duchess of Newcastle upon Tyne (1623? – 1673)”

75 When we look at other prologues or epilogues to Margaret’s plays, we again see a totally different image. The rather traditional pose of modesty has been replaced by a far more self-confident style. Take, for example, the epilogue to the first part of Loves Adventures:

“Noble Spectators, you have spent this day; Not only for to see, but judge our Play: Our Authoress sayes, she thinks her Play is good, If that her Play be rightly understood; If not, ‘tis none of her fault, for she writ The Acts, the Scenes, the Language and the Wit; Wherefore she sayes, that she is not your Debtor, But you are hers, until you write a better; Of even terms to be she understands Impossible, except you clap your hands.” (40)

Margaret’s attitude towards her writing constantly oscillates between modesty and self- confidence. One time, she apologizes for not being able to write a good play, another time she says that she thinks it impossible for someone else to write a better play than hers. It is this ambivalent attitude that is indeed so “bothersome”, as Fitzmaurice rightly points out. Cavendish refuses to decide whether she (and women in general) is capable of having a creative intellect or not. Margaret Cavendish’s hesitant attitude towards women’s creative capacities is also made clear in an introductory scene at the beginning of her collection of plays. Three gentlemen meet in the street and talk about a play that will be staged. Two of the gentlemen try to convince the other man, Tom, to join them to the theatre. They say that the play will be good because it consists of new scenes, new language and new wit. Tom says he knows, but what he did not know was that the play was written by a woman, moreover by a Lady, who did not receive any form of education. The reaction of Tom (2.Gentleman in the play) is very stereotypical at a time when women were not expected to be involved in public events like the theatre:

2. GENT: A woman write a Play! Out upon it, out upon it, for it cannot be good, besides you say that she is a Lady, which is the likelyer to make the Play worse, a woman and a Lady to write a Play; fye, fye. 3. GENT: Why may not a Lady write a Play? 2. GENT: No, for a womans wit is too weak and too conceited to write a Play. 1. GENT: But if a woman hath wit, or can write a good Play, what will you say then. 2. GENT: Why, I will say no body will believe it, for if it be good, they will think she did not write it, or at least say she did not, besides the very being a woman condemns it, were it never so excellent and rare, for men will not allow women to have wit, or we men to have reason, for if we allow them wit, we shall lose our prehemency. (2)

76 The ambivalence we see in Margaret’s Playes is mirrored in this little conversation between the three men. One of them doubts whether it is possible for a woman to produce good creative thoughts. Yet Cavendish uses her plays to convince her critics that she is perfectly capable of writing good plays. The only problem is that she wants them to find out for themselves; and that is why her intentions are not always very clear. When you look at all her prologues and epilogues to the plays, she always urges the public (or the readers) to form a judgement about the play. It is as if she wants to say that, if you enjoyed the play, proof has been given that women do have a creative intellect. And that is also the reason why she ends the Introduction to her plays and the discussion between the gentlemen as follows:

3. GENT: Many a reprobate hath been converted and brought to repentance by hearing a good Sermon, and who knowes but that you may be converted from your erroneous opinion; by seeing this Play, and brought to confesse that a Lady may have wit. (2)

But as opposed to what we will see in works by Bathsua Makin, and Anna Maria Van Schuurman of Utrecht, which influenced her, Margaret Cavendish never explicitly chooses a side in the discussion.

2.2.2.4. The Gentlemen’s Academy We could try to find out more about Margaret’s views on the intellectual equality of men and women by looking at the other academy presented in the play, the Male Academy. When the men find out that the women gather in the Female Academy, they decide to establish a Gentlemen’s Academy. They do so because “the men are very angry that the women should speak so much, and they so little” (656 – 657), but another gentleman is of the opinion that they do it “out of a mockery to the Ladies” (657). Indeed, as I shall try to show, the Gentlemen’s Academy is a mockery; but it does not mock the Female Academy, as the second gentlemen thinks, but the men themselves. At the first meeting of the Gentlemen’s Academy, the gentleman speaker makes it very clear that, contrary to the Female Academy, there will be only one theme of discourse: women. This is due to the fact that “our minds are so full of thoughts of the Female Sex, as we have no room for any other Subject or Object; wherefore let the Theam be what it will, our discourses will soon run on them” (659). All the future “discussions” in the Gentlemen’s Academy indeed deal with issues concerning women, while the themes discussed in the Female Academy consist of highly philosophical nature, such as the nature of Truth or of Friendship.

77 For most of the time, the men express their frustration about so many beautiful young women locked up in the Female Academy. They say that it is “a sin against Nature for women to be Incloystred, Retired, or restraint” (659) from men. It is also a sin against God; because if all women decide to live their life as virgins, mankind will die out and there will be nobody left to worship the Creator. Moreover, if all young women lock themselves up in the Female Academy, the men will be left with the old and ugly ones. The gentlemen speaker concludes:

but when they [the women] are joint to men, they are the most usefull, and most profitable Creatures Nature hath made; wherefore, all those women that have common reason, or sense of shame, will never retire themselves from the company of men: for what women that have any consideration of Honour, Truth, or touch of goodness, will be the worst of all creatures, when they may be the best? But the truth of it is, women are spoyled by the over-fond dotage of men; for being flattered, they become so self-conceited, as they think they were only made for the Gods, and not for men; and being Mistresses of mens affections, they usurp their Masculine Power and Authority, and instead of being dutifull, humble and obedient to men, as they ought to be, they are Tyrannical Tyrannizers. (667 – 668)

