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Essay on female authors
Gender in literature
Female inequality in literature
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Virginia Woolf’s essay A Room of One’s Own , offers an understanding of the relationship between gender and literature through examining the societal patriarchal hegemony that results in inequality between the male and female genders. This examination results in an introduction to the concept of androgyny, the abolition of gender inequality and the gender binary, which will allow space and freedom for all writers to pursue their intellectual and creative endeavours without interruption or suppression.
Woolf’s narrator reflects upon the ‘reprehensible poverty’ (p.22) of women and the effect of the patriarchy on the female ability to write, stating for instance that ‘a woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction’
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Even if they are allowed some small degree of emancipation ‘the best woman [would be] intellectually the inferior of the worst man’ (p.55), and thus the woman still seemingly lacks complete validity and autonomy away from the authority of men. This assertion of inferiority is based in the idea of woman as an object, or a subject to discuss rather than a person. For instance, in her visit to the British Museum the narrator finds numerous books written about women by men discussing their ‘small size of brain […] mental, moral and physical inferiority [and] vanity’ (pp.30-31). This denies women the authority to define themselves on their own terms, and the pseudo-scientific concept of female inferiority physically relating to weakness in their bodies and minds further distances the woman from attempts at emancipation. Woolf’s narrator goes on to say ‘without self-confidence we are as babes in the cradle’ (p.36) and this encompasses the psychological effect that the patriarchy and a continually suppressive environment can have on the mind of a woman. This lack of confidence hinders the self-perception of women and their ability or desire to develop their artistic and intellectual talents. Woolf’s narrator claims that the literature of women is confined to the limitations that men place on …show more content…
The interruptions are perhaps her domestic duties, and the size of her body relates her apparent physical inferiority to her ability to produce substantial art. It is almost ironic that this is reflected in Woolf’s writing, where the narrator often digresses away from particular thoughts abruptly. Perhaps this notion of femininity is desirable as women are able to take up less space and ensures that they are unable to impose on the authority of men. So although Shakespeare’s sister was ‘a highly gifted girl’ (p.51) and not lacking in talent or drive originally ‘all the conditions of her life, all her own instincts, were hostile to the state of mind which is needed to set free whatever is in the brain’ (p. 52). This brings in a concept of self-sabotage and self-contradiction in that woman is socially inferior, yet there is still something intellectual and creative in
And muted the women are, in A Room of One’s Own and “Aurora Leigh”. They cannot vocalize their opinions, wants, and needs when they are confined to their homes and discouraged from joining the predominantly male literary circles. Moreover, females are expected to act as foils to the males so that the patriarchal societies may flourish. Coleridge once said that a great mind is androgynous (Woolf, 106). When the men and women can cooperate and unite their minds and bodies, Shakespeare’s gifted sister will be able to re-emerge, freeing the muted voices of these oppressed women.
No person is capable of perfectly articulating Virginia Woolf’s opinions on certain matters. However, through the observation of her works one might be able to gather her thoughts and form a more accurate description of her ideals. A Room of One’s Own contains Woolf’s ideals dealing with women in the arts, especially those associated with liberal arts. In this piece Woolf always describes a lack of strong women writers for her research but does name a few she deems worthy. It seems odd that Woolf would overlook Germaine de Stael while researching women with literary talent. The reasons for why Stael was disregarded could range from a language barrier at the time, Stael’s ideals on how a woman should behave within society, political propaganda, or Stael’s works might have simply gone unnoticed at the time. If Woolf had read Stael’s, On Women Writers, surely she would have mentioned it somewhere in her novel. Why would it be required that Woolf write about Stael? To simply answer this question, Stael was an intelligent woman in her time and many of Woolf’s main arguments coincide with Stael’s. Gender Inequality is one of these major themes where Stael shares similar views. They would both agree that this inequality feeds the other motifs described in their own works, such as: the individuality of truth, the importance of monetary means, or the hatred and ridicule that society directs at women writers. Woolf might not have agreed with all of Stael’s beliefs, but she would find Stael’s views on gender inequality and the causes of these inequalities to contain the essential oil of truth she was desperately searching for.
Virginia Woolf, in her novels, set out to portray the self and the limits associated with it. She wanted the reader to understand time and how the characters could be caught within it. She felt that time could be transcended, even if it was momentarily, by one becoming involved with their work, art, a place, or someone else. She felt that her works provided a change from the typical egotistical work of males during her time, she makes it clear that women do not posses this trait. Woolf did not believe that women could influence as men through ego, yet she did feel [and portray] that certain men do hold the characteristics of women, such as respect for others and the ability to understand many experiences. Virginia Woolf made many of her time realize that traditional literature was no longer good enough and valid. She caused many women to become interested in writing, and can be seen as greatly influential in literary history
Throughout Virginia Woolf’s writings, she describes two different dinners: one at a men’s college, and another at a women’s college. Using multiple devices, Woolf expresses her opinion of the inequality between men and women within these two passages. She also uses a narrative style to express her opinions even more throughout the passages.
