Virginia Woolf Meals

Virginia Woolf is a British author who lived at a time when there was a discernable difference between the treatment of men and women. In an endeavor to settle the disparity in the treatment of males and females, feminist author Virginia Woolf compares two meals she ate at two different colleges. The first meal is at a men’s college, and the second meal is at a women’s college. The unjust inequality between males and females is shown in the quality of the meals. The meal at the men’s college is extravagant, while the meal at the women’s college is plain. In her essay about the two different meals, Woolf makes use of specific techniques in order to expose the inequality of treatment between males and females. The techniques Woolf uses are diction,

In the first paragraph about the meal in the men’s college, Woolf states that, “the partridges, many and various, came with all their retinue of sauces and salads…” Incidentally, the word retinue is used to describe a group of advisors who follow a king or the queen, or royalty. Woolf’s fabulous choice of the word retinue suggests that the heavenly meal in the men’s college is worthy of the royalty. On the other hand, in the second paragraph about the meal in the women’s college, Woolf states that, “And if anyone complains that prunes [which are being served], even when mitigated by custard, are an uncharitable vegetable (fruit they are not), stringy as a miser’s heart and exuding a fluid such as might ruin in a misers’ veins who have denied themselves wine and warmth for eighty years and yet not given to the poor, he should reflect that there are people whose charity embraces even the prune.” Woolf’s use of the word poor describes the prune itself. This reflects that the entire meal, where the prune is being served, is essentially poor. As a result, Woolf effectively makes the abominable meal at the women’s college seem horrifically poor compared to the royal, heavenly meal at the men’s college. Woolf deliberately crafts this contrast between the two meals for the sake of showing the inequality of the treatment of

For example she writes, “their sprouts, foliated as rosebuds but more succulent.” She also writes,"with soles, sunk in a deep dish, over which the college cook had spread a counterpane of the whitest cream, save that it was branded here.” The words, whitest and succulent, are used as descriptors.Using the words, whitest and succulent, the reader can reasonably create a savory visual representation of delicious food. On the other hand, in the description of the women’s meal, Woolf writes, “The plate was plain. Next came beef with its attendant greens and potatoes—a homely trinity, suggesting the rumps of cattle in a muddy market, and sprouts curled and yellowed at the edge, and bargaining and cheapening, and women with string bags on Monday morning.” The words plain and muddy give an awful feeling of dullness. The reader can create a mundane visual representation of the meal at the women’s college as a result of those descriptive words. The way Woolf describes the women’s meal gives the reader a feeling of dullness. She makes the men’s meal feel dazzling, while making the women’s meal appear dull. Woolf’s striking use of imagery represents the difference between both meals. The difference between the two meals reflect the inequality between men and