Quiz: The Subjection of Women

All 30 questions. A perfect score earns the gold medal; 80% earns silver.

1. 1. Under the old laws of England, what was a wife’s murder of her husband called?

   Felony of the household Manslaughter Petty treason High treason
2. 2. Why, according to Mill, do women who only give money tend to support harmful charity?

   Not being self-dependent, they do not value self-dependence for the poor They are naturally more tender-hearted than men and cannot bear to refuse anyone who asks Their clergy direct their giving and favour the poor who attend church over the rest They are not allowed to manage their own money, and so never learn what it can do
3. 3. How does Mill describe what is now called the nature of women?

   Morally superior to the nature of men An eminently artificial thing, made by repression and stimulation Something only women can describe, and they have done so A fixed product of physiology
4. 4. Which great poet does Mill say Corinna defeated five times?

   Simonides Homer Aeschylus Pindar
5. 5. What does Mill suspect men really fear from the equal freedom of women?

   That women would outcompete men in every trade and profession That women would take men’s seats in Parliament and in the Cabinet That the birth rate would collapse That women would refuse a marriage that gives them a master
6. 6. Why does Mill mention the Roman slave’s peculium?

   To explain the origin of pin-money To praise the Roman law of marriage To show that Roman wives were worse off than English wives A Roman slave could keep property for his use; an English wife could not
7. 7. What power of the husband does Mill say was “in some degree restricted” by Serjeant Talfourd’s Act?

   Seizing his wife’s earnings and any property that came to her after marriage Compelling her by law to return to his house if she left him Divorcing his wife for adultery while refusing her the same right against him Sending the children away and preventing the mother from seeing them
8. 8. Why does Mill treat the suffrage separately from women’s admission to offices and professions?

   Because voting requires less education than any profession Because he thought only unmarried women and widows who pay rates should vote Choosing one’s governors is self-protection due to all, fit to govern or not Because women already had the parliamentary vote in some boroughs
9. 9. What does Mill call the family as now constituted?

   A school of despotism A school of sympathy in equality A school of chivalry A little commonwealth of equals
10. 10. What existing choice does Mill cite as proof that the law already thinks women fit to choose their governors?

    The choice of a parish priest The choice of a husband The choice of a borough member by widows The choice of a guardian for their children
11. 11. What did a man who had weighed many brains tell Mill?

    Cuvier’s brain was lighter than average Brain weight had no relation at all to the body The heaviest brain he knew of was a woman’s Women’s brains were always lighter in proportion to the body
12. 12. How does Mill explain the origin of men’s authority over women?

    It was adopted after long experience showed it was best for both sexes and for the family It arose from the rise of private property in land It was established by the early Church Men’s greater strength, and the value they set on women, put women in bondage
13. 13. What, according to Mill, do men want from women beyond obedience?

    Their political support Their property Their labour in the household Their sentiments, a willing submission
14. 14. What does Mill call the peculiar character of the modern world?

    The rise of great cities, where people live apart from their families and neighbours The decline of religious belief, which has left morality without a fixed foundation The spread of representative government, which makes every ruler answerable to voters People are no longer fixed in their place by birth but free to choose their lot
15. 15. What does Mill say “unnatural” usually means?

    Uncustomary Contrary to religion Physically impossible Harmful to society
16. 16. What does Mill say should replace the legal subordination of one sex to the other?

    A system of separate but complementary legal spheres Perfect equality, no privilege for either sex Gradual extension of rights to educated women only Protective laws guarding women from the abuse of men’s power
17. 17. According to Mill, where do most sayings about women’s fickleness come from?

    England Hindu writings France Ancient Greece
18. 18. Which English fact does Mill say most astonishes people in distant parts of the world?

    That English women write books That England has abolished slavery That English women may own property That England is ruled by a queen
19. 19. What “curious consideration” does Mill draw from the examples of Elizabeth and Joan of Arc?

    Women are better fitted for war than for government Only queens have ever been admitted to political office in England Women excel only in the arts the law leaves open to them The law excludes women only from things they have proved they can do
20. 20. On whom, according to Mill, should the burden of proof normally fall in practical matters?

    The government Those who propose to change an established custom Whoever is in the minority Those who argue for any restriction on liberty
21. 21. Whom does Mill call the only legal slaves remaining?

    Factory children Domestic servants The mistress of every house Farm labourers
22. 22. How does Mill reply to the saying that under kings women govern, under queens men?

    He says it applies only to queens who were regents for their sons, not to queens regnant He dismisses it as a French jest, unworthy of discussion in a serious argument If queens pick better ministers, women excel at choosing agents, government’s chief task He accepts it as true of France, but says English queens have always ruled for themselves
23. 23. Which ruler, according to Mill, made princesses of his family successive Governors of the Netherlands?

    Philip II of Spain Louis XI of France Catherine II of Russia The emperor Charles V
24. 24. Why does Mill think the power of men over women will outlast other unjust powers?

    Women have never protested against it, so it has never been called in question Every man shares in it, and each subject lives in a master’s hands It is protected by a written constitution, which only men can amend It is enforced by law and by a standing army, which no other power can match
25. 25. In which art does Mill find women equal, if not superior, to men?

    Musical composition for the orchestra Landscape and portrait painting Sculpture in marble and bronze The histrionic art, acting
26. 26. What example does Mill give of women’s softening moral influence in history?

    Kings’ wives converting the Anglo-Saxons and Franks The Crusades, preached by abbesses and noble ladies across Europe The founding of the medieval universities by queens and noble widows The abolition of the slave trade by women’s petitions to Parliament
27. 27. To answer the claim that a family needs one ruler, what does Mill compare marriage with?

    A monarchy A business partnership An army A ship under its captain
28. 28. In which field does Mill say Mrs. Somerville alone among women had enough knowledge to make a major discovery?

    Political economy Mathematics Philology Chemistry
29. 29. Why, according to Mill, have princesses proved as able as princes?

    Hereditary monarchy selects the ablest women of each royal house They were usually guided by experienced male ministers of state They received a more practical education in affairs than their brothers Their rank spared them the lesson that politics was unwomanly
30. 30. What does Mill say a man with a wife and children has given hostages to?

    His creditors and his landlord Mrs. Grundy: conventional opinion Fortune The State and its tax collectors