Question

The author of the passage refers to Robert Filmer (see line 5) primarily in order to ________________.

• A. Show that Royalist ideology was somewhat more radical than most historians appear to realize
• B. Qualify the claim that patriarchalism formed the basis of Royalist ideology
• C. Question the view that most early feminists were associated with the Royalist faction
• D. Highlight an apparent tension between Royalist ideology and the ideas of early feminists
• E. Argue that Royalists held conflicting opinions on issues of family organization and women's political rights

Answer 1

The correct option is D Highlight an apparent tension between Royalist ideology and the ideas of early feminists

The fifth line of the passage introduces Robert Filmer "a patriarchalism that equates family and kingdom and asserts the divinely ordained absolute power of the king and, by analogy, of the male head of the household historians have been understandably puzzled by the fact that Royalist women wrote the earliest extended criticisms of the absolute subordination of women in marriage and the earliest systematic assertions of women's rational and moral equality with men". This means that the women in that era were showing signs of feminism in the patriarchal Royalist society. Therefore, the most apt answer to the given question is option D). The other options are not the correct reasons that Robert Filmer's was mentioned.