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Judith Sargent Murray

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The Resume

    (May 1, 1751-July 6, 1820)
    Born in Gloucester, Massachusetts
    Birth name was Judith Sargent
    Essayist, playwright, and poet
    Wrote ‘On the Equality of the Sexes’ (1790)
    Other works include 'The Medium, or, Virtue Triumphant' (1795), 'The Traveller Returned' (1796), 'The Gleaner: A Miscellaneous Production' (1798), 'A Rebus' (1803), and 'Lines, Inscribed To An Amiable, And Affectionate Mother' (1803)
    Wrote under the pseudonym Constantia

Why she might be annoying:

    The last play she wrote was ‘The African.’
    The plays she staged in Boston were financial flops.
    She found herself embroiled in a bitter published letter writing feud with a critic of her work which caused second husband John Murray a great deal of public scrutiny.
    She wrote an essay for Boston Magazine titled: ‘Desultory Thoughts upon the Utility of Encouraging a Degree of Self-Complacency, Especially in Female Bosoms’ (wait, what?).

Why she might not be annoying:

    She was widowed twice.
    She was the first American playwright to have her work be staged in Boston.
    She became the first American to publicly argue that men and women were equal.
    Her ‘On the Equality of the Sexes’ essay predated Mary Wollstonecraft’s ‘Vindication of the Rights of Women.’
    She corresponded with both John and Abigail Adams.
    Her essays were vital to the post-Revolution ‘Republican Motherhood’ movement (led by Abigail).
    She lived to the ripe age of sixty-nine, when life expectancy for women tended to be half that.
    She had a major comeback during the 1970’s with the advent of the second-wave Feminist movement, sparking a rediscovery of her written works.

Credit: BoyWithTheGreenHair


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Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 9 Votes: 44.44% Annoying