Vanity and Education Metaphors and Similes
Sepulchre or Tomb:
"Be like a garnish’d Sepulchre, which for all its glittering, has nothing within but emptiness or putrefaction," (Astell 9-10). The body of an uneducated woman is referred to as an Egyptian tomb. A tomb is generally gilded and highly decorated, it's beauty hints at it being a container for something extravagant, but inside there is either emptiness or death. In other words, a woman with a beautiful outward appearance may have nothing of substance inside her mind.
Tulips:
"How can you be content to be in the World like Tulips in a Garden, to make a fine shew and be good for nothing," (Astell 13). The life purpose of women is compared to a garden of tulips in this simile. Tulips are a pretty flower, but that is the origin and the extent of their worth. Flowers lead stationary lives and have little practical use, and the same could be said for Renaissance era, uneducated women.
A Spot:
"My earnest desire is, That you Ladies, would be as perfect and happy as ’tis possible to be in this imperfect state; for I love you too well to endure a spot upon your Beauties, if I can by any means remove and wipe it off," (Astell 13-14). Astell refers to lack of education as a spot or blemish on the beauty of a girl, and was one of the first people to publicly refer to ignorance in a girl as an imperfection in a time when women were meant to be seen and not heard.
Metaphors About the Developement of Girls' Minds
Soil:
"These, tho’ very bad Weeds, are the product of a good Soil, they are nothing else but Generosity degenerated and corrupted," (Astell 14-15). Soil is representative of the gifts, abilities and potential each human has at it's birth.
Farmer:
Farmers represent the parents in the soil analogy, good soil can have a bad harvest because of neglectful farmers or bad farming techniques. A girl can grow up disadvantaged because she was parented as a burden to be prepared for marriage.
