Virginia Woolf (1882-1941) was an outstanding English feminist writer, literary critic and publisher. Her literary works inspired many writers of interwar and postwar periods. Her style of writing is focused on exploration of the concepts of time and memory, and human inner feelings and consciousness.
In “Professions for Women” published in 1931, Virginia Woolf tells the truth about her own experiences as a woman and as a writer. She refers to the depiction of femininity and her own literary practice, during which she kills a phantom, known as “the Angel in the House”. The author discusses the nature of the profession of a women-writer, analyzing the major obstacles that she has to overcome to achieve success. Considering that in Victorian period, women faced inequality, Virginia Woolf describes women’s occupations with irony. Actually, the author had a motive to kill “The Angel in the House” because of her anger toward the description of femininity of the 19-th century. She wants to come out of the prejudices of the Victorian society, in which women had to sooth men. The writer had to battle with that phantom before she could start reviewing books. Virginia Woolf writes: “Killing the Angel in the House was part of the occupation of a woman writer” (27). This statement means women have to fight for social and economic equality. She wants women of all professions to consolidate and fight inequality and prejudices.
I was greatly impressed by Virginia Woolf’s philosophy of life discussed in her essay “Professions for Women”. I think that this piece can help students think and write, especially those girls who face some obstacles in writing. Virginia Wolf’s philosophy can help them to discuss the existing problems and share the knowledge they have gained. This piece might be included in a freshman reader for composition and rhetoric.
Works Cited
Woolf, Virginia. ““Professions for Women” in Dreams and Inward Journeys A Rhetoric and Reader for Writers. Seventh Edition, ed. by Marjorie Ford and Jon Ford.