The gentlemen’s frustration only grows when they discover that the women of the Female Academy do not take notice of what they say or do. They try to attract their attention by blowing trumpets, so that the women would be prevented from discoursing because of the great noise. In the last scene, the matron of the Female Academy comes out and asks the gentlemen why they are disturbing the Ladies’ gatherings. The men answer that they want to prevent the ladies locking themselves up and avoiding any contact with men. They fear that if all the ladies will do so, there will no ladies be left to have children with. The Matron says that the Female Academy is no cloister or monastery and that the ladies have not made any vows. The same concept has also been discussed in the texts of Edward Chamberlayne and especially Mary Astell (see Chapter 3).As in other texts, women come to the Female Academy to learn how to be a better wife. When the men complain that they cannot woe the ladies if they avoid any contact with them, the Matron answers that they should take up contact with the women’s parents and friends. If they succeed in convincing the parents, the Matron will help them in convincing the woman. It is also interesting to compare Margaret Cavendish’s The Female Academy to the play by her husband William that I have discussed in the second chapter. First of all the themes discussed in William’s Female Academy are very similar to those discussed in Margaret’s Male Academy. Just as the women in The Variety go to an academy to talk about how to seduce men, the men in The Female Academy gather in the Gentlemen’s Academy to discuss the wooing of women. But the most striking comparison is the one between Voluble

78 in The Variety and the Matron in The Female Academy. Both leaders of an academy for women, they want to lead the ladies to a long-lasting marriage. But they want it in a different way. Voluble wants her pupils to attract men with their beauty. Therefore, she gives the ladies an abundance of suggestions about how to improve one’s beauty, clothing, make up, and so on. The Matron teaches her pupils another way to attract men: by using their intelligence. The women in The Female Academy are truly wise and are, according to Margaret Cavendish, more likely to become better wives than the women trained at Voluble’s Academy. In one of the final discussions in The Female Academy, the lady speaker says that contemporary women (and women like the ones depicted by William Cavendish) behave “as if they came meerly from the Milk-boul, and had been bred only with silly Huswives” (676). But as we have seen in The Variety, these ignorant women are still regarded as wise and modest. But, says Margaret, “it is not Ignorance that makes Modesty, but Knowledge” (676), a thought we have seen before in Mary Astell’s Proposal. But where Astell wants to teach women modesty through religion, Margaret Cavendish wants to do this through philosophy, as is the case in The Female Academy. Another difference between Voluble’s Academy and the Matron’s, is that in the latter the Ladies are the ones that lead the discourse. The Matron gives them a theme of discourse upon which the Lady Speaker starts to philosophize. This clearly shows that women are capable of critical thoughts about difficult and abstract subjects. In Voluble’s Academy, she does all the speaking. The ladies just absorb the “knowledge” without putting Voluble’s learning into question or without thinking for themselves. The only remark one of them makes during the lecture is that “it is a very learned Woman” (The Variety, 15) 119 . The ladies in The Variety stand in mere admiration to Voluble, while the task of the Matron in The Female Academy consists in urging the ladies to think. Also in the Gentlemen’s Academy, we see no traces of true critical or philosophical thoughts.

2.2.2.5. Do Women have as much Wisdom and Wit as Men? I have tried to show that Margaret’s attitude towards wit and wisdom in women might not be so ambivalent as thought; but that she wants the reader to decide for himself or herself after having seen numerous examples of wise and witty women in The Female Academy and of simple and oversexed men in the Gentlemen’s Academy, and after having read Margaret’s own achievements in writing and philosophy. But Margaret also explicitly

119 As in the second chapter, I use the 1649 edition of William Cavendish’s The Variety.

79 tackles the question in The Female Academy. In fact, it is the first theme of discourse the women deal with. “Wisdom” and “wit” both originate from the same Old-English verb witan, which means “to know”. “Wit” is defined as “intelligence, quick understanding”, but can also refer to “the unexpected, quick, and humorous combining or contrasting of ideas or expressions120. “Wisdom”, on the other hand, is defined as “experience and knowledge together with the power of applying them critically and practically”121. We could thus say that wisdom is more something learned with education, experience or training; and that wit is a more innate characteristic (cf. Euphues, or the Anatomy of Wit, by Lyly (1578)122). In the discourse, the Lady Speaker portrays wit and wisdom in an anthropomorphic way. She presents Wit as the daughter of Nature, and Wisdom as the son of the Gods. Lady Wit is a woman because wit is changeable and never constant. Wisdom in contrast is steadfast and stable, qualities the Lady Speaker attributes to men. Women are thus capable of having wit, but not of having wisdom, because women and wisdom do not “behave” alike. Lady Wit is mother to the nine Muses, and the poets are her servants (654). When we consider this, we might say that, since Wit is typically female and since Wit’s servants are the poets, women are capable of producing creative things like poetry and plays (something Margaret Cavendish herself proves by writing a collection of plays). But although women are capable of wit, there are but few who actually have wit. According to Cavendish’s Lady speaker, this is due to a lack of instruction, or, if you will, education:

which leads mortals to dangerous and unexcessible ways; in this last Society, for the most part women are of, as being bred therein, and having such ill Tutors and Guides, they must needs err, for there is an old saying, When the Blind leads the Blind, they must needs fall into the Ditch, not having sight to choose their way; so women breeding up women, the Generations must needs be Fools: for the first, women had an ill Tutor, the Devil, which neither instructed her in the knowledge of Wisdom nor Wit, but learn’d her hurtful dissimulation, to which she hath bred all her Female Generations successively, as from Female to Female; (656, original Italics)

If women are not properly instructed, they will never be able to use the wit they are capable of. (one might ask oneself whether wit needs any instruction and in how far instructed wit differs from wisdom). Strangely enough, the speaker says at the end of the discourse that, although women are capable of having wit, she doubts whether women are capable of wit’s “subtile Invention, quick Apprehension, rare Conceptions, elevated Fancy, and smooth Eloquution [sic]” (656). But by writing this play, I think Margaret Cavendish has proven the opposite to be true. She

120 “wit”, The Concise Oxford Dictionary (ninth edition), p. 1608 121 “wisdom”, The Concise Oxford Dictionary (ninth edition), p. 1608 122 Drabble, Margaret et al., ‘Euphues’ in The Oxford Companion to English Literature

80 does not talk a lot about women being capable of purely intellectual thoughts, but she certainly has demonstrated that a woman, provided she has been properly instructed, can have a great deal of creative intellect.

