Equality And Beliefs In Virginia Woolf's Short Stories
explanatory Essay
567 words
Philosophy according to the Encyclopedia Britannica is “the critical examination of the grounds for fundamental beliefs and an analysis of the basic concepts employed in the expression of such beliefs.” (Britannica) With the different values people may have, their beliefs, and their understanding of certain ideas, comes different perspective as well. Some people may not agree with the beliefs of another. Throughout the readings within this summer course I saw different aspects of philosophy present within each text and the arguments and conflicts that arise from such differences. The different forms of philosophical reasoning and beliefs presents within the tales read include theology, ethics, as well as scientific principles. One philosophical theme that I saw present within most of these stories was equality. …show more content…
In this essay, the author
- Explains that the encyclopedia britannica defines philosophy as the critical examination of the grounds for fundamental beliefs and an analysis of basic concepts employed in the expression of such beliefs.
- Explains that society is divided into various forms of religions, values, and beliefs, which have contributed to both positive and negative events within the community.
For example in the text by Virginia Woolf, she believed in the equality of woman, and how they should be given equal rights similar to men. Her philosophy on this belief contributed greatly to not only the story but as well as the society during that time. Not all agreed with this philosophy that women should be given the right to work in the same jobs as men did or make the same amount of pay, nor did they believe that women could have written amazing literary works such as Shakespeare. This was expressed in her example about Shakespeare having a sister with the same skill and intelligence, but not given the same respect for her works as her brother since she was a female. “It is unthinkable that any woman in Shakespeare’s day should have had Shakespeare’s genius.” (Woolf, 366) Through this text the philosophy of equality not only contributed to the story but greatly influenced the society, particularly women. Because of this text women continued to rally and fight for equal rights even after the newly developed law that allowed them the right to
Related
- analytical
- opinion
- Division of Labor According to Gender in Virginia Woolf's A Room of One's Own Virginia Woolf, in her treatise A Room of One's Own, identified a gendered division of labor. For her, men work in the market place and make the money while the women, the upper class women at least, attend to the social pleasantries and household management. While she lamented this state of affairs, she did not present, as Gilman did, a model for existence that would allow men and women to operate on the same level. However, a direct comparison to Gilman is somewhat unfair as she was not focused on the status of women in the economy so much as the status of women as writers.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how virginia woolf, in her treatise a room of one's own, identified a gendered division of labor — men work in the market place while women attend to social pleasantries and household management.
- Analyzes how woolf saw the status of women as a socially constructed situation. she blamed the patriarchy for this, but blame also falls on the women.
- Analyzes woolf's argument that writing, history, or poetry are the tasks she sees fit to pursue and her discussion will always be slanted in that direction.
- Analyzes how woolf identified professor x as a second perpetrator in the repression of women's intellect.
- Argues that woolf's solution is problematic, since she demands five hundred a year for each of us and rooms of our own.
- Analyzes how woolf called for a new era where "women have the habit of freedom and the courage to write exactly what [they] think."
883 wordsRead More - Mary Wollstonecraft's A Vindication Of The Rights Of Womenanalytical essayThe eighteenth-century British society was divided along social classes and gender roles. Males were considered to be better in exercising leadership,while women were believed to be better at nurturing and at managing domestic matters. During this period women were deprived from exercising their rights and had limited roles in society. Women were not allowed to vote, own property and most important were denied the right to receive an equal education as men did during this time. Women were deprived from the ability to acquire knowledge and exercise their reason. Marriage was the primary goal in their lives. Not everyone agreed how society had been underestimating the capabilities of women. Wollstonecraft, did not agree on how women were perceived and wanted to make change. she wrote A Vindication of the Rights of Women,where she stated the reasons why women have been perceived as objects. She felt parents and schools have contributed the neglection of education for women. As result, women were portrayed as weak. Mary Wollstonecraft had very unique opinions about the role that education played in the lives of women and argued powerfully how disadvantaged they were in society.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how the eighteenth-century british society was divided along social classes and gender roles. women were deprived from exercising their rights and had limited roles in society. mary wollstonecraft did not agree on how women were perceived as objects.
- Analyzes how wollstonecraft points out that in society females are seen inferior than males. sbe believes everyone should be equal, but the way society had been structured affected greatly the inequality between them.
