Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Subjection of Women, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Liberalism and Women’s Rights
Gender Equality for the Greater Good
Biological vs. Social Understandings of Gender
Intelligence, Reason, and Debate
Womanhood as Slavery
Summary
Analysis
Although it is less important than the other questions discussed in the book thus far, it is worth discussing the question of how human society as a whole would be transformed by women’s emancipation. Firstly, there is no doubt that enhancing women’s rights would ease the suffering of a large number of individual women mistreated by their husbands. As a social institution that gives men unchecked power over women, marriage is an outdated, unjust institution that should be left in the past, like slavery. Yet for some people, hearing about the negative sides of women’s oppression is not enough—they also need to be explicitly persuaded that women’s emancipation would create a better society.
It is intriguing that Mill frames the question of how women’s emancipation would benefit society as less important than other issues, considering that his entire argument is based on the utilitarian principle of prioritizing the common good. Perhaps he does not want to make it seem as if gender equality is merely a vehicle through which to discuss his general theories about how society should transform.
Themes
Far from being a minor issue, gender is the most common and widespread relation between two sets of people in the world. In that light, Mill claims that all the selfishness that exists in human society has its roots in gendered oppression. Consider the effect when a boy meets a woman who is much smarter and more capable than him, only to learn that he still has absolute authority over her. Situations like this have a profoundly corrupting influence on humanity and encourage men to become arrogant and domineering.
The argument Mill makes here is significant: it is not just women but also men who suffer under patriarchy. This is because a system that favors men over even those women who are superior to him in certain areas creates a warped and illogical situation. All people rely on principles of justice and reason in order to make sense of the world, and the oppression of women seriously threatens these principles.
Themes
Indeed, it is difficult to even imagine how serious the impact has been of having such an unjust system in place for so long. As long as this system is in place, it will be an “uphill struggle” for men to embrace principles of justice (which are the principles of Christianity). Not only this, but women’s emancipation would also mean the doubling of skill and knowledge available to put in service of the greater good. At the moment, women’s capabilities are almost wasted on domestic labor alone. If gender inequality were to end, the overall intellectual capacity of humanity would be enhanced. Women’s abilities would automatically be strengthened simply because they’d would be allowed to pursue whatever interested them.
Because Mill fervently believes that society functions best when everyone is free to choose their own pursuits, he is confident that extending such freedom would automatically improve the condition of humanity as a whole. Some people disagree with this foundational principle and might instead believe that it works better when all people are obligated to do a little bit of different types of work (including domestic and manual labor) than have everyone choose their pursuits according to their own desires.
Themes
Throughout history, women have had a strong influence on the workings of the world, in part via their roles as mothers of sons. They have significantly helped the spread of Christianity. The desire to impress and honor women was the foundation of chivalry, a practice that Mill describes as one of the pinnacles of morality in human. In today’s world, the moral code via which people make decisions ought to be based on justice and respect for the rights of each individual person. A system of punishment is in place to deter people from committing wrongs.
Here, Mill contests the idea that because women have faced intense restrictions throughout history, they have not contributed to society. He points out that—often in passive or covert ways, such as in the example of chivalry—women have still managed to make positive contributions. If the restrictions placed on them were lifted, then these contributions would become even more numerous.
Themes
Get the entire The Subjection of Women LitChart as a printable PDF.
Women still exert a significant influence on the moral system of the present—yet because they still have little knowledge of the world beyond the domestic sphere, they can sometimes regrettably discourage that which is publicly accepted. On the other hand, there are still some positive aspects to women’s influence on public life. They encourage pacifism and charitable giving, both of which represent what is morally distinguished about modern European life. At the same time, women’s interest in these causes betrays the limitations of their education, which is based in sentimentality rather than real knowledge. This can have the effect of encouraging benevolence that’s shallow and empty.
Mill’s argument can be difficult to follow here because it speaks to the very specific social climate of the time and place in which he is writing (19th-century England). He is essentially expressing concern over the fact that—in part because they are held back from fully participating in public life—women often end up having highly conventional ideas. They might be less inclined to political radicalism (the kinds of subversive, imaginative views that Mill himself holds) and more inclined to conform.
Themes
Clearly, women cannot be blamed for these deficiencies, which are provoked by restricted access to education and public life. Indeed, this becomes yet another example of the way in which women’s emancipation would be of enormous public benefit. People often say that men of the “classes most exposed to temptation” need their wives to keep them in check. Mill observes that there is probably some truth in this, although it works very differently among the upper classes. Among these people, wives work to ensure that their husbands conform to the general opinion of acceptable behavior. Especially if a wife isn’t as intelligent as her husband, he is likely to feel dragged down by her, as she will stop him from living as he wants to.
