30 pages • 1 hour read
Judith Sargent MurrayOn the Equality of the Sexes
Nonfiction | Essay / Speech | Adult | Published in 1790A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Essay Topics
In the poem that prefaces “On the Equality of the Sexes,” Judith Sargent Murray asserts that a failure to pursue knowledge is a turn away from God. How does Murray continue to address a religious theme throughout her essay, and why do you think this is significant?
In “On the Equality of the Sexes,” Murray argues for equal educational opportunities for women. Research the history of women’s progression into equal education in America and write an essay examining whether Murray’s predictions and arguments have been borne out.
In the second part of the essay, Murray discusses marriage using war-related imagery. Examine the ways in which these images alter and support Murray’s argument around happy and unhappy marriages.
Murray describes feeling an emotional void as the result of a position of enforced inferiority. What techniques does she use to express this feeling to her readers?
Do you think Murray’s arguments can be applied to modern life? How relevant are they still?
As a modern reader, what is your first thought about Murray’s admission that men are the physically superior sex? What ideas does she present that chip away at this stereotype? What ideas does she present that support it?
How does Murray present domestic duties in this essay? Are domestic duties as simple as she portrays them, or does she minimize the efforts this type of work takes? Does her harsh criticism of domestic duties undermine or support her argument?
Murray writes about economic independence for women in later writings. Choose one of her later essays and trace the way her feminist theory and argument develops over the decades of her writing.
