"There is no sex in souls."

— Griffith, Elizabeth (1720-1793)


Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for T. Cadell
Date
1776
Metaphor
"There is no sex in souls."
Metaphor in Context
There is no sex in souls, and though Milton has been pleased to tell us, that on woman nature has

bestowed
Too much of ornament, in outward show
Elaborate, of inward less exact.
For well I understand in the prime end
Of nature, her the inferior, in the mind
And inward faculties, which most excel.
I must beg leave to dissent from him, nay more, to say that he accuses Providence of a particular partiality in the disposal of his intellectual gifts, between the human race, which is by no means visible in any other part of the animal creation. All instinctive qualities appearing to the full as strong, and as acute, in the female as the male, through every species of the animal world--Why then should we conceive that the highest order of beings, that inhabit this terrestrial globe, should be more unequally dealt with? It is clear, at least, that Milton did not reason from analogy.
(II, pp 46-7)
Categories
Provenance
ECCO-TCP
Citation
2 entries in ESTC (1776).

The Story of Lady Juliana Harley: A Novel. In Letters. By Mrs. Griffith (London: Printed for T. Cadell, 1776). <Link to Vol. I in ECCO-TCP><Link to Vol. II in ECCO-TCP>
Date of Entry
08/19/2013

The Mind is a Metaphor is authored by Brad Pasanek, Assistant Professor of English, University of Virginia.