Virginia Woolf in her essay, “In Search of a Room of One’s Own” is astonished by the scarcity of women authors the Elizabethan period and is thus determined to find the causalities of this enigma. She makes clear the deficit of literature produced by female writers is an outcome of the male-dominated culture of the time, which entailed considerable difficulty for women to accomplish anything more than of those roles prescribed by society. I find Woolf 's arguments to be credible to the fullest, albeit it would have been preferable if she spoke of the male-female divide in more detail. On a related note, Anna Quindlen 's "Between the Sexes, a Great Divide" is a formidable choice for exemplifying the complexities of this bisection. In her essay, …show more content…
'See what Mr. Oscar Browning says, ' he would say; and there was not only Mr. Oscar Browning … there was an enormous body of masculine opinion to the effect that nothing could be expected of women intellectually” (Woolf 528). The quote provides a statement: masculine opinion alleged women to be intellectually inferior. This is not fact, just opinion. Having never broken the boundaries of male belief, women could not excel, as the patriarchal way of thinking forbid this. I see this as a matter of difference, and since Anna Quindlen is well versed in female-male relations, being a wife and mother to two boys, her view is studied. On one occasion, she details what the males in her life thought of her planting an amaryllis bulb, saying “A look flashed between them, and then the littlest boy, too. Mom. Weird. Women” (Quindlen 73). It is beyond the scope of this paper to discuss why men and women think differently. However, what I see is both cases supporting the claim of a divide between the sexes, whether this is regarding the opinion of intellectual abilities or the planting of a flower. I suggest it is an important fact to consider that, if the idea of women being intellectually inferior to men is perpetuated, it is easy just to give in and agree with that false way of thinking, …show more content…
However, her character embodies the struggle of a real woman. Despite being equally gifted, Judith would be held from achieving the greatness her brother would go on to accomplish, as “it would have been impossible, completely and entirely, for any woman to have written the plays of Shakespeare in the age of Shakespeare.” (Woolf 523) While one could argue the shortage of famous, impressive literary works by women proves they are less capable than men, I can distinguish what Woolf truly implies. Essentially, the playing field is unequal. Fortunately, today we have less of this imbalance. As Quindlen says, “women should not be only permitted, but welcomed into a variety of positions and roles only men occupied.” (72) However, this was not the attitude in Shakespeare’s time. When regarding the treatment of women of her time, it would be impossible to have rivalled men in literary achievements. Virginia Woolf invents the character of Judith Shakespeare to explain because she is a woman, her talent leads to a vastly different end. Judith illustrates the improbability of women 's prosperity in writing literature at the time of
She states that the obstacles women face in pursuing their careers are not based on any inherent inability or lack of talent, but are instead the result of societal prejudices and expectations. Woolf uses examples from her own life to support her argument, such as her struggles to find a room of her own in which to write. She also points out that women are often discouraged
Women’s Role’s Edith Wharton born in 1862 became a world known writer. Focusing mainly on class structure and women’s roles, Wharton portrayed to the world the lives of people during the 20th century. Gender inequality, as well as moral and ethical dilemma was a prominent issue not only in society but, became evident throughout Wharton’s writing. Determined to share her experiences with the world Wharton disguised moral and economic situations in literature that allowed readers to connect mentally. During an era where social class and wealth defined a person’s entity, Wharton seemed to focus mainly on the higher class structure.
After skimming through Volume 1 of The Norton Anthology Literature by Women, I noticed the reoccurring themes of patriarchy, women subordination, and the strength to be creative despite oppression. During the times that these literary pieces were written, women were constantly battling the patriarchy in order to get basic rights. During the earlier time periods, intelligence was seen as a sign of an evil spirit in a woman, resulting in miniscule amounts of literary works written by women. Women were not provided with equal spaces to creatively express themselves, as mentioned by Virginia Woolf. Moreover, they were not given the same publishing opportunities, many women either went anonymous or by a fake male name to have their works published.
It can be hypothesised that Shakespeare was testing the waters to break gender norms and perceiving women as independent, dominant and powerful beings through his
Each female character is treated by men as a possession. However, there are also moments when they are presented as confident and challenge a male authority. This would have been exiting for Shakespeare’s female Elizabethan audience as women
Woman writers, poets, and thinkers began to create the early foundations for feminist thought and logic during this time. One of the pioneering voices in this emerging feminist movement was Virginia Woolf. Woolf, in her essay A Room of One’s Own tries to address the question of creativity between the sexes, and under what conditions does creativity flourish. Using a very poetic narrative style, Woolf explores several ideas in her attempt to understand the differences in the creative faculties of men and women. She explores themes relating to poverty and education, stating the relative difference in wealth between men and women.