Mill often repeats the assumption (commonly held at the time he is writing) that the working classes are “most exposed to temptation.” It was widely believed that the lower-class people tended to be more morally corrupt and naïve than upper-class people—something that readers today would likely take issue with. Here, however, he draws a parallel between the role of women in working-class culture and in the social elite. In both cases, women play a role of encouraging conformity with norms and propriety, which he believes is not necessarily a good thing.
Themes
This can be a special problem for those ranked just below the most elite circles of society. Many women convince themselves that they could certainly move into this elite level (usually erroneously, Mill thinks) if it weren’t for their husbands’ “low radical politics.” This is one of the issues that arises when two very different people end up being married. While it’s not true that all the differences that emerge between married people are due to the differences in how men and women are raised, this stark gap makes it unlikely that a married couple will find themselves truly agreeing about their preferences and desires. The issue can be resolved by women being totally submissive, but this isn’t really a solution at all.
This passage reads as though Mill is griping about an issue that personally irritates him rather than making a significant pronouncement about the nature of gender relations as a whole. At the same time, the broader points expressed in this paragraph—notably about how gender oppression drives men and women apart, preventing the pleasures of unity—are significant.
Themes
If women were not oppressed, marriage might more often resemble friendships between people of the same sex, where two people do not agree on everything but nonetheless find that their different natures complimentary and enriching. Overall, difference between two people can be valuable unless one person is intellectually inferior to the other. Even the most intelligent and capable people will lose their insight if they only spend time around people who are their intellectual inferiors.
This passage could be accused of containing traces of elitism, yet the general point it makes is arguably fair. If a man is highly educated and intelligent, why would he want to be with someone he considers his intellectual inferior? Surely it is more satisfying and better for him if his wife is his equal and can challenge him to become better.
Themes
Marriage is currently changing, thanks to shifting norms such as men participating more in domestic life and women receiving more comprehensive education. At the same time, a problem persists of women holding their husbands’ advancement back. Mill states that he will not describe what a marriage between true intellectual equals is like, because those who can’t already picture it will not be able to believe it could happen. However, this is the ideal state of marriage and must be the goal that people work toward if humanity is to properly flourish.
Some biographical context is useful here: before Mill and his wife, Harriet, married, they were friends for 21 years. Their intellectual collaboration started during this period of friendship and further progressed once they were a married couple. It is obvious, then, how this unusual trajectory gave Mill insight into a more egalitarian and enriching version of marriage.
Themes
The most important benefit of women’s emancipation, however, is the happiness it would bring to women themselves. After the basic necessities of survival, freedom is the most important thing for human beings to have. No one would willingly give up their freedom even if meant submitting to the rule of a leader who was competent and fair. All men must remember the feeling of relief and happiness that came when their childhoods ended and they gained autonomy over their old lives—there can be no doubt that women crave the same experience. The desire to have power over others is always going to be conflict with the importance of individual freedom.
This passage presents a key foundational principle underlying Mill’s argument: he believes that freedom is not just an inherent good but the most important inherent good there is. This idea, when applied to women, clashes with the entire ideology of a patriarchal system, which is structured around the notion that it’s better for women to be under the control of a benevolent husband (or father) than for them to have their own autonomy.
Themes
It is not just that freedom brings happiness and fulfilment, but also that lacking freedom to pursue one’s own wishes creates enormous suffering. Think of the women who devote their entire lives to raising children only to have the children grow up and move away, leaving their mothers bereft of their only “social duty.” When people ridicule the idea of women holding political office, they usually suppose that it would be teenagers and young women sitting in Parliament, when it’s not common for political office to be held by adolescent men. It is much more reasonable to imagine older women of 40 or 50—who have gained important life experience by raising families—taking political office.
Mill has perhaps not yet reached a point where he can imagine woman who choose to stay childless or men who choose to perform the majority of the labor of childrearing. Nonetheless, the proposal he makes here—that women who have already raised their children would be particularly well-suited to serving in political office—is extremely radical for the 19th-century context in which he is writing.
Themes
At the moment, society condemns women to a tedious and miserable life, denying them the satisfaction of pursuing something that they find meaningful. This waste of potential is inflicted by law, a situation that amounts to evil and that insults everything that makes human life worth living.
In the concluding passage of the book, Mill reiterates that gendered oppression—because it restricts women’s freedom so severely—is a stain on human existence that must be erased.
Themes
