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Representation Of Women In Literature
Representation Of Women In Literature
Treatment of women in literature
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Virginia Woolf gave a speech in 1931 to the Women’s Service League about her life as a professional woman. Virginia Woolf was born in London in 1882 and became a professional novelist which was rare for a woman in this time period. She struggled with a mental illness and drowned herself in 1941. Her talk emphasizes that in order to be successful, you have to overcome your own personal obstacles and work hard at what matters to you the most. Virginia Woolf uses many rhetorical strategies to convey her message about women in the professional world, these rhetorical strategies include, appeal to logic, appeal to emotion, and an ethical appeal.
To begin with, one of the rhetorical devices Woolf uses to convey her message about women in the professional world is an appeal to logic. In her speech she states, “It is true I am a woman; it is true I am employed.” Virginia Woolf is a woman. She is
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an employed woman. She does not make much money as a female novelist. In this speech she wants the audience to know that women are just as equal as men and should be treated equally. Women should work hard to achieve their goals. This rhetorical device is very effective because she states a claim, she is an employed woman, and she provides evidence for her claim, the whole speech is her personal experience. Additionally, a rhetorical device Woolf uses to convey her message about women in the professional world is an appeal to emotion.
One of the ways she appeals to the audience’s emotions is by providing some humor in her speech. In the first paragraph she states that she is a woman, something that is very obvious. Another humorous piece of evidence she uses is when she says she saved up enough money and bought a cat that eventually led to her to get in disputes with her neighbors. Another way she appeals to the audience’s emotion is by putting a little bit of fear into their eyes. She talks about killing an angel. This angel held Woolf back from being the person she is today. Woolf declares, “Had I not killed her she would have killed me.” If the audience kills the angel inside of them, they can become successful. Finally, she introduces pride to the audience. She is proud to be a woman in the professional world and she wants the audience to be proud that they are women too. Her use of appeal to emotion is dominant throughout her speech and really moves the Women’s Service
League. To end with, the final rhetorical device Woolf uses to convey her message about women in the professional world is an ethical appeal. Woolf is a very credible person to give this speech because she is an employed woman which is rare for women during this time period. She wants the audience to know that she is equal to them and that they can pursue their dreams just like she did. She is very honest with her audience. She is telling them what she had to do to overcome her obstacles. Woolf is confident when she tells the Women’s Service League that if they defeat their obstacles, they will become successful. Her use of ethical appeals proves to the audience that she is confident in her speech and builds trust between the audience and herself. In summary, Virginia Woolf, a professional novelist and a woman, presents a speech describing her personal experience to the Women’s Service League. In her speech she describes how she had to get over her own personal obstacles and the societal obstacles in her way. These include, but are not limited to, killing the angel, working to become a professional, and being a woman. The way she uses the appeal to logic, appeal to emotion, and ethical appeal, persuades the audience to work hard for what they want to be and to strive for greatness.
Woolf, Virginia. "Professions for Women." The Norton Anthology of Literature by Women. Ed. Sandra M. Gilbert and S. Gubar. New York, NY: Norton, 1996. 1345-48.
As stated in an online biography, Virginia Woolf’s life started out normally, she was born into a privileged English household with her three full and four half siblings and was raised by her well to do parents. Both of her parents “were extremely well connected, both socially and artistically” (Virginia Woolf Biography). Although her brothers went to college at Cambridge, her sisters, as well as Woolf herself, were schooled at home with access to an extensive Victorian library. Her open-minded parents brought her up to look at things from a different angle, rather than the straight forward route. Virginia Woolf is one of the few authors that uses the stream of consciousness writing style which immerses the reader in the text. In the case of “The Death of the Moth,” Woolf starts on a normal level, describing the “pleasant morning, mid-September”, and then dials in solely on the moth, to the point where one can visualize the energy the moth emits (Woolf). Not only that, but her stories, such as Mrs. Dalloway, raised awareness for controversial topics such as feminism, mental illness, and homosexuality. Because of her parents’ open mindedness, she was able to learn about a variety of topics while studying at home and form independent, non-socially influenced thoughts, which she later developed into her
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.
