«È davvero una donna o no?» La sottile violenza del sospetto e della calunnia. I casi di Mary Astell, Damaris Masham e Catharine Cockburn

There is a subtle kind of textual violence against women, which is not vehement, but it is penetrating, that is the violence of suspect, insinuation, and slander. This paper aims to analyze the cases of three early modern English learned Ladies, including Mary Astell, Damaris Masham, and Catharine Cockburn, who suffered this kind of violence. Paradoxically, it was perpetrated by some of their friends and admirers in the attempt of appraising them and emphasizing their intellectual merits.