本文探討〈中國孤兒〉劇中所呈現之中國與英國社會的性別觀念，尤其是女性與權力的交互關係，藉以探究墨菲此劇對儒家社會中之中國女性的觀點為何與當代歐洲人迥異。墨菲將其中國女主角在政治上與家庭中所遭遇之困境，與十八世紀英國性別觀念的新趨勢做一強烈對比，並藉此角色批評中國性別習俗，使此悲劇在當時頗具特色，因墨菲以性別意識與習俗為主要觀點來批評中國文化，與十八世紀耶穌會教士或歐洲其他評論者所採用的觀點極不相同。

By exploring The Orphan of China in the social scenarios of both Chinese and English gender ideologies in terms of the reciprocal relationships between women and the sites of power, this essay discusses the radical departure of Murphy’s play from his contemporary Europeans’ notions of Chinese women in Confucian society. Murphy’s tragedy conflates the Chinese heroine’s political and domestic confinements into the antithesis of the emerging gender trend in eighteenth-century England, and uniquely denounces Chinese gender practices through the heroine. Significantly different from the Jesuits and other European critics in the eighteenth century, Murphy draws on gender ideologies and practices as the predominant factors on which he bases his criticism of Chinese culture.