 In many dialogues Scudéry insists that women as well as men can possess the full range of moral virtues. Against those who hold that only men can practice magnanimity because of its public and political nature, Scudéry argues that women also can possess the virtue. “This great quality [magnanimity] is not banned from appearing in certain extraordinary women” [CN, 1: 64]. As an example, the dialogue cites Portia, wife of Brutus. Although both sexes can possess the most rarified moral virtues, each sex tends to practice the virtues in a distinctive way. The virtue of kindness is more imperative in the personality of a woman than in that of a man. 