Woolf begins the speech by creating a self-effacing tone by undermining her qualifications to speak before the National Society for Women’s Service. She creates the attitude that her story of entering a profession is unprofound, which in turn implies
Although women in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries faced oppression and unequal treatment, some people strove to change common perspectives on the feminine sex. John Stuart Mill, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, and Virginia Woolf were able to reach out to the world, through their literature, and help change the views that society held towards women and their roles within its structure. During the Victorian era, women were bound to domestic roles and were very seldom allowed to seek other positions. Most men and many women felt that if women were allowed to pursue interests, outside traditional areas of placement that they would be unable to be an attentive wife and mother. The conventional roles of women were kept in place by long standing values and beliefs that held to a presumption, in which, women were inferior to men in every way. In The Subjection of Women, The Lady of Shalott, and A Room of One's Own, respectively, these authors define their views on the roles women are forced to play in society, and why they are not permitted to step outside those predetermined boundaries.
Woolf's first assertion is that women are spatially hindered in creative life. "A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction," Woolf writes, "and that as you will see, leaves the great problem of the true nature of women. . .and fiction unresolved" (4). What Woolf seems to say is that being female stifles creativity. Woolf does not assume, however, that a biological reason for this stifling exists. Instead, she implies that a woman's "life conflicts with something that is not life" (71). In other words, mothering, being a wife, and the general daily, culturally defined expectations of women infringe upon creativity, in particular the writing of fiction. The smothering reality of a woman's life - - housekeeping and child-rearing duties, for example - - distract a woman from writing. Sadly, Woolf notes, even if a woman in such circumstances manages to write anyway, "she will write in a rage where she should write calmly.
Virginia Woolf, one of the pioneers of modern feminism, found it appalling that throughout most of history, women did not have a voice. She observed that the patriarchal culture of the world at large made it impossible for a woman to create works of genius. Until recently, women were pigeonholed into roles they did not necessarily enjoy and had no way of
She notices how difficult it would be, even given the same talents as Shakespeare himself, to follow through and utilize them in her life.... ... middle of paper ... ... The reader of Woolf's essay clearly can understand and come to realize the unfairness and downright cruelty of the pure neglect of hidden talent among many women throughout time.
...s. The foremost condition for the creation of fiction is motivation and the imagination of the author. Even Virginia Woolf’s books resulted from such urge and willingness to express her ideas. Unlike, Woolf’s statement of how women need the private space of their own, financial affluence to write fiction, so many things motivate and encourage people to write without considering such circumstances. Woolf argues on the significance of financial affluence in its relevance to social equality. She even states, “Of the two — the vote and the money — the money, I own, seemed infinitely the more important”. However, money can’t represent the ideals of equality. As for women writers, their ideas and stories is the condition that motivates them to write fiction. Thus, the “500-pound a year” cannot replace the innate essence of writer’s passion in writing fiction.
Virginia Woolf’s eccentric style is what causes her writings to be distinct from other authors of her time. The unique characteristics of her works such as the structure, characterization, themes, etc are difficult to imitate and cause a strong impression in her literary pieces. “Virginia Woolf’s works are strongly idiosyncratic, strange, a surprise to ...
Rich writes, “It is in the tone of a woman almost in touch with her anger, who is determined not to appear angry, who is willing herself to be calm and detached, and even charming in a roomful of men where things have been said which are attacks on her very integrity...she is acutely conscious-as she always was-of being overheard by men” (Rich 20). Rich articulates that Woolf, even while writing about women in fiction, was not able to free herself from male criticism. Her attempts to appeal to women but not displease men lead her essay to be less effective than it could have
In the essay, Woolf asks herself the question if a woman could create art that compares to the quality of Shakespeare. Therefore, she examines women's historical experience and the struggle of the woman artist. A Room of One's Own explores the history of women in literature through an investigation of the social and material conditions required for writing. Leisure time, privacy, and financial independence, are important to understanding the situation of women in the literary tradition because women, historically, have been deprived of those basics (Roseman 14). The setting of A Room of One's Own is where Woolf has been invited to lecture on the topic of Women and Fiction.
Throughout her life Virginia Woolf became increasingly interested in the topic of women and fiction, which is highly reflected in her writing. To understand her piece, A Room of One’s Own Room, her reader must understand her. Born in early 1882, Woolf was brought into an extremely literature driven, middle-class family in London. Her father was an editor to a major newspaper company and eventually began his own newspaper business in his later life. While her mother was a typical Victorian house-wife. As a child, Woolf was surrounded by literature. One of her favorite pastimes was listening to her mother read to her. As Woolf grew older, she was educated by her mother, and eventually a tutor. Due to her father’s position, there was always famous writers over the house interacting with the young Virginia and the Woolf’s large house library.
However, as Woolf writes her “Professions for women” she makes use of the blanket terms “the woman” and “herself” to refer to a general professional woman. It leads us to question who the woman really is: which kinds of individuals are included in and excluded from Woolf’s filtered view of women. How does Virginia Woolf’s “Professions for Women” fall short of being an absolute illustration of comprehensive feminism? What does Woolf fail to address in her feminist stance, and how do her oversights affect not only her credibility, but how certain women view themselves? As Woolf narrates her essay in first-person, she introduces “the woman” as her subject.