- Explains how mary wollstonecraft wanted to break this cycle and for women to get an education to understand how stigmatized they have been by society.
- Opines that the only way women would be treated and perceived differently was by making a drastic change in society.
- Analyzes how mary wollstonecraft wanted to change the idea of women being seen as objects due to lack of education. she pointed out that the only way for women to advance in society is by marriage.
- Analyzes how mary wollstonecraft thought society as a whole was at fault for the education given to women. she wanted the state to contribute and for laws to be used to put an end to the tradition of female subordination.
- Opines that women should have more opportunities in the workplace and become independent. men and society preferred women not to be opinionated.
- Opines that when a person forgets about their needs and is only happy by the love they receive from their spouse, it becomes hard for them to find themselves in terms of identity.
- Analyzes how mary wollstonecraft disagreed with jean-jacques rousseau's point of view about the education women should receive. she believed that education should prepare women to assume their roles as future wives and be pleasing to their husbands.
- Analyzes how mary wollstonecraft uses military men to emphasize her point that education gives this appearance of weakness to women. both women and soldiers are sent into the world before their minds are stored with knowledge.
- Explains that women acquire information from conversations or from what they learn and experience from society. women do not receive the appropriate education, this will preventing them from becoming active in society
- Concludes that mary wollstonecraft brought up interesting points about education. the lack of education prevents women from achieving a position in society.
1375 wordsRead More - Thomas Paine and Mary Wollstonecraftopinion essayMary Wollstonecraft was as revolutionary in her writings as Thomas Paine. They were both very effective writers and conveyed the messages of their ideas quite well even though both only had only the most basic education. Wollstonecraft was a woman writing about women's rights at a time when these rights were simply non-existent and this made her different from Paine because she was breaking new ground, thus making her unique. Throughout her lifetime, Wollstonecraft wrote about the misconception that women did not need an education, but were only meant to be submissive to man. Women were treated like a decoration that had no real function except to amuse and beguile. Wollstonecraft was the true leader in women's rights, advocating a partnership in relationships and marriage rather than a dictatorship. She was firm in her conviction that education would give women the ability to take a more active role in life itself.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that thomas paine was an activist for many causes throughout his lifetime, including the abolition of slavery, government rule by democracy, and falsehoods in the bible.
- Compares mary wollstonecraft's writings with those of thomas paine, who was revolutionary in her ideas. she advocated partnership in relationships and marriage rather than a dictatorship.
- Opines that mary wollstonecraft was a true revolutionary in every sense of the word. her writings were the beginning of an age when women began to question years of teachings about women's "place" in society and in life.
403 wordsRead More - Virgina Woolf and Feminismanalytical essayVirginia Woolf is often categorized as being an aesthetic writer. Most of her works played largely on the concept of suggestion. They addressed many social issues especially those regarding feminine problems. Woolf was acutely aware of her identity as a woman and she used many of writings as outlets for her frustrations. According to her doctrine, the subjugation of women is a central fact of history, a key to most of our social and psychological disorders (Marder 3). The two works I will focus on is A Room of One's Own and "A Society" from Monday or Tuesday. They are both works that challenge the roles of men and women.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that virginia woolf is often categorized as being an aesthetic writer. her writings addressed many social issues especially those regarding feminine problems.
- Analyzes how in a room of one's own the narrator begins an exploration of women in literature. she attempts to answer many questions regarding women.
- Analyzes how the narrator uses words like weak, inferior, vane, etc. to emphasize the way men perceive women as being the weaker sex.
- Analyzes how the narrator is bewildered at her findings about great men such as mussolini, pope, napoleon and goethe and how they viewed women as inferior.
- Analyzes how the narrator creates a scene with the professor writing at his desk and uses several scenarios to explain why he is angry and emotional.
- Analyzes how the narrator notices the different headlines about men and women. woolf writes that england is under the rule of a patriarchy.
- Analyzes how the narrator uses the professor to represent man. she points out the many important roles he plays such as foreign secretary, race-horse owner, and ceo.
- Analyzes the narrator's philosophy of why men have superiority complexes. she insists that women are merely a mirror image of men.
