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. It cannot be denied that Sophie has charm and that her subjection to Emile is not oppressive. But to form a correct notion of Rousseau's ideas regarding the social position of women we must strip the story of its lyrical element and glance at the purely philosophical portion of the treatise. It is there that we must look for an answer to the question:
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Did Rousseau look upon women as partakers of the faculty of Reason? And he gives his reply in the following words:
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L'art de penser n'est pas étranger aux femmes, mais elles ne doivent faire qu'effleurer les sciences de raisonnement. He would not even object to a system by which the functions of women were strictly limited to the performance of sexual duties, if it were not that utter ignorance would make them fall a too easy prey to rascally adventurers! The subsequent statement that, after all, it being the task of woman to get herself esteemed, _so as to justify her husband's choice_, a little knowledge would not come amiss, does not mend matters in its re-introduction of the relativity-principle. Here indeed, Rousseau
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which renders her more alluring by contrast, prevents her from forming a sound judgment. This appreciation of women appears clearly in the passages of _Emile_ in which the choice of a religion is discussed. Emile is not allowed to decide until he has completed his eighteenth year, when he is made to judge for himself, uninfluenced by his tutor. Sophie's religious notions, on the contrary, are carefully instilled by her parents at an early age, it being silently taken for granted that she will never arrive at a degree of understanding which will enable her to form her own convictions.
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The female reason is of a practical nature, which renders them very quick to find the means of arriving at a fixed conclusion, but _does not enable them_ _to form that conclusion independently of others_ . Again that utter dependence, that total lack of individuality which characterises Rousseau's female ideal.
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My daughter , says Sophie's father,