The Gleaner

Though Murray refused to reject marriage as wholly as Wollstonecraft, her views on the institution were still considered radical for the time. Murray wrote the story of Margaretta using the conventions of the day, creating a well-known story which she presents as truth rather than fiction. Murray complicated this convention, however, by writing as a man. She wrote her column in the Massachusetts Magazine under the male identity "The Gleaner" (she also used the name "Constantia" in other publications), so that in the story of Margaretta, Murray discusses "his" wife and their adopted daughter.

Murray cannot seem to come wholly to terms with her feminist inclinations. She seems to want to support Wollstonecraft but cannot bring herself to dismiss marriage with the same fervor as her English contemporary. Murray is unprepared to rid the world of the institution of marriage, whereas Wollstonecraft advocates this abolition, despite what her biography might suggest. Instead, Murray critiques certain aspects of marriage and courtship. As readers see in the story of Margaretta, Murray objects to early marriages--despite what her biography suggests--and encourages young people to cooperate with their parents.

Murray's views on marriage are difficult to pinpoint because of their apparent contradictions. Murray "was contemptuous of any union not founded on mutuality and equality while advocating wifely submission and holding women responsible for the success of most marriages. Murray's conflicting views were not the product of muddled thinking or hypocrisy but a reflection of the limits within which all women operated in postwar America" (Skemp 62). She wanted marriages to be equal but also placed more responsibility on women. The character of Margaretta illustrates this belief. Although Margaretta is the picture of virtue, but she believes her husband, Mr. Hamilton, to be having an affair with her dear friend. Rather than confronting him, she invites his supposed mistress to live with them. At one point, she even offers to live a life of shame and separate from her husband to preserve his happiness. In the end, her virtue is rewarded, of course, and she discovers that Mr. Hamilton is not having an affair with Serafina. Rather, the two discovered that they share a father and had been commiserating upon that subject and the increasing debt of Mr. Hamilton. Still, her views on marriage were radical as she emphasized the importance of equality and believed "marriage should be a choice, not an inevitability" (Skemp 71), in a world where "the words 'wife' and 'woman' were more or less interchangable" (61).

Murray made her opinions on courtship clear, however. She felt it unreasonable for courtship to be based solely on the man's actions. She admitted "that women risked criticism by deviating from time-honored practice but thought that in some circumstances a woman might ignore convention and propose to her lover instead of waiting meekly for him to take the initiative" (66). Despite this liberal idea, Murray also felt that young people should refer to their parents' judgment if they are unsure of the appropriate action to take.

Relevant Bibliography Entries

• Skemp, Sheila. Selected Writings of Judith Sargent Murray. Boston: Bedford, 1998.
• Watts, Edward. Writing and Postcolonialism in the Early Republic. Charlottesville (VA): The University of Virginia Press, 1998.

• 1751 Judith is born on May 1.
• 1769 Judith Sargent marries John Stevens.
• 1777 Fifteen Universalists form Gloucester's Independent Church of Christ, the first Universalist Church in America.
• 1782 Judith Sargent Stevens publishes her Universalist catechism.
• 1784 Judith Sargent Stevens publishes "Desultory thoughts upon the utility of encouraging a degree of self-complacency, especially in female bosoms".
• 1787 John Stevens dies in St. Eustatius.
• 1788 Judith Sargent Stevens marries John Murray.
• 1790 Judith Sargent Murray publishes "On the equality of the sexes."
• 1792-1794 Judith Sargent Murray publishes her "Gleaner" and "Repository" essays in Massachusetts Magazine.
• 1795 Judith Sargent Murray's The Medium, or Virtue Triumphant is performed at Boston's Federal Street Theater.
• 1798 Judith Sargent Murray publishes her three volume-work, The Gleaner.
• 1808 Judith Sargent Murray's The African is performed at Boston's Federal Street Theater.
• 1815 John Murray dies.
• 1816 Judith Sargent Murray publishes Life of John Murray, by himself. With a continuation by Mrs. Judith Sargent Murray.
• 1818 Judith Sargent Murray moves to Natchez, Mississippi with her daughter and granddaughter.
• 1820 Judith Sargent Murray dies.