Virginia Woolf was the
average American woman in the 1900s. She
wanted to bring about change in the treatment of woman but was not as vocal as
many others. She was a journalist whose
work was filled with passion and eloquence.
However, there were limits and restrictions placed on what she was able
to say and write.
In her piece “Professions
for Women”, Woolf uses specific rhetorical strategies to reach her audience of,
most likely, women. The most effective
strategy is her use of metaphors. The
most powerful metaphor in her piece is that of an “Angel in the House”. She exclaims that she encounters with this
Angel whenever she sits down to write the truth. “…she slipped behind me and whispered: ‘My
dear, you are a young woman… Never let anybody guess that you have a mind of
your own…’” The Angel tells Woolf to
sugarcoat her words even if they are true and opinionated because that is what girls
are NOT supposed to do.
The idea of sexism is
strong in this piece. Girls are told
that they cannot do this, cannot do that, must stay in the house, must tend to
the children and husbands, no matter how strong and independent and capable
they may be. The Angel in the House represents
society’s idea of what women are supposed to do. Later, Woolf tells us that she killed this
Angel and “Had I not killed her she would have killed me.” If Woolf had not persevered past society
telling her “no” then she would have gotten absolutely nowhere.
Another metaphor she
uses is that of an empty room. Although
this house is said to still be owned by the man, this room is hers. It is bare and empty due to fear of being
unlike what society tells her to be like.
However, she has killed the Angel in the House and is ready to decorate
her room to how she wants, regardless of what she is told.
Woolf also uses
rhetorical questions to draw her audience in.
She asks things like “…what is a woman?” and “…what obstacles are there
for a woman rather than for a man?” By asking
these, she is able to establish pathos with her audience. She connects with the other women who feel
passionately about gender equality and a woman’s self-expression.