3. Bathsua Makin’s An Essay To Revive the Antient Education of Gentlewomen (1673) 3.1. The Author123 Bathsua Makin was born in 1600 as the daughter of Henry Reginald. The name of Bathsua’s mother is unknown. What we do know, is that she had a sister, Ithamaria, who was one year younger than her. Bathsua was educated in her father’s school, where she learned Greek, Latin, French, Hebrew and Syrian. This was not really the curriculum one had in mind for a woman’s education in those days. She published together with her father Ad Annam…reginam (1616) and Musa Virginea (1616), a collection of poems praising the royal family in six languages. In 1622, Bathsua married Richard Makin. The couple had eight children between 1623 and 1642. Although most of her time went to looking after her family, she still exerted her profession as a teacher in her father’s school in London. From 1640 onward, Bathsua Makin worked as governess to Princess Elizabeth (1636 – 1650). She taught the little girl Greek, Latin, Hebrew, French, Italian, Spanish and mathematics. She also instructed Lucy Hastings, countess of Huntingdon and Lady Elisabeth Hastings (later a dear friend of Mary Astell’s) in the same curriculum. In 1670, Bathsua opened a school for gentlewomen in Tottenham together with Mark Lewis, a textbook writer. It is this school she describes and promotes in An Essay To Revive the Antient Education of Gentlewomen in Manners, Arts and Tongues. The last we know from Makin, is a letter from November 1675 to Baldwin Hamey, a physician. It is unknown when Bathsua died or where was buried.

3.2. An Essay To Revive the Antient Education of Gentlewomen 3.2.1. General Information Bathsua Makin published her Essay in 1673, when she was already 73 years old. Three years earlier, she had established a school for gentlewomen in Tottenham, near

123 Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, “Makin [née Reginald], Bathsua”

81 London. This school and its system and curriculum serves as a reference for An Essay To Revive the Antient Education of Gentlewomen. The essay consists of two major parts. The first part is Makin’s answer to a letter (whether the letter is genuine or not is not made clear) which utters doubts concerning female education. In the second part, Makin lists the main objections against female education and formulates an answer to them. Apart from these two parts, the essay also contains a three-page introduction and an extensive discussion about the ideal curriculum and which text books to use. At the end of the essay, Makin lets her readers know that, if they agree with her method of educating young ladies, they can contact her and gain further information about her school (the essay is, apart from a defence of female education, also a publicity pamphlet, like Edward Chamberlayne’s text in the previous chapter).

3.2.2. Female Education in An Essay To Revive the Antient Education of Gentlewomen 3.2.2.1. The Introduction Bathsua Makin dedicates her essay “To all Ingenious and Vertuous Ladies, more especially to her Highness the Lady MARY, Eldest Daughter to his Highness the Duke of YORK” (3)124. She begs for the support of other women and for the patronage of Princess Mary (1662 – 1694)125 because she fears she will meet with a lot of “Scoffes and Taunts from inconsiderate and illiterate Men” (4). She is right to think so, she says, because her pamphlet runs counter to the custom of not educating women. And to contradict set customs is always a risky business. Moreover, men will be afraid of her proposal, because if women are being educated, men will no longer have the monopoly to

Front page of Makin's "Essay" (1673) knowledge, a daunting thought for them. (Image from EEBO) Because education for women was regarded as being useless, Bathsua Makin decides to write a pamphlet that will provide an answer to all male criticism and that will offer women “a Weapon in your hands to defend

124 All page references refer to the 1673 edition of Makin’s Essay. 125 Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, “Mary II”

82 yourselves” (4) and to stand up for their own rights. Makin emphasizes, however, that all she asks is the right for women to be educated and not their total liberation from men’s sovereignty. After this short introduction, Makin addresses her readers. Strangely enough, she claims to be a man, writing: “I am a Man my self, that would not suggest a thing prejudicial to our Sex” (5). Most probably, she does this to obtain the benevolence of her male readers. Moreover, it was not usual for a women to publish literary texts or pamphlets in those days. (Mary Astell also published Bart’lemy Fair (1709), a polemical pamphlet attacking Lord Shaftesbury, under the male pseudonym Mr. Wotton126.) In her preface, Makin appeals to her female readers to have the patience to read the pamphlet through. Her male readers are asked not to condemn the text upon seeing the title. She also invites everyone who is against her proposal to come forward “with solid Arguments to refute what I have asserted, I think I may promise to be their Champion” (5). To prove this, she quotes a letter from a friend, who has serious doubts about the uses of female education. As she said in the preface to the reader, she will produce counterarguments in the next few pages to prove that female education does serve a useful purpose. Whether the letter is genuine, or just invented by Makin is not entirely clear. I think she fantasized the letter to sum up all the objections against female education and then be able to reject them one by one. I will quote the entire letter here, because it is a beautiful summary of what men in those days thought of women and their education (it also illustrates what I have said in Chapter 2):

