Judith Sargent Murray is an outstanding female author and one of the first proclaimers of feminist ideas of the United States in the 18th century. With the pen name "Constantia," her essay “On the Equality of the Sexes” saw his auditorium in the highly respected Massachusetts Magazine in 1790. In the essay, she cultivated and shared to wide public enlighten ideas in defense of female political rights, economic independence and improvement of education for women. Using her intellectual strengths and a word sword sharpened by pathos, logos and ethos, the miniature “weak” woman finds strong arguments in witty opposing to social patriarchal clichés supported by cultural and religious traditions that have suppressed women’s rights and liberty for ages.
The structure of Murray’s argument makes it successful because the author ascertains that times truisms about gender roles and persuades in opposite by means of reversals. Sharply she parries the claim that the stronger physically sex possesses stronger mental facilities. She shows that there are many forceful masculine females, and miniscule males. Additionally, there are weak diminutive men who are cleverer and wiser than virile ones. Putting upside down stereotypical depiction of both sexes, the author challenges immutable tenets in minds of readers.
Murray uses pathos as an important device of persuasion in her arguments. Her description of secondary women’s position in life evokes feelings of sympathy and an indignation of unfair treatment in readers. The author argues that differences in the way of breeding and educating boys and girls are the reason of intellectual gaps. While boys have advantages of scientific knowledge, girls’ fate is limited domestic functions. That is why a mature woman fills emptiness with “fashion, scandal, and sometimes what is still more reprehensible” (Murray 133). Connected with the husband by destiny, she does not feel experienced and educated enough to accompany him. Pathetic depiction of an unhappy and unsatisfied with mind hunger woman draw an attention to the female subordinate position in family.
Taking pains to support the credibility of her claims, Murray uses ethos and “ad hominem argument.”
And in past times some men have sunk so low,That female records nothing less can show.( Murray 33-34)
It is an argument against the superiority of men, because even those who were “after God's own heart” (Murray 225) possessed many vices. She attacks the main Bible figures such as David, Moses and Solomon, and praises “the exquisite delicacy of the female mind” (Murray 223). Criticizing the qualities of a domineering patriarchy, Murray invalidates their arguments and claims that female sense of morality declares inherent dignity.
Using such a literary device as logos, the author transfers her ideas to the audience by means of reason and logic. She presents powerful evidences of female talents distorted through limitation of rights and possibilities to educate. Added irony supports her point of view and challenges readers to overthink what they possibly have not paid attention before. The author’s witty examples prove women’s capability in the intellectual powers such as imagination, understanding, memory and conclusion making. Though the mind works hard inventing something, female imagination is ingeniously creative in cases of the changeable fashions variety, “talent for slander” (Murray 133) Nevertheless, routine housekeeping “leave the intelligent principle vacant, and at liberty for speculation” (Murray 133). As for women’s deficiency in reason, the author claims that only the equal access to education, which was not available for women at her time, could form the objective conclusions. As there is an equal number of talkative old men and old women retelling their life stories, Murray humorously underlines the similar memory abilities of both sexes. She opposes to the opinion of weak female capacity to make a distinction. Murray presents the possible reverse of life construction with an opportunity for women to study subjects what men do. She anticipates that trifles like fashion and scandals would possess not so much in cultivated female mind. Inductive reasoning of the author includes representative evidences of the equal amount of outstanding female and male minds. Murray claims that nature distributes mental abilities to both sexes. The superiority of the male part is doubtful, as considerations are mutual in minds of human species.
In her essay “On the Equality of the Sexes,” Murray bends “the whole of [her] artillery [of logical arguments, pathos and ethos devices] against those supposed proofs, which you have from thence provided, and from which you have formed an intrenchment apparently so invulnerable” (Murray 225). Pathetic depiction of a suffering from subordinate domestic position of woman courses readers’ emotional response. Criticizing the qualities male superiority, Murray invalidates their arguments and “conscientiously identifies, challenges, and resists the system of male privilege of her time” (Schloesser 157). By means of strong reasoning and evidences, she counters that an equal by nature female, “a candidate for immortality” (Murray 134), deserves more than limiting of kitchen and a needle. The author challenges the audience’s opinion on social patriarchal clichés of her time and makes to overthink the problem highlighted.
Works cited
Murray, Judith Sargent. “On the Equality of the Sexes.” The Celebration of Women Writers. Ed. Ockerbloom, Mary Mark, n.d. Web. 17 October 2014.
Schloesser, Pauline E. The Fair Sex: White Women and Racial Patriarchy in the Early American Republic. NYU Press, 2002. Print.
