Conclusion
I was curious to read this book and it fulfilled my expectations. Virginia Woolf’s depiction of the development of female literature was exiting, touching and alarming. For me, it is a perfect piece of work dealing with female oppression and influence of money on creativity.
I was impressed by the achievements of female writers under such miserable conditions. No wonder, that most of the women developing literature died young (I discovered it by writing the foot notes). I followed the flow of Virginia Woolf’s ideas and for me her thoughts and indignation are very familiar. To my mind men are still inclined to feel superior and women, working in lower positions in the private economy, still earn much less money than men. But certainly to a much lesser extend than at Virginia Woolf’s time. Today a further problem has arisen. Not a missing room of one’s own or missing money prevent a woman to be creative but maybe the lack of time.
( I wrote this essay originally for the class "Kulturschwerpunktthemen Englisch")
Mittwoch, 27. Juni 2007
Virginia Woolf "A Room Of One's Own" Chapter 6
Chapter 6
On the morning of 26th October 1928 Mary Benton looked out of her window, watching the flow down on the street. It brought a girl in patent leather shoes, a young man in a maroon coat and a hackney cab. The girl and the man got in the hackney cab and it slid away like being carried away to another place. Mary Benton sensed a spirit of a natural merger.
She raised the question whether every human being did possess both genders which must be unified.
Maybe her query was in line with Coleridge’s[1] opinion who stated that a great spirit has to be androgynous. A spirit reaches its full prosperity and uses his entire potential only through the merger of the male and female side.
The narrator opened a contemporary book written by a man termed by her as Mr. B and discovered that through the feminist movement the men themselves had become more gender-conscious. Throughout Mr. B’s book she was confronted with his ego. It was like an obstacle that blocked the source of his creative power. Then she realized that the author was focusing on his manliness, as a sign of protest. He protested against equality of the other gender by insisting on his superiority.
Unlike Coleridge’s sentences which after reading exploded in the spirit and caused a bunch of new personal ideas, Mr. B’s sentences simply fell to the ground. According to the narrator’s opinion it was deadly to think of the personal gender while writing. A kind of collaboration had to take place between the spirits of both genders.
Then Mary Benton stopped talking about the requirement of a room with a lock at the door and 500 pounds per year when women wanted to wrote novels or poems. The necessity of financial security was not only stated by her but also by Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch[2] who proved by referring to several male poets that money and higher education were essential for their success. The mental freedom depended on pecuniary security and the art of poetry depended on mental freedom. Therefore a poor poet in Mary Benton’s time had not the slightest chance.
Mary Benton pointed out that after women had reached access to higher education, after married women had gained the right to possess assets and after they had received the right to vote the lack of opportunity, education, encouragement and money were only invalid excuses any more. Of course women had to give birth to children but only to two or tree and not to ten to twelve. Women should write all kinds of books in order to revive Shakespeare’s imaginary younger sister, the embodiment of creativity in Mary Benton’s mind.
[1] Samuel Taylor Colderidge (1772-1834) in his table talk an 1st of September 1832)
[2] Sir Athur Quiller-Couch (1863-1944) extraordinary influential literature historian, critic and publisher
On the morning of 26th October 1928 Mary Benton looked out of her window, watching the flow down on the street. It brought a girl in patent leather shoes, a young man in a maroon coat and a hackney cab. The girl and the man got in the hackney cab and it slid away like being carried away to another place. Mary Benton sensed a spirit of a natural merger.
She raised the question whether every human being did possess both genders which must be unified.
Maybe her query was in line with Coleridge’s[1] opinion who stated that a great spirit has to be androgynous. A spirit reaches its full prosperity and uses his entire potential only through the merger of the male and female side.
The narrator opened a contemporary book written by a man termed by her as Mr. B and discovered that through the feminist movement the men themselves had become more gender-conscious. Throughout Mr. B’s book she was confronted with his ego. It was like an obstacle that blocked the source of his creative power. Then she realized that the author was focusing on his manliness, as a sign of protest. He protested against equality of the other gender by insisting on his superiority.
Unlike Coleridge’s sentences which after reading exploded in the spirit and caused a bunch of new personal ideas, Mr. B’s sentences simply fell to the ground. According to the narrator’s opinion it was deadly to think of the personal gender while writing. A kind of collaboration had to take place between the spirits of both genders.
Then Mary Benton stopped talking about the requirement of a room with a lock at the door and 500 pounds per year when women wanted to wrote novels or poems. The necessity of financial security was not only stated by her but also by Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch[2] who proved by referring to several male poets that money and higher education were essential for their success. The mental freedom depended on pecuniary security and the art of poetry depended on mental freedom. Therefore a poor poet in Mary Benton’s time had not the slightest chance.
