Judith Drake
Judith Drake (fl. 1670s–1723) was an English intellectual and author who was active in the last decade of the 17th century. She was part of a circle of intellectuals, authors, and philosophers which included Mary Astell, Lady Mary Chudleigh, Elizab
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Judith Drake (fl. 1670s–1723) was an English intellectual and author who was active in the last decade of the 17th century. She was part of a circle of intellectuals, authors, and philosophers which included Mary Astell, Lady Mary Chudleigh, Elizabeth Thomas, Elizabeth Elstob, Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, and John Norris.[1] She was married to James Drake F.R.S., physician and Tory pamphleteer.[2] She is remembered in the field of feminist literature for her 1696 essay, An Essay in Defence of the Female Sex.
When Judith Drake and the other intellectuals of her circle began writing, they were still a minority and subject to much nay saying. Recently there had been a loosening of censorship of printed books. A few women took this opportunity to publish on gender relationships. Because of their efforts as well as the rise in female literacy, the literary world entered into the debate about women.
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