She speaks highly of the faith and undying hope of these women and their families. She even comes to recognize them as saints as she describes their faith as "so intense, deep, unconscious, the they themselves were unaware of the richness they held" (Walker 694). In a passage in which she speaks about the treatment and social status of the women of the sixteenth century, Woolf explains that a woman who might have had a truly great gift in this time "would have surely gone crazy, shot herself, or ended up in some lonely cottage on the outside of town, half witch, half wizard, feared and mocked" (Woolf 749). Her use of some of these powerful nominative shows that she feels strongly about what she is writing. Also for her, life growing up and stories she may have heard may have influenced this passage greatly.
In Edward Albee’s tragic play, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, each of his characters show different struggles between each other and the basic rules of society as a whole. George, Martha, Nick, and Honey, the four main characters of the play, all have backgrounds that contradict with each other in more ways than one. Each of them violate the laws of society, yet two of these characters make you feel sympathy for them. George and Martha, the elder of the two couples, go through a deeper struggle than Nick and Honey are able to comprehend. Throughout the story, the struggle is mostly anonymous to the reader as well as Nick and Honey, and is not revealed until the end of the play. This hidden secret turns out to be the largest violence of George
Virginia Woolf, prolific novelist, essayist and critic, delivered “Professions for Women” as a speech before the National Society for Women’s Service on January 21, 1931. Her address highlighted the obstacles facing professional women while emphasizing the pressure placed on women by Victorian standards and expectations. Woolf’s purpose was to empower the solely female audience and to illuminate the simplicity in creating a career, despite the obstacles through outlining her personal experience.
“Professions For Women,” is an article that explains that women are worth more, and should have jobs that they want to have. This article was written in 1931 during which very few women worked. Woolf opens up about how “Writing was a reputable and harmless occupation. The family peace was not broken by the scratching of a pen. No demand was made upon the family purse" (Woolf, 2011, p. 410). Virginia Woolf knows that her audience is a group of people that are afraid to speak out because during this time it was unnormal for a woman to want to work. Virginia Woolf can tap into the emotional side of her audience and get them to understand where she and millions of other
There are many different ways to be creative. There is not one right or wrong way to write a poem, sing a song, or paint a picture. However, you can always improve any of these things. Virginia Woolf is a strong supporter of self-improvement, and she believes that a little advice on a matter can go a long way. During her time, Virginia Woolf was one of the most gifted of the modernist writers. In 1932, she wrote an essay in the form of a letter called, Letter to a Young Poet. Here, she documented her thoughts on poetry for a large audience to read. Ironically, she would never consider herself a poet, but she was very educated in rhythmic
Virginia Woolf was born Adeline Virginia Stephen on January 25,1882 at 22 Hyde Park Gate, London. She was the third child of Sir Leslie Stephen, a historian and author, and his second wife, Julia Prinsep Duckworth, a famous model and nurse.1 Due to her parent's previous marriages, Woolf not only had three full siblings, she also had four half-siblings. The boys were formally educated, while the girl were home schooled using the Victorian library they had accesible at home.In the spring of 1882, Woolf's father was on one of his typical trips to Cornwall when he impulsively rented Talland House outside of St. Ives. For the next ten years the family lived in that house for the summer season. Woolf's strongest and best memories were from her
... society has tried to discourage such mixing of gender within self by creating distinctive roles for women and men. Woolf feels that women must learn to accept their femininity, cultivate their masculinity and choose the role that they want to play. Only when they do this can immortality through self-fulfilment be achieved.
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
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
Wikipedia. "Virginia Woolf." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. 14 June 2010. Web. 16 June 2010. .
The one and only significance that it echoes still go back and fourth, it still standing among as, the one problem that has many solutions but people mind still refuse to open in the idea of accepting the greatness of being a female or the magnitude that women brought to the earth. “Women have served all these centuries as looking glasses possessing the magic and delicious power of reflecting the figure of man at twice its natural size.” Virginia Woolf, A Room of One’s Own. Being a female means that suffering is part of your life, but also means being surrounded by grave and sorrow will make you learn how to strand alone. Women and girls always were left behind the shadow of the men; standing without an education and a chance to work,
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.