Mary Astell (November 12, 1666 May 11, 1731) was an English feminist writer.

. Her advocacy of equal educational opportunities for women has earned her the title "the first English feminist."[1] Author of 2 great feminist works, A Serious Proposal to the Ladies (part 1 1694, part 2 1697) and Some Reflections Upon Marriage (1700), Mary Astell was the first self-avowed feminist writer in English. Although she wrote anonymously, her authorship was widely known. Daughter of Newcastle coal merchants, Astell never married and was supported throughout her life by a series of wealthy female friends. In Proposal, Astell tries to extend women's career options beyond mother and nun, a not very likely option in Protestant England. Astell proposes a new type of institution for women, an institution much like a secular convent, a place where women could go to live, study, learn, and teach. In Marriage, Astell analyzes marriage from a woman's perspective, specifically the difficulty of finding a suitable mate. She describes many of the tricks that men use to ensnare women into marriage and discusses the pitfalls of many of the methods that women use to discern the true character of their potential mate. Astell concludes that there is no reliable method that women can use to ensure that they marry descent, responsible, kind, considerate, loving men.