- Analyzes how the narrator is optimistic about the status of women despite her findings.
- Analyzes how the narrator continues her investigation of women in literature. she ponders what life for women was like during the elizabethan age, and questions why no women wrote great literature during that time.
- Analyzes how the narrator agrees with his analysis. she points out that great women like cleopatra, lady macbeth, and phaedra were all powerful women, but in real life they were not part of history.
- Analyzes how the narrator continues to ponder the life of an elizabethan woman. she is disturbed that she cannot find any literature about a woman during that era.
- Analyzes how the narrator recalls a bishop's comment that no woman could equal the genius of shakespeare.
- Analyzes how the narrator agrees with the bishop that no women of the time would have had such genius.
- Analyzes how the narrator concludes that it is the will of men to maintain their status that impedes women.
- Opines that the narrator is justified in her reasoning. men wield power from the weak and that common weakling is woman. without oppression from men there could have been many great female writers.
- Analyzes how woolf's satirical "a society" uses a series of characters to point out the follies of men.
- Analyzes how woolf uses symbols and imagery to describe the setting. she emphasizes the women's naivety and converses about men.
- Narrates how they drew round the fire and began as usual to praise men--how strong, noble, brilliant, courageous, and beautiful they were --how we envied those who managed to get attached to one for life.
- Analyzes how the characters are content with their roles as women. they believe that everything written or created by men is creditable. poll bursts into tears.
- Analyzes how poll cites from several books she is carrying, and the other women are appalled at the content of the books. when poll reads them poetry they all agree that it is frivolous subject matter.
- Analyzes how clorinda concludes that it is women's fault. they acknowledge that living as wives and child bearers has blinded them from reality.
- Explains that the narrator and her friends decide to investigate for themselves what the world of men is like. they seek answers to their questions and report back to each other.
- Analyzes how woolf uses the women's reports to criticize the behavior of men. rose reports on her escapade on a navy vessel.
- Analyzes how the captain was angered by the fact that a woman snuck onto his vessel. woolf implies that men will go to any lengths to save face.
- Analyzes how fanny's account of her visit to the law courts was somewhat different. she concludes that the judges were inhuman.
- Analyzes how castalia describes professor hobkin's life as being that of leisure. she discovers his life work, which is an edition of sappho.
- Analyzes how woolf uses the question of sappho's chastity as a prominent feminine figure and the mystery surrounding her sexuality. castalia is not convinced that the professor knows anything about
- Analyzes how castalia appears glowing from within when she returns three months later. she reveals that she has been at oxbridge and is now pregnant.
- Analyzes how woolf raises the question of chastity in order to point out the follies of men.
1749 wordsRead More - Feminism Vs Virginia Woolfanalytical essayShauna Judd Professor Pete Chidester English 222, Essay 2 28 April 2014 Feminism: The Ongoing Debate The roles of women in society have constantly changed over time. The rights to be granted to both men and women have been a controversial subject often with the focuses on feminism and the cry from women to be equal to men. Over time we have seen a change in the way that women’s voices have been heard, each declaring their rights of what they should be entitled to. Literature gave women a way to express their feelings and concerns on this topic, and we see this with the emergence of Mary Wollstonecraft during the Romantic Era, and later on with Virginia Woolf in the early Twentieth Century.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how the roles of women in society have changed over time. literature gave women a way to express their feelings and concerns on this topic. wollstonecraft and woolf used their beliefs, backgrounds, and the written word.
- Explains that mary wollstonecraft was an author during the romantic period. her background greatly influenced the ideas that she persistently addressed in her writings.
- Analyzes how wollstonecraft's a vindication of the rights of women evaluates her ideas that education and social ideals make us who we are, and the reasons why only inferior education was the only education made available to women.
- Opines that the neglected education of fellow-creatures is the grand source of misery and that women are rendered weak and wretched by a variety of concurring causes, originating from one hasty conclusion.
- Analyzes how wollstonecraft uses symbolism to show that men see women as delicate flowers that are merely there to be looked at for their beauty, but they really have no usefulness.
- Analyzes how mary encourages women to rise above what society has set out for them and take charge of their education and priorities in a vindication of the rights of woman.
