Paradise regained: quakerism and female equality

Résumé du document

Saint Paul instructed women to remain silent; the anatomical difference of their hips led Luther to assert that women should stay at home and bear children; kings and Parliaments trapped them at home to perform their household duties. Nevertheless, Quaker women were out on the streets seizing men's works, expanding their prospects and opportunities, and obtained a new position within the 'Society of Friends'. These revolutionary women regained Eve's pre-lapsarian status of men's equals. To justify their colonization in the public arena, and their position within Society, Quaker women interpreted differently the book which had been used for years to subjugate them, the Bible. The understanding of the work of Christ, together with the question of Eve's pre-lapsarian condition were central issues for early Quakers; in fact these subjects were used to prove true the Quakers' concept of equality between men and women.

Extraits

[...] I. Ross, Margaret Fell, Mother of Quakerism ed., William Sessions Book Trust, The Ebor Press, York p Manuscripts of the Marquis of Bath, Vol. p quoted in Manning, p British Museum E quoted in Manning, p Manning, p Crawford, p Throughout her work, several spelling mistakes are noticeable. Priscilla Cotton and Mary Cole, To the Priests and People of England, London Brailsford, p. 287. [...]

[...] dissertation, University of Indiana p quoted in Wilcox, p Colossians 3:19. Tual, p Bacon, p George Fox in Nick. Jnl., p William Penn, 'Some Fruits of Solitude' in Works 2 vols., London p quoted in J. Tual, "Sexual Equality and Conjugal Harmony: The Way to Celestial Bliss. A View of Early Quaker Matrimony", The Journal of the Friend's Historical Society Vol Number Hodgett Gerald A. J., p Idem, p L. [...]

[...] John Milton, Paradise Lost, ix, 907-915 Even though the principle of the Inner Light the essence of Quakerism emphasized apprenticeship for individuals, the Society of Friends did not leave education aside. George Fox valued education as an important process and promoted it both at home and abroad.[13] Friends wanted the entire membership men as well as women to receive an adequate education, so that members would be ready to perform their spiritual duties at any moment. From the late seventeenth century onwards, Quakers were setting up more serious educational establishments. [...]

[...] These revolutionary women regained Eve's pre-lapsarian status of men's equals. To justify their colonisation of the public arena, and their position within Society, Quaker women interpreted differently the book which had been used for years to subjugate them: the Bible Redeeming Eve: Quakers and the other Biblical Justification of Equality The understanding of the work of Christ, together with the question of Eve's pre-lapsarian condition was central issues for early Quakers; in fact these subjects were used to prove true the Quakers' concept of equality between men and women. [...]

[...] 'The Parliament of Women' from the Thomason Tracts, Men derided women's empowerment by representing an all-female Parliament. Quaker women's unusual role contributed to reveal their newly regained pre- lapsarian status, it led them to petition, demonstrate and write, challenging generally accepted ideas about the position of women in society. Quakers' views on education and marriage threw a new light on the status of women, differentiating considerably from the contemporary vision of women, giving every individual an equal right to education, regardless of their sex, and making of a woman a full citizen they did not deal with a woman differently whether she was single, married or a widow. [...]