Discrimination of Women in Virginia Woolf’s 'A Room for One’s Own'

Introduction

Since medieval times to the present day of the twenty-first century, women have been considered to be inferior to men. Virginia Woolf uses her essay to demonstrate the social acceptance of male dominance. Inside the two diverse account entries of the two suppers, one at a Men's College and the other at a Women's College, shows the vast difference of the treatment, etiquette, and dinner of both colleges.

Discrimination of Women in Virginia Woolf’s 'A Room of One’s Own'

Virginia Woolf utilizes various structures in every entry to depict the segregation inside the instructive framework so as to uncover this piece of society. Woolf uses fewer adjectives and there’s an obvious difference in details between the two passages. Passage 1 was more descriptive and story-like whereas passage 2 was a basic description. The luncheon is described as being “invariably memorable” and was recounted using a series of compound complex sentences. Using these longer sentences, Woolf attempts to show the sense of superiority that has been given to the men. They were treated with the utmost respect and so was their dinner. In the second passage, there are more monosyllabic words and much shorter and simpler sentences. Woolf opens this excerpt with “Here was my soup”, reinforcing her plain and disappointed tone. The simplicity of this sentence essentially represents women’s role in society. The women were treated as if they were of no importance. The meal that was served to the women was essentially a reflection of the way they were seen in society. Woolf's use of simple sentences works to depict the discrimination against women and how women were not treated with the respect that they deserved. Moreover, the women’s college meal is inert and unexciting. Virginia Woolf uses narrative structure, manipulation of language, selection of detail, and tone to capture the atmosphere of the meals. Woolf creates a significant message in the passages through the use of stylistic elements. Structures from both passages differ. At the men’s college, the meal is lavish and opulent. Woolf uses a parallel sentence structure to illustrate the better dishes prepared at the men’s college.

Imagery and Symbolism

Woolf utilizes descriptive imagery when she refers to the potatoes served at the Men’s luncheon as being “thin as coins” and the sprouts being “foliated as rosebuds but more succulent”. The Men’s food was depicted as being immaculate in appearance. This imagery makes the men appear as though they are being served like kings. Even the men’s meals were presented more respectfully than those that were at the Women’s College. The women’s meals were plain and bland. When Woolf states that “it is the nature of biscuits to be dry, and these were biscuits to the core,” she insinuates that their dinner was not made with care. The women were not served respectfully as queens. The meal served at the Men’s luncheon was immaculate while the Women’s College had provided a meal that might as well have been equivalent to hospital food. Through her use of imagery throughout the two passages, Woolf highlights this subtle discrimination, not only within the educational system but within society as a whole. The stark contrast between the meals symbolizes the broader societal disparities between men and women, emphasizing the deep-rooted inequality that persists.

Tone and Perseverance

The use of tone in these two passages demonstrates the fact that women are continuing to persevere. Woolf expresses the fact that women are silently fighting back. She writes that 'there was no reason to complain of human nature's daily food, seeing that the supply was sufficient.' This shows that the food the men ate means that they receive high status, more power, and more opportunities. On the other hand, the food that women ate shows that they have limited opportunities in life. However, women still struggle to get what they want in order to be treated as equally as men. To further illustrate the Author's discontent, she employs hyperbolas to express her thoughts that the men’s dining is bombarded with a vast amount of selections while women have to deal with the simple and basic servings. For example, she comes to say “To call it pudding and so relate it to rice and tapioca would be an insult.” in describing the pudding served in the men’s college. This sentence makes an exaggeration of how fancy and precise the dish was made that it does not compare with a dish of peasants. Yet women don’t even get close to that, they get just prunes and custard. The author points out the immoral necessities that women get. She questions why the men's dish has much more effort put into it while women's dish doesn’t. She then signifies that the role that women get is as perplexing as a paradox. It simply does not make sense why the dish served in men's college needs to be exaggerated while women's dish is much less. This paradoxical treatment serves to highlight the absurdity and injustice of gender inequality, urging readers to reflect on the ongoing struggle for equality.

Conclusion

If people like Virginia Woolf did not speak of the discriminatory treatment of women in society, there would be no possibility of change in our society. People all over the world must take a stand against this unjust treatment in order to make the world a better place.

References

1. Woolf, V. (1929). A Room of One's Own. Harcourt, Brace and Company.
2. Marcus, J. (1981). Virginia Woolf and the Language of Patriarchy. New Literary History, 13(1), 1-15.
3. Showalter, E. (1977). A Literature of Their Own: British Women Novelists from Brontë to Lessing. Princeton University Press.
4. Sim, S. (2010). The Routledge Companion to Postmodernism. Routledge.