WOOLF & DE BEAUVOIR

In all the readings by Woolf and De Beauvoir, we see the acceptance and expectations of women. One way is them satisfying and depending on men. When men are around, they try to impress them by improving their appearance and meet their expectations. In The Introduction, Lily Everit tried her best to prevent herself from meeting new people. “Looking out, Lily Everit instinctively hid that essay of hers, so ashamed was she now, so bewildered too, and on tiptoe nevertheless to adjust her focus and get into right proportions (the old having been shamefully wrong) these diminishing and expanding things (what could once call them? People-impressions of people’s lives?) which seemed to menace her and mount over her, to turn everything to water, leaving her only- for that she would not resign- the power to stand at bay.” In The New Dress, Mabel refused to be seen in a dress she saw in an old fashion book. She thought it looked beautiful, but not on her. She wanted to fit in and be accepted by everyone else. “With an intensity which she could not beat off, as she would when she woke at night at home, by reading Borrow or Scott; for oh these men, oh these women, all were thinking- “What’s Mabel wearing? What a fright she looks! What a hideous new dress!” Mabel was also worried about what Charles would think. “If he had only said, “Mabel, you’re looking charming to-night!” it would have changed her life.” It is as though men have the power of women, both mentally and emotionally.

In A Room of One’s Own, there were parts where women had to satisfy the men and obey what they said because they had the power. When the narrator opened a door leading into the library “a kindly gentlemen, who regretted in a low voice as he waved me back that ladies are only admitted to the library if accompanied by a fellow of the College or furnished with a letter of introduction.” Woman had to have permission for everything they did. It was impossible for women to earn money. If they did, it went directly into the hands of the men.

I realized that in each of Woolf’s stories, they mentioned creatures that no one really thinks and cares about. We heard about a tailless Manx cat in A Room of One’s Own, and flies in The New Dress and The Introduction. I’m not 100% sure but I think that these creatures were supposed to symbolize women. If we see a tailless cat, we begin to feel pity for that animal. When we think of flies, we think of dirty and unpleasantness. Flies are not as accepted as butterflies and dragonflies. They are like insects at a “higher rank.” To me, this is the perceptive of women through the eyes of men.