SIR, I have heard you discourse of the Education of gentlewomen in Arts and Tongues. I wonder any should think of so vain a thing. Women do not much desire Knowledge; they are of low parts, soft fickle natures, they have other things to do they will not mind if they be once Bookish; The end of Learning is to fit one for publick Employment, which Women are not capable of. Women must not speak in the Church, it is against Custom. Solomon’s good House-wife is not commended for Arts and Tongues, but for looking after her Servants; And that which is worst of all, they are of such ill natures, they will abuse their Education, and be so intolerably Proud, there will be no living with them: If all these things could be answered, they would not have leisure. We send our Sons to School seven years, and yet not above one in five get so much of the Tongues only, so as to keep them, and nothing of Arts. Girls cannot have more than half the time allotted them. If they were capable, and had time, I cannot image what good it would do them. If it would do them good, where should they be instructed. Their converse with Boys would do them more hurt than all their learning would do them good. I have no prejudice against the Sex, but would gladly have a fair answer to these things, or else shall breed up my Daughters as our fore-fathers did. Sir your condescension herein will very much oblige, Your affectionate Friend. May 29, 1673 (6)

126 Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, “Astell, Mary (1666 – 1731)”

83 The last part of the essay is an answer to this letter. Makin gives arguments in favour of educating women in arts and tongues by answering objections made by men (most of these objections are also found in this letter).

3.2.2.2. Women Are Not Brainless. In the first major part of her essay, Makin tries to make clear to the reader that it is not a strange idea to ask for better education. She does this by listing a number of scientific subjects women have mastered in the past and by giving numerous examples of learned women from history, the Bible and Greek and Roman mythology. She starts by stating that women have formerly been educated in “Arts and Tongues” and, moreover, that they have been eminent in these subjects. Indeed, as we have seen in the first chapter, women in Tudor times got a very complete education that differed not much from the education their male counterparts received. Sadly enough, this was only the case at the royal court and in noble families connected to the royal court. But Makin also gives contemporary examples of women who are well-known and admired for their knowledge in arts and languages. One of the women she mentions is “the present Dutchess of New-Castle” who “over-tops many grave Gown Men” (10). This duchess is of course Margaret Cavendish, who on regular basis had been the talk of the town, especially when she arranged a visit to the Royal Society (see above). She further talks about:

The Princess Elizabeth, daughter to King Charles the first, to whom Mrs. Makin was Tutress, [who] at nine years old could write, read, and in some measure understand, Latin, Greek, Hebrew, French and Italian. Had she lived, what a Miracle would she have been of her Sex! (10)

Princess Elizabeth died in 1650, when she was only fourteen years old. Makin indeed had been her instructor for almost ten years. Mentioning her would have heightened the prestige of Makin’s school. Makin continues by listing all sorts of subjects women have been or are good at. Women have been good linguists and orators, for example. With an abundance of examples Bathsua Makin deals with the view that talkativeness in women is a negative characteristic. “Women have not been meer [sic] Talkers: (as some frivolous Men would make them) but they have known how to use Languages, when they have had them.” (12). She says that the tongue is a woman’s only weapon. If a woman is educated, she will speak wisely. If not, her talkativeness soon starts to be annoying. According to Makin, and again as proved by a lot of “case studies”, women did not only excel in language and speaking. Women have understood logic as well, since “Logick

84 disposes to wrangle, a thing women are inclined to naturally” (13). Makin considers logic as the key to all other sciences. If a woman understands logic, she is also capable of “the most solid Parts of Learning, which require most serious Thoughts and greatest Judgement” (13). By this she means philosophy, mathematics and poetry (although she admits that only some women have succeeded in mastering mathematics). Regarding poetry, it is interesting to make the comparison with the previous text, viz. Margaret Cavendish’s The Female Academy. Like Cavendish, Makin believes that women have more natural endowments for poetry than men have. But Makin also emphasizes that a good poet must be a universal scholar as well. By stating this, Makin solves Cavendish’s problem about whether women have as much wit and wisdom as men. Whereas Margaret thought wit, something women possessed, was enough to be a good poet, Bathsua sees that a good general knowledge of the world is of utmost importance to create a good poem. Indeed, one may have the wit to express oneself with moving eloquence, but if one knows not what he or she is writing about, the poem will be a failure. Composing a poem successfully is thus a combination of wit and wisdom, not of the one or the other. Finally, Makin also says that educated women have been good “divines”. She says that “many Women have improved their humane Knowledge, so as by Gods Blessing hath been a means of their obtaining Spiritual Knowledg.” (15). This is the only time in the essay Makin refers to religion. This is a very important detail because it point up the difference between the texts of Makin, and to a lesser extent Cavendish, and those of Chamberlayne and especially Astell. The texts in the previous chapter showed that women ought to be educated in order to become more virtuous and religious. The end goal of education was religion. But in the text by Makin 127 , woman are educated for intellectual purposes. Education and the development of the women’s minds is an end in itself. The fact that educated women lead a more virtuous and spiritually stable life is only regarded as an additional advantage of the education of women. Makin’s educational program does not serve a national goal such as the strengthening of the Anglican Church. The only goal it serves is the intellectual development of women, just as the education of men is meant to enhance their intellectual capacities.

127 In Margaret Cavendish’s text, there is no reference to religion whatsoever. But she makes it clear that the women gather in the Female Academy to train their minds. Although she says that women educated in the Female Academy are more virtuous, she does not mean this in a religious sense.

