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Stylistic Devices In A Room Of One's Own

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One of the new stylistic devices used by Woolf in A Room of One’s Own which is called the stream of consciousness or ‘train of thoughts’ as it is used throughout the whole book. This rhetoric means links one thought to another like wagons in a train or like circles in a chain and it is closely connected with what Woolf calls a “moment of being”, that is, “when the daily business of life, the routines of linear time, are interrupted by the mind’s escape into reverie, symbolism, and introspection” (Shaw 163). This device was very innovative and typical in the experimentation of modernism and it was different from the norm as Quentin Bell stated: “her manner of writing was still unfamiliar” (qtd. in Rich). It was, not only, unfamiliar but also, special …show more content…

She hyperbolizes this idea saying that all things and all people in the world are dominated by men. Women are totally excluded from society and Virginia Woolf wants to make clear this idea. The following passage shows this hyperbole made by the author, complaining about the patriarchal system. This excerpt is very important because Virginia Woolf explains her beliefs in a very direct style:
Moreover, the author also wants to show in this essay the bad treatment given to women, particularly in the end of the fifteenth century. This idea reflects that men did all what they want with women. Women were treated like objects or even like animals: Virginia also talks about the premeditated marriages, a tradition very cruel and unfair for women because a woman was obliged to marry a man to whom she probably did not love. Women had to be submissive. All decisions were taken by men and women had to obey all what they imposed to them.
Virginia Woolf was one of the creators and promoters of this literary device. Woolf was quite proud of this “woman’s discovery”. She did not claim the credit for herself but to Dorothy

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This use of logos shows the nonconformity Woolf has with the treatment women receive at the university and the food they are being served, as the plain gravy soup which was a transparent liquid with nothing to stir. This quote transmits the reader a feeling of disadvantage and injustice against women and contributes to the larger idea of women and fiction. Word count:

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Throughout history the existence of patriarchy has threatened women’s rights to equality and self-determination. Patriarchy manifested itself in the marriage practices of early modern European society and became the foundation on which couples built their love and partnership. During the sixteenth century, literature describing ideal wives and husbands was a popular genre, but works about female gender roles were more prevalent. The Bride, a poem published by Samuel Rowland’s in 1617 details the duties of a good wife and life partner.1 The duties listed in Rowland’s poem were very common for women at that time and can also be seen in Steven Ozment’s book, Magdalena and Balthasar. Ozment’s book documents the relationship of Nuremberg Merchant Balthasar Paumgartner and

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Woolf suggests that having a room literally allows women to have their own space to write, but figuratively traps them in their own thoughts due to a lack of freedom. In the works of Jamaica Kincaid, Virginia Woolf, and Alice Walker, the female figures have shown how their own thoughts, reflection, and creativity could be used as a sense of freedom.   In the short story, "Girl," by Jamaica Kincaid, the writer shows how an older adult misguided a girl. The adult in the story says," On Sundays try to walk like a lady and not like the slut you are so bent on becoming" (Kincaid 1340).

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In two passages, Virginia Woolf compares meals she was served at a men’s and at a women’s college. The contrasting meals reveal Woolf’s frustration at the inferior treatment that women face. The first meal at the men’s college is elegant, enjoyable, and satisfying while the second is plain, cheap, and bland. This clearly juxtaposes the expense and luxury afforded to the men with the “penny-pinching” nature of the women’s in order to show Woolf’s underlying attitude of dissatisfaction against the inequality that women are not granted the same privileges and investment as men.

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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

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The diction and tone in Woolf’s essay affects her message as it was melancholy and calm. The diction was clear and understandable to ensure that the audience could understand her message, rather than try and decipher large incoherent words. Woolf also uses many words with negative connotations, but takes a neutral attitude to the subject. At the beginning of the essay Woolf 's tone is very hopeful, but as the essay progresses it turns dark and somber. At the beginning Woolf used phrasing such as “ Pleasant morning” (Woolf 5) and “enormous energy of the world”(Woolf 24) .

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By using casual diction, simple sentences, and well-known allusions, Woolf is able to shift the audience’s attention from the gender of the

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Instead of reflecting directly onto herself, she uses the people she interacts with as a proxy for her own feelings and opinions. In doing so, Woolf empathizes with the people while engaging in a cold deconstruction of her surroundings, making the

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The people in Woolf’s book seem to be looking through each other with some far question; and, although they interact vividly, they are not completely real to know people in outline are one way of knowing them. Moreover, they are seen here in the way they are meant to be seen. However, the result is that you know quite well the kind of

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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.

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Virginia Woolf: Shakespeare’s Sister In the essay “Shakespeare’s sister” Virginia Woolf asks and explores the basic question of “Why women did not write poetry in the Elizabethan age”. Woolf sheds light on the reality of women’s life during this time and illustrates the effects of social structures on the creative spirit of women. In the society they lived in, women were halted to explore and fulfill their talent the same way men were able to, due to the gender role conventions that prevailed during this era. Through a theoretical setting in which it is it is imagined that William Shakespeare had a sister (Judith), Virginia Woolf personifies women during the sixteenth century in order to reflect the hardships they had to overcome as aspiring writers.

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