Women’s Rights In Romeo and Juliet Juliet being forced into marriage, showed how little input women had during the Renaissance period. Renaissance is a period in which the ancient writing of Greece and Rome, “Rebirthed”, or came back into practice. During the Renaissance period, women had limited, to no rights. They were required to follow orders made by their husband’s or superior male figure. This is presented in the play Romeo and Juliet made by William Shakespeare.
Aware of such a situation, the women writers gave preference to the female identity in a male-dominated society. The idea of women’s individuality made the women the women put forth questions such as Who they are? Where they are heading to? and How they should shape their future in a male- dominated society? Margaret Atwood has carved a niche in the minds of the literary readers as a leading literary artist.
Although Judith thirst for knowledge, she is forced to stay at home and perform household duties. In contrast, Shakespeare was sent to London in search of a higher education and adventure. He would study latin, grammar, and logic, while Judith become a household slave or forced into marriage. In addition, Woman in this time period were not considered signifiant enough to have an education, and having no money, could not provide it on their own. Even in 1929, when Woolf is writing this essay she is denied access into a library unless she is, “ accompanied by a fellow of the College or furnished with a letter of introduction” (8). How could Judith have produced anything that would have compared to Shakespeare, when she was uneducated and he
From the outset, literature and all forms of art have been used to express their author’s feelings, opinions, ideas, and believes. Accordingly, many authors have resorted to their writing to express their feminist ideas, but first we must define what feminism is. According to the Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, feminism is “the belief that women should be allowed the same rights, power, and opportunities as men and be treated in the same way, or the set of activities intended to achieve this state”. As early as the fifteenth century is possible to find feminist writings. Centuries later, and although she never referred to herself as one, the famous English writer Virginia Woolf became one of the greatest feminist writers of the twentieth
Do you know that Shakespeare is not the only gifted writer in his family? This mysterious member exists in the English writer Virginia Woolf’s imagination. In her famous essay “Shakespeare’s Sister,” Woolf uses the hypothetical anecdote of Judith Shakespeare as her main evidence to argue against a dinner guest, who believes that women are incapable of writing great literature. During the time when Judith is created, women are considered to be naturally inferior to men and are expected to be passive and domestic. Regarding her potential audience, educated men, as “conservative,” Woolf attempts to persuade them that social discouragement is the real cause of the lack of great female writers without irritating them by proposing “radical” arguments.
However, in the process of persuading upper class women in addition to the men who overhear, she constructs and perpetuates a rigid class system, in which only the moneyed listeners may achieve. Continuing to contemplate in the beginning of her essay, Mary says, “I thought how it is worse perhaps to be locked in; and, thinking of the safety and prosperity of the one sex and of the poverty and insecurity of the other and of the effect of tradition and the lack of tradition upon the mind of a writer” (24). Once again, she is addressing the few literature upper class women who didn’t meet the model Mary describes. In her cogitation, she reveals the detriment caused by poverty and lack of resources. However, she fails to acknowledge the ability of success to arise out of such adversity.
CHAPTER I Mary Wollstonecraft criticism on traditional philosophy on concept of women Introduction: In this chapter I would like to discuss and present Mary Wollstonecraft`s criticism on traditional philosophy on concept of women. Feminist critique: Feminist criticism is concerned with "...the ways in which literature and other cultural productions reinforce or undermine the economic, political, social, and psychological oppression of women". Feminist criticism is also concerned with less obvious forms of marginalization such as the exclusion of women writers from the traditional literary canon: "...unless the critical or historical point of view is feminist, there is a tendency to under-represent the contribution of women writers" (Tyson
This can be exhibited when she states “..that a highly gifted girl who had tried to use her gift for poetry would have been so thwarted and hindered by other people, so tortured and pulled asunder by her own contrary instincts, that she must have lost her health and sanity to a certainty.” Woolf desires to validate the idea that “woman cannot write the plays of Shakespeare” but intends to clarify that this is not due to a lack of talent or ability equal to that of men, but simply because the societal structures at the time rendered it impossible for them to be equally successful. In the development of her argument, Woolf starts out by exposing the belief that it was impossible for women to “have the genius of Shakespeare” and she contextualises the reader with some basic information, given by an authority figure “Professor Trevelyan” about women’s conditions during the era. Woolf then provides the reader with a hypothetical situation to ponder on: What if Shakespeare had had a sister — that is, a female sibling of
One of the most significant works of feminist literary criticism, Virginia Woolf’s “A Room of One`s Own”, explores both historical and contemporary literature written by women. Spending a day in the British Library, the narrator is disappointed that there are not enough books written by or even about women. Motivated by this lack of women’s literature and data about their lives, she decides to use her imagination and come up with her own characters and stories. After creating a tragic, but extraordinary gifted figure of Shakespeare’s sister and reflecting on the works of crucial 19th century women authors, the narrator moves on to the books by her contemporaries. So far, women were deprived of their own literary history, but now this heritage is starting to appear.