85 3.2.2.3. Educating Women Is Not Useless In a relatively short middle part, Makin gives short shrift to one of the major critiques on female education, viz. that it is useless. The other authors we have looked at did this by emphasizing the fact that educated women became more religious (important in a time of religious troubles and distrust) and/or more virtuous. But Makin’s first and most important argument why female education is useful, is that the women themselves will benefit from it. The fact that her family and the nation will profit from educating women is regarded as an important side-effect. Education is here regarded as an aim in itself, not as something that should serve a higher goal in the first place:

The profit will be to themselves. In general they will be able to understand, read, write and speak their Mother Tongue, which they cannot well do without this. They will have something to exercise their thoughts about, which are busie and active. […]; if Learning be their Companion, Delight and Pleasure will be their Attendants: for there is no pleasure greater, nor more sutable [sic] to an ingenious mind, than what is founded in Knowledge; (25)

Apart from exercising their minds, which will give them great pleasure, Makin also says that education will help women to react more powerfully and decisively to seducers. This is an argument we also find in Astell’s Proposal (see Chapter 3). But whereas Astell thinks women will not be seduced because their education led them to a more virtuous life, Makin says that they will not be seduced because their education led them to a better understanding of the truth.

It cannot be imagined so many Persons of Quality would be so easily carried aside with every wind of Doctrine, had they been furnished with these defensive Arms; I mean, had they been instructed in the plain rules of artificial reasoning, so as to distinguish a true and forcible Argument, from a vain and captious Fallacy. (25)

Moreover, if a woman has knowledge of truth and genuine things, she will not be attracted to “frothy Romances, merely to drive away the time” (26). This argument is also used by Mary Astell in her Serious Proposal to the Ladies (pp. 85 – 86). How women behave when they pay too much attention to those romances, thinking they are valuable sources of knowledge, has been illustrated sufficiently in William Cavendish’s The Variety (see Chapter 2). Makin believes that all sorts of women can profit from education, widows as well as married and unmarried women. The widows will be able to manage their own affairs and will be less dependent on others (viz. men) if they are educated. Married women can help their husbands in their trade, as they do in Holland. Here we can see the influence Makin underwent from the Dutch scholar and writer Anna Maria Van Schurman of Utrecht (1607 – 1678), of whom I will tell more later. Apart from helping their husband, married women can

86 also help their children to instruct them and improve their minds. As in Chamberlayne’s pamphlet (and to a lesser extent in Astell’s Proposal), Makin emphasizes the importance of the mother as an instructor and example for her children. As for the unmarried women, Makin does not want them to lead a secluded life, as Chamberlayne, Astell and Cavendish proposed. Makin wants to keep women in society, so that they can teach their learning to others. They can work in a nursery, or when they are independent (and thus have enough money), they can start a school themselves, like Makin did. It is also very important to note that, according to Makin, women ought not necessarily be rich to receive an education (as was the case in the texts by Astell and Cavendish). She makes a distinction between rich and poor women, and between women of good natural parts and of low parts. “Those that are mean in the World, have not an opportunity for this Education; Those that are of low Parts, though they have opportunity, cannot reach this” (22). Bathsua Makin is of the opinion that all women endowed with so-called “good natural parts” should have the opportunity to receive an education, whether they be rich or poor. Although Makin considers the advantages education as the most important reason to defend female education, she also mentions that education will be useful for the learned women’s relations as well. Just as Astell did (Serious Proposal, 81), Makin attributes many marital problems to the fact that the man does not find an interesting conversation of entertainment at home. As a result of this “out of meer weariness they seek abroad, hence they neglect their Business, spend their Estates, destroy their Bodies, and oftentimes damn their Souls” (27). Moreover, uneducated women, according to Makin, behave like whores (as is the habit in Italy, she adds on p. 27). As already said before, Makin also sees the educated woman as a mother who can pass on her knowledge to her children, who in their turn will benefit from it. Finally, Makin also says that the whole nation will profit from the fact that its women are being educated. It was especially this thought that was eminent in the texts from the previous chapter. Chamberlayne and Astell emphasizes that if women are educated, this will help stabilize the nation, and its religious conflicts more in particular. Makin states that the worst nations are those that do not educate their female subjects. It is therefore, she continues, that the Dutch are so widely admired: their women, who have been educated, are among the most virtuous and useful in the world. Again, this statement was probably derived from Anna Maria Van Schurman’s work The Learned Maid, which had been translated into English in 1659. (see below)

87 3.2.2.4. Objections and Answers 3.2.2.4.1. Anna Maria Van Schurman of Utrecht (1607 – 1678) Anna Maria Van Schurman was the daughter of a nobleman from Antwerp, who fled to Utrecht for religious reasons128. She was very interested in foreign languages (Greek, Latin, Hebrew, Syrian, French, Spanish, Italian, English, …) and corresponded with many of the great scholars of her time, like Petrus Gassendus and René Descartes. Around 1645, she also started to correspond with Bathsua Makin in Greek. In 1659, one of her works was translated into English: The Learned Maid; or, Whether a MAID may be a Scholar. It is very likely that this work influenced Bathsua Makin in writing her Essay, since its second part has the same structure as Van Schurman’s work. Schurman also gives a series of objections against and arguments in favour of female education. She sees it as “a logick Exercise” (title page) 129 . Van Schurman’s text, however, is less practical than Makin’s. She starts by Anna Maria van Schurman, as defining what a true Christian maid is, and then builds up her depicted on the frontispiece of "The Learned Maid" (1659) arguments around this series of definitions to show that a (Image from EEBO) learned maid is capable of learning. This more or less leads to a circular way of thinking. Another difference between Makin and Van Schurman is that the latter emphasizes that a woman should be educated not for herself, but for a higher, almost divine, purpose, as in the texts by Edward Chamberlayne and Mary Astell:

let her end be, not vain glory and ostentation, or unprofitable curiositie: but beside the general end, Gods Glory and the Salvation of her own soul; that both herself may be the more vertuous and the more happy, and that she may (if that charge ly upon her) instruct and direct her family, and also be usefull, as much as may to her whole Sex. (3 – 4)

Contrary to Van Schurman, Makin says that a woman can be proud of her learning and that she will be admired:

It is none of the least considerations, that a woman thus Educated, who modestly uses her Learning, is, in despight of envy, honoured by most, especially wise and good men; such a one is admired and even adored by the vulgar and illiterate. (26)

128 van Bork G.J. en Verkruijsse P.J., De Nederlandse en Vlaamse auteurs (1985), from http://www.dbnl.org/tekst/bork001nede01/schu001.htm 129 References to page numbers refer to the 1659 edition of Anna Maria Van Schurman’s The Learned Maid

88 They do agree about the fact that a woman should be a virtuous and learned example as a mother.

3.2.2.4.2. Objections and Answers in An Essay to Revive the Antient Education of Gentlewomen Makin argues that every objection made against educating women can also be applied to the education of men. But since she knows that there are many prejudices against female education, she lists the most common of them and formulates an answer. We can group the prejudices and objections into four clusters. The first of these is a prejudice every author of the texts in favour of female education I have discussed had to cope with, viz. that women are simply not capable of learning. These prejudices originate in old Medieval and Renaissance ways of thinking. As we have seen in chapter 2, one of women’s vices was considered to be pride. It was thought that education would make women even more proud of themselves and that they would boast about their knowledge and refuse to obey their husband. Makin answers that men also abuse their learning and that it is strange that education should make men better and women worse. Like Astell did, she says that it is not knowing too much that causes problems with women, but rather knowing too little (The difference is, however, that Astell meant this in a religious way. Knowing too little about religion causes women to misinterpret things and consequently they do not live a virtuous life.):

a little knowledge, like windy Bladders, puffs up, but a good measure of true knowledge, like Ballast on a Ship, settles down, and makes a person move more even in his station; ‘tis not knowing too much, but too little that causes the irregularity (32)

Another of the prejudices originating from earlier times is that women are “of low parts”, by which is meant “of low capacity”130. Makin does not deny this, saying that it is indeed true that women are of lower parts than men. But she adds that this must be a reason to improve them. She also wants only those women to be educated who are capable of learning, as she said earlier in her essay (see 3.2.2.3.). And that women “of good natural parts” (22) are as much capable of wit and wisdom as men, has been sufficiently proved by the many examples in the first part of Makin’s Essay (see 3.2.2.2.). As I have said earlier, Makin solves Margaret Cavendish’s doubt whether women were as capable of wit and wisdom as men. Whereas Margaret tended to admit that women were capable of wit, but not of wisdom,

130 “part”, The Concise Oxford Dictionary (ninth edition), p. 995

89 Makin self-consciously states that women can reach as much on the intellectual domain as men, provided they are “of good natural parts”. A second cluster of objections has to do with the opinion that women have other and better things to do than studying. This opinion was also reflected in the curriculum at contemporary girls’ schools, which included subjects like needle work and other duties of housewives (see Chapter 1). Makin agrees that women should learn how to perform these domestic duties as well, but they must get a chance to improve their general knowledge as well. It is better to spend your time learning than doing nothing. Moreover, the same objection can be made against education for men as well: “You may as well say, a Gentleman that hath Country Affairs to manage, ought not to be a Scholar, because he will be poring upon his Book, when he should be looking after his Plowmen” (33). Thirdly, people feared that learned women would be less attractive to men than uneducated, docile women. Makin however thinks that this is not at all true. In history, there are many examples of men who married women for their learning. What is even more, according to Makin men will sooner marry a wise woman than an uneducated woman so as to bring learning into the family (certainly if the man is not so smart). A man might also improve himself in order to fit better with his wise wife. And if a man still does not want to marry a learned woman, it shows that he is afraid that she will know more that he does. The last objection people might raise is that educating women is against custom. But a bad custom ought to be abandoned in order to replace it by something good, Makin says. An argument often made by people who disapprove of female education is that “Solomon’s vertuous Woman, Prov. 3.1., is commended for good Housewifery, not for Arts and Tongues” (35). But Makin quite rightly points out that people should adapt themselves according to the necessities of the time. She gives the example of the Duke of Florence, who was a merchant131. English dukes would never want to be merchants because it is not necessary. They make money from holding lands and estates, whereas the Dukes of Florence, who did not own that much land, had to trade in order to make a living. Just as it was necessary for the Medici family to trade in order to prosper, it is necessary for English women to be educated.

131 The Medici family became rich as merchants and consequently succeeded in holding many important offices in Florence. It was Cosimo de Medici who first became Duke of Florence in the early Renaissance

90 3.2.2.5. Practical Arrangements Bathsua Makin’s Essay has the same purpose as Edward Chamberlayne’s An Academy or Colledge (see Chapter 3): making publicity for a school. Whereas it is not certain whether Chamberlayne succeeded in establishing his school, it is certain that Makin did educate gentlewomen at a school near Tottenham High Cross in London. Like Chamberlayne, Makin includes the curriculum of her school for gentlewomen in her Essay. The time the girls spend on study is evenly divided. In the first part of their time, they will be occupied with the ‘regular’ curriculum, which includes needle work, dancing, music, singing, writing and a little arithmetic. In the other half, they will learn “the Latin and French Tongues; and those that please, may learn Greek and Hebrew, the Italian and Spanish [language]” (42, original Italics). But those who want to stay longer in Makin’s school, do have the opportunity to specialize in a whole range of other courses. They can learn what we would call biology and geology, but what Makin summarizes as “the Names, Natures, Values and Use of Herbs, Shrubs, Trees, Mineral – Juices, Metals and Stones” (43, original Italics). There is also the possibility of learning astronomy, geography and “Experimental Philosophy” (43), a rudimentary form of scientific inquiry (cf. what the Royal Society was doing at the same time). Special attention is paid to mathematics and history, a view Defoe later adapted in his Essay upon Projects (1697)132. Defoe too emphasizes the importance of women learning languages and history, so that they can help England develop as a trading country. But for the less scientifically inclined women, there was also the possibility to enhance their housewifery with courses about “Limning, Preserving, Pastry and Cookery” (43). All this can be studied for only £20 a year, a considerably smaller amount of money than the admission fee for Mary Astell’s retreat (see Chapter 3).Such a wide range of courses had never before been proposed for female education. It shows Bathsua Makin’s self-conscious statement that women do have and should have the same intellectual possibilities as men. Female education should not serve to enhance virtue or religious feelings; it should serve women’s own intellectual development.