- Analyzes how woolf's writings were a product of the early twentieth century, when the industrial revolution imposed traditional gender roles. women saw the right to vote as the symbol of all the rights of influence that they were denied.
- Analyzes how mrs. dalloway gives us a look into the lives of clarissa and lady bruton.
- Analyzes how peter never saw the state of the world that interested him; wagner, pope's poetry, characters eternally, and the defects of her own soul.
- Analyzes how woolf portrays mrs. dalloway as the suppressed female character.
- Analyzes how virginia woolf uses lady bruton to represent the women that were standing up for themselves and beginning to take on power.
- Analyzes how lady bruton's strong independence symbolizes the movement in society that there should be a tolerance of women in power.
1535 wordsRead More - In Mary Wollstonecraft 's A Vindication of the Rights of Women, she contemplates the subordinate role of women in society and the many factors, natural and artificial, that contributes to this inequality of power among the sexes. She advocates for the equal playing field of education. Women are only educated to the degree of what is seen as useful to what is considered their natural, sexual character. She says virtue cannot be held to different standards or criteria because that would make virtue relative. Although there are obvious differences and physical inequalities between the sexes, these cannot make one sex superior to the other because what truly sets mankind apart from other brute creatures is our ability to reason. All of mankind
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes mary wollstonecraft's a vindication of the rights of women, which advocates for equal playing fields of education.
- Analyzes wollstonecraft's conclusion that men posses superior qualities to women, arguing that women are equal in reason to men. however, women see truth in their own organized oppression.
- Argues that the insufficient education and neglected rationality of women is the culprit for their inferiority.
- Argues equal education of men and women is essential for mankind as a whole. if given equal forms of education as men, women will perform better at what truly interested them naturally.
- Analyzes how wollstonecraft seeks to educate her readers towards the encouragement of rationality for both sexes.
1441 wordsRead More - The Solitude Of Self Essayanalytical essayMen were thought to be more powerful and smart. This limited the rights of women compared to men. Women did not have a voice. In The Solitude of Self, Elizabeth Cady Stanton first wrote, “The point I wish plainly to bring before you on this occasion is the individuality of each human soul. In discussing the rights of women, we are to consider first, what belongs to her as an individual in a world of her own” (……). Elizabeth did not think women were treated as equals. She felt as if women were belittled, and men ruled over women. Elizabeth then continued to state, “Seeing then that the responsibilities of life rests equally on man and woman, that their destiny is the same, they need the same preparation for time and eternity” (…..). Elizabeth wanted everyone to see that women are equal to men, and cannot keep being discriminated. The debates on women rights soon had an impact on the world, and women slowly started to gain the same rights and freedom as men. Just like women were not being treated well, neither were
In this essay, the author
- Explains that the atlantic enlightenment and revolution changed the world for the better forever.
- Explains that the declaration of the rights of man and citizen was written by the french people to set stone the rights of men.
- Analyzes how elizabeth cady stanton's the solitude of self addressed the individuality of each human soul. she felt that women were belittled and men ruled over women. the debates on women rights soon had an impact on the world.
- Opines that slavery was a big issue around the world, especially in america. frederick douglas, an former slave, held an antislavery meeting in rochester, new york.
- Explains that men, women, and slaves both lacked rights before the revolutionary era. they were overpowered by men and the government. after many reformers and abolitionists fought for their rights and freedom, their lives were changed.
- Explains that the atlantic enlightenment and revolution era was a refreshing start for men, women, and slaves.
755 wordsRead More - Biography Of Mary Wollstonecraftanalytical essayRights of Man. She was a true believer that education for women would not only allow women to
In this essay, the author
- Opines that freedom should extend to their sexual and intimate lives. the ideas in her book were truly inspiring.
- Opines that her support of education for women to grow not only intellectually but also independently makes her a better educator.
- Explains that mary wollstonecraft was one of the pioneers for the feminist cause during the enlightenment. she believed that education for women would allow women to develop as humans and be independent from men.
- Narrates how mary wollstonecraft was born in london to an abusive, squandering father and elizabeth dixon. she would become a lady's maid, governess, teacher, translator, and writer throughout her life.
- Analyzes how mary expressed her desire for social changes that would allow women to fully develop as human beings in her novel vindication on the rights of woman.
