Plato's Republic- Tentative Response

Tentative Response Prompt 5

Women are seemingly ignored throughout Plato’s Republic. Although mentioned sporadically through the text, it becomes apparent that women are far from the central topics Plato discusses. Plato’s understanding of women can best be described in this one, nuanced line that he provides: “Women share by nature in every way of life just as men do, but in all of them women are weaker than men” (Book V, 453d).

Plato’s conclusion, while controversial at best in a modern context, is surprisingly progressive for his time. Because he posits that men and women are similar enough to fulfill a lot of the same roles, he is able to reason that women should have access to education. He states that if “we are to use women for the same things as the men, they must also be taught the same things.” This common purpose he refers to is the role of guardians, where the intricate society he introduces requires that the wives of the guardians have just as much resolve and ‘gold’ in their blood as the others.