Note 805 — Chapter XVIII · PROBLEMS OF MARRIAGE AND THE FAMILY (continued 2)

"Sophia," Woman not Inferior to Man; or, A short and modest Vindication of the natural Right of the Fair-Sex to a perfect Equality of Power, Dignity, and Esteem with the Men (London, 1739; 2d ed., 1740). This tract was answered by a "Gentleman," Man Superior to Woman; or, a Vindication of Man's Natural Right of Sovereign Authority over the Woman (London, 1739), insisting that woman was not created at all, but is "a sort of after-produced being" who must not "presume to call in question the great duty of vassalage" to man, under penalty of the withdrawal of his heart from her power. To this "Sophia" rejoined in Woman's Superior Excellence over Man (London, 1740).