- Opines that women were created to be obedient mothers and wives, which she disagreed with. she believed that education was necessary to allow people to fully develop.
- Analyzes wollstonecraft's struggle to be a self-supporting woman.
- Analyzes how mary writes to edmund burke in vindication on the rights of man about human nature not being able to take too much change or reality.
- Analyzes how mary lived a scandalous life and was an advocate for education and equality because of the hardships she experienced in her life.
834 wordsRead More - Mary Wollstonecraft: A Radical Englishwomanopinion essayMary Wollstonecraft lived in a time where women had no right to vote, no right to education beyond what their mother or governess taught them, and basically no right to individuality or an opinion. They were considered possessions and virtually had no mind of their own. She realized that this was a problem of society and openly voiced her opinions on the matter. She wrote the book A Vindication of the Rights of Women in response to a literary response to the society's so-called proper behavior of a woman and what her rights should be. But her opinions were brought on by more that the ability to think for herself; she suffered much during her childhood and throughout the years to come. Wollstonecraft dealt with the beating of her mother and sister, death of a close friend, and even a nervous breakdown of her sister. Her own experiences in her life inspired her to write a book that would cause her to be criticized harshly for her radical views.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how mary wollstonecraft lived in a time where women had no right to vote, no education beyond what their mother or governess taught them, and basically no individuality or an opinion.
- Narrates how she would throw herself in front of her father to keep her distance from him.
- Analyzes how wollstonecraft's rash reviews in england, and other parts of europe, reflected in her writing, especially in a vindication of the rights of women, which responds to the tyranny men exercise on women.
- Opines that she was strongly opposed to marriage, leaving her with the sole choice to work as a nurse.
- Opines that education is essential for women to contribute to society.
- Opines that women should be expected to govern a family with judgment, or take care of the children.
- Opines that the oppressed sex's minds had a sense of their degradation.
- Opines that she intended her book to add to rising conflict of equal rights.
- Opines that she should seek so-called womanly virtues, such as "delicacy, elegance, and sensibility."
- Explains wollstonecraft's unselfish willingness to take a stand and voice her personal opinion on the wrongs of society is why her writings were so effective in bringing on feminist movement throughout the civilized world.
- Analyzes how wollstonecraft's work, a vindication of the rights of women, is a powerful statement of what she believes the rights and role of women should be.
- Opines that women have more choices in life than being a wife or governess. wollstonecraft feels ignorance is not strong enough to base virtue on.
- Explains that wollstonecraft wanted females to be taught to think. the mother is equally important as a father, and in eighteenth century england, it takes two to raise it.
- Opines that many writers agree that she was too far ahead of her time for equal rights for women.
- Quotes johnson's warning to "beware of lessening the respect that is due to this legitimate bond of love."
1279 wordsRead More - Radicalism in Mary Wollstonecraft’s Writinganalytical essayIn the years of the late 1700’s and early 1800’s women’s rights were unheard of. Women didn’t get a higher education like the men did. They would mostly learn about etiquette and how to cook and clean. The father of the daughter would choose who she would marry, it would always be based on money, and family tithes. Women were treated as property and she was owned by her father and mother tells she was wedded, and then her husband would own her. But in theses years is when women started to more or less rebel and come out with new and radical ideas. In the article by Jone Lewis she states, “Mary Wollstonecraft has been called the "first feminist" or "mother of feminism." Two authors we looked at were Jane Austen and Mary Wollstonecraft, the more radical of the authors was Wollstonecraft.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how women's rights were unheard of in the late 1700s and early 1800s, when women rebelled and came out with radical ideas. jane austen and mary wollstonecraft were more radical.
- Analyzes how smith came out with strange and new ideas in a ladylike and smart way. she is sad because the record of history has always put women as property.
- Analyzes how bluntly states that new wives are not mature enough to raise the babies that are soon born.
- Analyzes how wollstonecraft's writing is more radical because she wants everyone to give women a chance; if it doesn't work, she won’t mind taking the blame.
- Analyzes how mary wollstonecraft put a huge impact on women's rights in the early 1800s. she saw women as equal and had no problem speaking out about it.
- Cites angelfire's "conlonial times" and "family structure - us colonial 1899." the factbook.
562 wordsRead More