The Eloquence of Mary Astell [Paperback]

C. M. Sutherland (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1552381536 | ISBN-13: 978-1552381533 | Publication Date: January 26, 2006

The Eloquence of Mary Astell makes an important contribution to the knowledge and understanding of the important role that women, and one woman in particular, played in the history of rhetoric. Mary Astell (1666-1731) was an unusually perceptive thinker and writer during the time of the Enlightenment. Here, author Christine Sutherland explores her importance as a rhetorician, an area that has, until recently, received little attention. Astell was widely known and respected during her own time, but her influence and reputation receded in the years after her death. Her importance as an Enlightenment thinker is becoming more and more recognized, however. As a skilled theorist and practitioner of rhetoric, Astell wrote extensively on education, philosophy, politics, religion, and the status of women. She showed that it was possible for a woman to move from the semi-private form of rhetoric represented by conversation and letters into full public participation in philosophical and political debate.

 

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Christine Sutherland is a professor in the Faculty of Communication and Culture at the University of Calgary. She has written extensively on women in the history of rhetoric.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: University of Calgary Press (January 26, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1552381536
• ISBN-13: 978-1552381533
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #985,290 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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5.0 out of 5 stars A seminal and scholarly study of the role that women in general, and Mary Astell (1666-1731) in particular, May 5, 2006

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Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Eloquence of Mary Astell (Paperback)

Christine Sutherland (Professor in the Faculty of Communication and Culture, University of Calgary) presents The Eloquence Of Mary Astell, a seminal and scholarly study of the role that women in general, and Mary Astell (1666-1731) in particular, have played in the history of rhetoric. Mary Astell's importance as an Enlightenment thinker was overlooked in the years following her death, but recently her contributions and influence has become more properly recognized by historians. Mary Astell's deliberate choice to move beyond the limited format for rhetoric that was the norm for common female conversation, and into the more public realms of participation in philosophy, academia and political debate, broke new ground and set a positive example for future generations of women up to the present day. A welcome addition to college library, women's studies, and communications studies collections, The Eloquence Of Mary Astell presents illustrative excerpts of Astell's rhetoric, a firm grounding in the context within which Astell expressed herself, extensive notes, a bibliography, and an index.