4. Conclusion The second half of the seventeenth century in England saw the beginning of the Enlightenment. With the King safely back on his throne, the nation had found back the relative stability it had known before the Civil War. England was now set towards its growth

132 Novak, Maximillian E., Daniel Defoe. Master of Fictions., p. 122

91 for becoming the world power during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. This development was helped by the many important scientific discoveries that were made. Intellectual reasoning and experimental methods thrived. Sadly enough, women could not participate in these intellectual developments due to a lack of female education. They had to face the prejudices against their sex that said that women were simply not capable of producing intellectually relevant thoughts. Margaret Cavendish’s The Female Academy dealt with these issues. The central question there is whether women are as capable of wit and wisdom as men. Cavendish herself is inclined to say that women can have wit, but are not proficient in wisdom, which she thinks is a male domain. But by showing different kinds of knowledge and philosophy in her play, I think she indicates that she not only has a great deal of creative intellect, but maybe also of wisdom. As Bathsua Makin later was to say about poetry:

besides natural endowments, there is required a general and universal improvement in all kinds of Learning. A good Poet, must know things Divine, things Natural, things Moral, things Historical, and things Artificial; together with the several terms belonging to all Faculties, to which they must allude. Good Poets must be universal Scholars, able to use a pleasing Phrase, and to express themselves with moving Eloquence. (An Essay To Revive the Antient Education of Gentlewomen, 16)

Margaret Cavendish never explicitly says so. Maybe she wants her public to judge for themselves, after reading her play, whether she was capable of both wit and wisdom. Bathsua Makin is more clear about what she wants. Every woman who is smart enough should have the possibility to enhance her intellect. Makin, too, has to deal with the prejudices against women. She does this by giving a wide range of examples (from mythology, history and the Bible) of women who did succeed in learning. In the second part of her essay, she deals with each of the prejudices one by one and formulates arguments against it (a style she most probably adapted from the Dutch scholar Anna Maria Van Schurman). Both Makin and Cavendish devote themselves to the establishment of a form of female education that has as its purpose to improve women’s knowledge as an objective in itself, not as a means for strengthening religious feelings.

92 CONCLUSIONS

Throughout my investigation, a number of distinguishing features gradually unveiled themselves. In many ways they are common to all texts analysed and I have used them for structuring my conclusions. The various features are summarised into nine subjects. The diagram on the following pages summarises what each analysed text teaches us on it. Globally speaking and in summary of the diagram, we might conclude the following for each subject:

1. Concept This heading refers to the setting within which the subject of female education is considered. Common to almost all of the texts analysed (except the one by Makin), is that in none of them female education is addressed in a setting one might characterise as an intellectually suitable context such as a school or a genuine institution. This means that female education was not yet embedded in educational circles in 17th century England.

2. Goal of education As stated in the introduction and as clearly demonstrated in the comments to the texts analysed, the 17th – century authors are subdivided into two (not entirely separated) classes: − those whose primary goal is a religious upbringing (Edward Chamberlayne ; Mary Astell) − those whose primary goal refers to intellectual fulfilments (Margaret Cavendish ; Bathsua Makin) As witnessed in scientific circles, one might suspect that there is a gradual move from a religious view on society towards a secular one as time goes by. However, if we consider the date of publication of the texts, this move is certainly not as clear cut and straightforward. This clearly hints at influences of another nature e.g. political conviction.

3. Curriculum In most of the texts discussed, the authors ask for an adaptation of the curriculum for girls. The lack of any form of intellectually based (whether or not religiously influenced) education usually was the thing that urged people like Chamberlayne, Astell and Makin

93 to make a plea for better female education. The sort of curriculum depends on the goal of female education. In the texts by Astell and Chamberlayne, religion is the most important course (in Chamberlayne’s proposal, however, there are also other courses for the girls). In the texts by Makin and Margaret Cavendish, emphasis is laid upon more intellectually based courses. Especially Makin has a wide range of subjects to teach to the girls at her school. Edward Chamberlayne and Bathsua Makin explicitly mention the curriculum taught at their respective schools, because the aim of their pamphlet is not only to bring female education to the attention of a broad public, but also to make publicity for their schools.

4. Admission fee Although this might be seen as an unimportant thing, it certainly is not. For what we know, admission fee is significant to not only the cost for setting up and running an educational institute but most importantly to its socio-economical environment. Where only wealthy people were targeted, admission fee was set at an exorbitantly high level (Astell), thus giving the education for women a sense of exclusivity. Where admission fee was modest or even inexistent (Chamberlayne, Makin), the intentions were of a different nature: the aim is to drive forward the initial goals of the educational program: religious resp. intellectual learning. In such case, female education is considered as the fulfilment of a mission.

5. Target group This is directly linked to the admission fee and there is little doubt that this is intentionally meant as a discriminatory move of the authors: − wealthy people targeted => high admission fee − “all” people targeted => admission fee low or inexistent

6. Teachers Apart from Makin’s text, there are no concrete qualitative requirements on the knowledge level or teaching capabilities of the teaching staff. Teaching requirements for the staff are all in all too general and vague. This indicates that society is still in search of a clear definition on the quality and prerequisites of a teaching staff (I presume for both female and male education). In the texts by Mary Astell and Margaret Cavendish, the

94 problem of shortage of suitable teachers is solved by employing former pupils of their academy or retreat as a teacher. However, all texts (with the exception of Makin’s and William Cavendish’s) agree upon the fact that the teachers should be widows or respectable unmarried women who can devote themselves to teaching activities.

