Genre
Feminism, Philosophy.
Setting and Context
Seventeenth-century.
Narrator and Point of View
Mary Astell is the narrator.
Tone and Mood
Motivational, activist, feminist, and informative.
Protagonist and Antagonist
The ladies (who are the addressees) are the protagonists.
Major Conflict
Ladies rising above the perceived inferiority would make them wiser.
Climax
Women attaining astuteness equivalent to men’s.
Foreshadowing
Astell foreshadows the pleasure and contentment that awaits women once they have been enlightened through the retreat that she proposes.
Understatement
Astell’s argument “the world is not over full of 'em" (good men) is an understatement that ignores the reality that the goodness of men is relative.
Allusions
Astell alludes to Biblical concepts.
Imagery
The imagery of diamond underscores the valuableness of the happiness which all ladies deserve.
Paradox
N/A
Parallelism
Astell employs a parallel structure in her diction whereby she contracts most of the words.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
'Paradise' represents Heaven. 'Light' represents piety. 'Heat' denotes zeal.
Personification
N/A
