“... If women had no existence save in the fiction written by men, one would imagine her a person of the utmost importance; very various; heroic and mear; splendid and sordid; infinitely beautiful and hideous in the extreme; as great as a man, some think even greater”( Shakespeare’s Sister, Woolf). Unfortunately, the greatness and extreme heroic acts in stories of women before the 1800’s, exist only within black inked pages. Women should be portrayed realistically. Shakespeare’s Sister written by Virginia Woolf examines the reality of these women’s lives versus fictitious popular belief. She references professor Trevelyan’s History of England, and outlines the reality woman before the 1800’s faced. In doing so, Woolf seeks to raise awareness
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She states “Fiction is like a spider’s web, ... when the web is pulled askew, hooked up at the edge, torn in the middle, one remembers that these webs are not spun in midair by incorporeal creatures, but are the work of suffering human beings, and attached to grossly material things, like health and money and the houses we live in” (Shakespeare’s Sister, Woolf). This simile is particularly effective as it appeals to the understanding of human desires and how they are reflected in people’s daily actions. Referencing suffering and the human tendency to be attached to material things allows readers to recognize these qualities in themselves. In addition, it depicts that it is often human nature to be entranced by works of fiction, being that they can escape their own imperfections, forgetting that what they are reading was written by an imperfect person. Later, she describes the fallacious writing of an “old gentlemen” an imperfect human being himself, “...who declared that it was impossible for any woman, past, present, or to come, to have the genius of Shakespeare... He also told a lady who applied to him for information that cats do not as a matter of fact go to heaven…”(Shakespeare’s Sister, Woolf) . “How the borders of ignorance shrank back at their approach! Cats do not go to heaven. Women cannot write the plays of Shakespeare” (Shakespeare’s Sister, Woolf). This comparison at first glance seems ridiculous, in consequence, it is akin to a slap in the face for the reader and immediately draws their attention. Her comparison of these seemingly unrelated views brings to light the dangers of groundless opinions. Emphasizing the fact that most of society still considers parts of fiction to be fact. Continuing with her fact versus fiction theme she writes “ It was certainly an odd monster that one made up by reading the historians first and the
She states “Fiction is like a spider’s web, ... when the web is pulled askew, hooked up at the edge, torn in the middle, one remembers that these webs are not spun in midair by incorporeal creatures, but are the work of suffering human beings, and attached to grossly material things, like health and money and the houses we live in” (Shakespeare’s Sister, Woolf). This simile is particularly effective as it appeals to the understanding of human desires and how they are reflected in people’s daily actions. Referencing suffering and the human tendency to be attached to material things allows readers to recognize these qualities in themselves. In addition, it depicts that it is often human nature to be entranced by works of fiction, being that they can escape their own imperfections, forgetting that what they are reading was written by an imperfect person. Later, she describes the fallacious writing of an “old gentlemen” an imperfect human being himself, “...who declared that it was impossible for any woman, past, present, or to come, to have the genius of Shakespeare... He also told a lady who applied to him for information that cats do not as a matter of fact go to heaven…”(Shakespeare’s Sister, Woolf) . “How the borders of ignorance shrank back at their approach! Cats do not go to heaven. Women cannot write the plays of Shakespeare” (Shakespeare’s Sister, Woolf). This comparison at first glance seems ridiculous, in consequence, it is akin to a slap in the face for the reader and immediately draws their attention. Her comparison of these seemingly unrelated views brings to light the dangers of groundless opinions. Emphasizing the fact that most of society still considers parts of fiction to be fact. Continuing with her fact versus fiction theme she writes “ It was certainly an odd monster that one made up by reading the historians first and the