7. Actual realisations Again, Makin seems to be the exception here, since she really went as far so as to set up a school for female education including a genuine clear educational program.

8. View on religion As said, the two texts of Chamberlayne and Astell are really written with a view to enhance the link between education and religion. It is however surprising to see that in the three other texts, religion plays no role at all in it and is hardly mentioned. I believe this might be intentional, because religious matters have gone through a turmoil in the 17th century and embarking in a religious dispute was something any commentator (on whatever subject) would wisely try to avoid.

9. View on intellect Intellect for women in particular is still a source of debate in the 17th century. The various texts not only deal with the question on how intellectual developments can be improved through education, but also with an attempt to find an answer to the question of whether education on an intellectual basis was indeed apt for women. Both Margaret Cavendish and Bathsua Makin are convinced of the latter, and so are we!

As a final remark I would like to emphasize that it would simply have been impossible for me to write this thesis if women had only been endowed with the type and level of education as was common in the 17th century. Thanks to the writings of Chamberlayne, Makin, Astell and many others, female education was brought to the attention of a broad public. This led to the establishment of a better educational system for women and finally to the acceptance of women at universities. This shows the progress female education has witnessed in the last few centuries, not only in the English society but also elsewhere in other countries.

95 William Cavendish Edward Chamberlayne Mary Astell Margaret Cavendish Bathsua Makin Women gather at a Women gather at a Concept of a medieval Concept of a medieval certain time in the certain time in the house More the concept of a nunnery (secluded life), but nunnery (secluded life), but Female Academy. Men of Lady Beaufield. Men normal grammar school, Concept the women who enter the the women who enter the are not allowed. There are not allowed. There is but for girls only instead academy do not have to take retreat do not have to take are several speakers who only one speaker: of for boys only. vows. vows. answer upon questions Mistress Voluble. posed by the matron. Educate women in order to improve the religious Educate women in order behaviour of the English Learn how to make Educate women in order to to develop their people. These women could Goal of oneself beautiful in order strengthen the Anglican faith Women gather to discuss intellectual capacities so in their function as a mother Education to seduce a wealthy and make women more philosophical topics. that they can have the exert an important religious husband. virtuous. same opportunities as influence on their children men. so that they will not renounce the Anglican faith. Needle work, dancing, All sorts of knowledge that music, writing, can be useful for development Main purpose is religious arithmetic, Latin, of virtues and the better education, but girls also get Women answer the French, Greek, Hebrew, understanding of religion. Tips concerning beauty singing, dancing, music, questions of the matron Italian, Spanish, biology, Curriculum They will not learn foreign and seduction. writing, French, needle using their own wit and geology, astronomy, languages, except those that work, cookery, making wisdom. geography, mathematics, are necessary to read "useful perfumes and medicine. history and authors" (eg. French "experimental philosophers) philosophy". Unknown. We must notice though, that the At one point in her Proposal ladies mentioned she talks about £500. A few Admission fee There is no admission fee! Unknown. £20 attending Voluble's pages further on, she says the course are all of noble admission fee is £600. blood.

96 The admission fee is very high (about two times the Everyone who is amount of money someone prepared to pay the Not mentioned as such, with a well-paid job would Only women of noble admission fee (not such but all women at Since there is no admission Target Group earn!), so only the very rich blood can enter the a high amount of Voluble's Academy are fee, everyone is accepted. could enter Astell's Retreat. Female Academy. money) and is competent of noble blood. She also mentions that the of learning can enter pupils should be Ladies of Makin's school. Quality. There is only one Chamberlayne promises he There are some matrons teacher: Mistress will employ the best who pose philosophical Voluble. Everybody has teachers of London in his questions to a lady Teachers are women educated the greatest respect for Academy. These teachers speaker. It is that in the Retreat who decide to Makin herself is the Teachers her, but she probably should be widows or virgins speaker who gives her stay there and devote their life teacher at her school. never had a proper "that have resolved to lead opinion about a certain to educating other women. education herself. Her the rest of their lives in a subject and thus knowledge is based upon single retir'd Religious way" performs the teaching experience. (p. 2) activity. Alas, William Cavendish's example of female education was not so far from the truth. I was not able to find out Makin did have a school Contemporary girls' There were attempts to put Margaret Cavendish's Actual whether Chamberlayne's for girls at Tottenham schools did pay more Astell's proposal into practice, Female Academy was Realisation Academy was put into High Cross, near attention to but these came to nothing. purely theoretical. practice. London. accomplishments and outward appearance than to intellectual development. Religion is the most Women can improve important course in their religious feelings Strengthening the Anglican View on Religion is not Chamberlayne's Academy. Religion is not by improving their faith is the reason to educate Religion mentioned. Only strong Anglican faith mentioned. intellectual capacities women. can stabilize the country (they will be able to after the Civil War. understand their faith

97 and consequently become more religious). But religion is not the main objective. Although religion is the Women should only learn Women are as intelligent most important course, things that are useful the Women do have as as men and therefore, women also get more development of virtues or the much wit as men and are they should learn the View on Women are portrayed as scientific courses such as better understanding of also capable of creative same things as men. Intellect credulous and naïve. medicine, the "distilling of religion. Every sort of and philosophical Great emphasis is laid Waters" (p. 6) and making knowledge must be in thoughts. on the intellectual perfume. function of religion. capacities of women.

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