Mill would have been familiar with Mary Wollstonecraft’s A Vindication of the Rights of Women, published in 1790. Compare and contrast the two texts. In what ways is Mill indebted to Wollstonecraft? Are there significant differences between their arguments?

Why does Mill focus so much of his essay on marriage? What does he suggest is the relationship between marriage and women’s oppression broadly?

How does utilitarian thinking influence the kinds of arguments Mill offers in his essay?