Virginia Woolf

             As a woman writer during the Victorian Era in England, Virginia Woolf was oppressed by the patriarchal society where women's intellectuality was condescended without any question. In the excerpt taken from one of her writings, readers can clearly see her attitude towards the female role during her time. Woolf describes two different meals served during a university visit; one in the male's college, the other in a woman's. Here, she successfully juxtaposes the two roles through the narrative structure, diction and tone, revealing the injustice and the lack of educational opportunity for women. The author purposely structures the men's meal in the first passage, followed by the women's meal in the second to show the readers the difference between the two, employing a distinct mode of speech in each.
             In the first passage, she describes the glamorous "luncheon part(y)" at the men's college. Here, the partridges come with all their "retinue of sauces and salads... the sharp and the sweet." The wineglasses are emptied and filled. Readers cannot help but be sucked into a world of glamour, where "all go to Heaven." Moreover, people find "no need to be anybody but oneself." In other words, there is no need to struggle to become someone important because everyone already is. Men are automatically put in a higher position, just because they are men. They enjoy the "succulent" food, and there is "no need to hurry"; even time takes a different pace. Furthermore, "brilliant" comments are unnecessary since they all possess a "more profound" glow... the glow of wisdom. Men are the society and in the setting of this passage (college, symbolizing education), they are offered the best of all educational opportunities.
             On the other hand, the author talks about the poor dinner served at the woman's college in the s
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Virginia Woolf. (1969, December 31). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 01:25, July 02, 2025, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/75938.html