Women’s rights were a huge topic in the 1920s and 30s. Many women spoke out against sexism in hopes to be heard and possibly change government policy against women for the better. Among these many women is Virginia Woolf. Her essay, “Shakespeare’s Sister,” details a traumatic situation in which a fictional character, Judith, experiences prejudice when she tries to live out her dreams. Woolf creates her essay using the three tools of persuasive writing, ethos, logos, and pathos. In her essay, “Shakespeare’s Sister,” Virginia Woolf defends and Supports her argument with the use of outlandish word choice, hypothetical situations, and a narrative story with a fictional character.
Virginia Woolf backs up her claim by using outlandish word choice to describe the harsh reality of the horrible life of a woman in Shakespeare’s time. Woolf writes of an instance when Judith is reading some books and papers and her parents use some uncommon word choice. The essay says, “But then her parents came in and told her to mend the stockings or mind the stew and not moon about with books and papers” (566). When Woolf writes this sentence she uses the word moon. She uses this word because it is easily definable, but it is still sophisticated enough to establish draw people in. She also tells of how Judith was treated when she tried to join the theater. Woolf writes, “Men laughed in her face. The manager - a fat, loose-lipped man – guffawed” (566). Not only did men find it funny that she would make such an attempt, but were so overwhelmed with the notion that they guffawed. Since “guffaw” is not a word people are used to hearing, it sparks their interest while still being understandable because of the context. Virginia Woolf’s use of outlandish and sop...
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...Pinpointing the situation to a specific individual, while hypothetical, makes the reader feel as if the situation is personal, thus establishing Woolf’s pathos.
Virginia Woolf’s essay, “Shakespeare’s Sister,” tells a heart-pulling story of a woman named Judith living in Shakespeare’s time. Her story demonstrates a very effective use of ethos, logos, and pathos. From telling how Judith was treated and undervalued, to telling of her tragic death, Woolf substantiates her argument more than enough to buy into the idea that women should be treated as equals to men. The essay is a prime example of a top-level persuasive piece of writing.
Works Cited
Woolf, Virginia. “Shakespeare’s Sister.” Literature and Society: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, Nonfiction. Eds. Pamela J. Annas and Robert C. Rosen. 4th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson, 2007. 565-67. Print.
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. WORKS CITED Woolf, Virginia. A. A Room of One’s Own. London: Flamingo, 1994. http://www.
Pitt, Angela. "Women in Shakespeare's Tragedies." Readings on The Tragedies. Ed. Clarice Swisher. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1996. Reprint of Shakespeare's Women. N.p.: n.p., 1981.
Dozier, Richard. "Adultry and Disappointment in Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?" Modern Drama Vol11. No 4, (Feb 1969): 432-436.
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’s pathos to begin the story paints a picture in readers minds of what the
In an era where a body has complete “superiority” over another, we expect to see uprisings with the opposing body for equality. This was the case with women and their power over literature in the early nineteenth-hundredths. As you can see with the many stories we read of famous women, we saw how they were constraint within the boundaries that men created. They were not given equal authority and respect over their own work. In “ Shakespeare’s Sister”, a question was brought to the readers.
Throughout time women have been written as the lesser sex, weaker, secondary characters. They are portrayed as dumb, stupid, and nothing more than their fading beauty. They are written as if they need to be saved or helped because they cannot help themselves. Women, such as Daisy Buchanan who believes all a woman can be is a “beautiful little fool”, Mrs Mallard who quite died when she lost her freedom from her husband, Eliza Perkins who rights the main character a woman who is a mental health patient who happens to be a woman being locked up by her husband, and then Carlos Andres Gomez who recognizes the sexism problem and wants to change it. Women in The Great Gatsby, “The Story of an Hour,” “The Yellow Wall Paper” and the poem “When” are oppressed because the fundamental concept of equality that America is based on undermines gender equality.
Pitt, Angela. "Women in Shakespeare's Tragedies." Readings on The Tragedies. Ed. Clarice Swisher. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1996. Reprint from Shakespeare's Women. N.p.: n.p., 1981.
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
William Shakespeare’s The Tempest provides dialogue that portrays the social expectations and stereotypes imposed upon women in Elizabethan times. Even though the play has only one primary female character, Miranda, the play also includes another women; Sycorax, although she does not play as large a roll. During many scenes, the play illustrates the characteristics that represent the ideal woman within Elizabethan society. These characteristics support the fact that men considered women as a mere object that they had the luxury of owning and were nowhere near equal to them. Feminists can interpret the play as a depiction of the sexist treatment of women and would disagree with many of the characteristics and expectations that make Miranda the ideal woman. From this perspective, The Tempest can be used to objectify the common expectations and treatment of women within the 16th and 17th Centuries and compare and contrast to those of today.
Beauty is seen as something that is “essential to women’s character and concerns” (a woman 's beauty puts down or power source). She writes that “beauty: is the only form of power that most women are encouraged to seek”. As for Woolf, she talks about a speculative latitude, and how Shakespeare’s sister lives on through all women. For example, we as a woman has been victims of discrimination because man believes we are weak. She added that these achievements would have been impossible for a woman in Shakespeare’s time. She encouraged women to discover their hidden Judith, with specific reference to Elizabethan times, the main idea focuses on all the ways in which women have been quieted by the force of gender
Transue, Pamela J. Virginia Woolf and the Politics of Style. Albany: State U of New York P, 1986.
“Girls wear jeans and cut their hair short and wear shirts and boots because it is okay to be a boy; for a girl it is like promotion. But for a boy to look like a girl is degrading, according to you, because secretly you believe that being a girl is degrading” (McEwan 55-56). Throughout the history of literature women have been viewed as inferior to men, but as time has progressed the idealistic views of how women perceive themselves has changed. In earlier literature women took the role of being the “housewife” or the household caretaker for the family while the men provided for the family. Women were hardly mentioned in the workforce and always held a spot under their husband’s wing. Women were viewed as a calm and caring character in many stories, poems, and novels in the early time period of literature. During the early time period of literature, women who opposed the common role were often times put to shame or viewed as rebels. As literature progresses through the decades and centuries, very little, but noticeable change begins to appear in perspective to the common role of women. Women were more often seen as a main character in a story setting as the literary period advanced. Around the nineteenth century women were beginning to break away from the social norms of society. Society had created a subservient role for women, which did not allow women to stand up for what they believe in. As the role of women in literature evolves, so does their views on the workforce environment and their own independence. Throughout the history of the world, British, and American literature, women have evolved to become more independent, self-reliant, and have learned to emphasize their self-worth.
Leininger, Lorie Jerrel. “The Miranda Trap: Sexism and Racism in Shakespeare’s Tempest.” The Woman’s Part: Feminist Criticism of Shakespeare. Eds Carolyn Ruth Swift Lenz et al. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1983. 285-294
"A woman is human. She is not better, wiser, stronger, more intelligent, more creative, or more responsible than a man. Likewise, she is never less. Equality is a given. A woman is human.” Vera Nazarian said. Nowadays, gender equality becomes a popular topic; however, the rootstock of inequality between men and women took root since several years ago even in fiction. Shakespeare’s sister, by the name of Judith, is a fictional character that created by Virginia Woolf. Did Shakespeare have a sister? We do not know; however, if she did exist, she would be unnoticed. She definitely existed in fiction that Virginia Woolf describes a story about Shakespeare and what if he had a sister. What kind of life would she have? Would she get high level of education as same as her brother? Would she be a playwright like her brother if they had same talent? Virginia Woolf imagined Judith in “Shakespeare’s Sister” which is a story about how women are treated and what types of opportunities they have in the Elizabethan Age compared to men.