Mary Benton pointed out that after women had reached access to higher education, after married women had gained the right to possess assets and after they had received the right to vote the lack of opportunity, education, encouragement and money were only invalid excuses any more. Of course women had to give birth to children but only to two or tree and not to ten to twelve. Women should write all kinds of books in order to revive Shakespeare’s imaginary younger sister, the embodiment of creativity in Mary Benton’s mind.
[1] Samuel Taylor Colderidge (1772-1834) in his table talk an 1st of September 1832)
[2] Sir Athur Quiller-Couch (1863-1944) extraordinary influential literature historian, critic and publisher
Virginia Woolf "A Room Of One's Own" Chapter 5
Chapter 5
In the course of her survey Mary Benton reached her presence. It was the time, when women wrote just as many books as men. Turning away from pure novels, women also wrote books about history, faraway countries and aesthetics.
Mary Carmicheal[1] was the first to write about a relationship within her gender. Up to Jane Austin women in literature were not only seen mainly by the other gender but also only in their relationship to the other gender. No matter how clumsy Mary Carmicheal was she wrote as a woman who had forgotten that she was a woman. What a groundbreaking feat!
[1] Mary Carmicheal was the pseudonym of Marie Stopes ( 1880 – 1958) was a Scottish author, campaigner for women's rights and pioneer in the field of family planning
In the course of her survey Mary Benton reached her presence. It was the time, when women wrote just as many books as men. Turning away from pure novels, women also wrote books about history, faraway countries and aesthetics.
Mary Carmicheal[1] was the first to write about a relationship within her gender. Up to Jane Austin women in literature were not only seen mainly by the other gender but also only in their relationship to the other gender. No matter how clumsy Mary Carmicheal was she wrote as a woman who had forgotten that she was a woman. What a groundbreaking feat!
[1] Mary Carmicheal was the pseudonym of Marie Stopes ( 1880 – 1958) was a Scottish author, campaigner for women's rights and pioneer in the field of family planning
Virginia Woolf "A Room Of One's Own" Chapter 4
Chapter 4
In the 16th century, thinking of Elizabethan gravestones with all the kneeling, their hands folding children, who mourned their mother’s early death, looking at their houses with their gloomy and cramped front rooms the narrator found it impossible for a woman to write poems.
One of the first who dared to express herself in writing was Lady Winchilsea[1], born in 1661, aristocratic by birth as well as by marriage, and childless. She wrote poems and expressed herein her indignation about the social position of women. Pope and Gay two English poets called her “Bluestocking with a tendency to scribbling”.
Her contemporary the Duchess Margaret of Newcastle[2] wrote: “Women live like bats or owls, are slaving away like animals and die like worms”. Like the aforementioned she complained bitterly the women’s fate. Her mind grew crazy for freedom and loneliness. It goes without saying that the insane duchess served as a warning in order to intimidate bright young girls.
Since no intelligent woman obeying the rules of decency should write books Dorothy Osborne[3] only wrote melancholic and sensitive letters. Letters could be written while men talked as long as they were not disturbed.
Mrs. Aphra Behn[4] was a middle class woman who owned virtues like humor, vitality and courage. By reason of her husband’s death she was forced to make a living by using her talents. She was the first to succeed.
The great chance at the end of the 18th century was that women of the middle class commenced to write. Female writing was no longer a sign of insanity, it gained practical importance. Husbands could die or stroke of bad luck hit families. Hundreds of middle class women started writing or translating. The immense mental liveliness, exchange of opinions, meetings and writing of essays resulted from the fact that women were encouraged enough to earn money by writing. In the narrator’s opinion the fact that women turned to writing in general was more important than single books.
Jane Austin[5] did not possess a study of her own. Most part of her work must have been written in the living room. She took carefully care that no servant, no visitor or any person outside the next of skin perceived her occupation. Jane Austin was the first to be able to write without hate, bitterness or fear. Nevertheless, she still suffered from her life’s narrowness. It was impossible for a woman to leave her home alone. She was never traveling, never going by bus through London or was eating out all by herself. Maybe it was her nature not to long for what she did not possess.
Mary Benton doubted that this was equally true for Charlotte Bronte[6]´, who expressed her longing for distant areas in her book “Jane Eye”. The restlessness laid in her nature and tortured her. Surprising is the fact that most of the excellent novels were written by women who were to poor to buy several sheets of paper at a time.
George Elliot[7] escaped from the social constraints. But she was only able to flee into the isolation of a villa in St. John’ wood. Her marriage similar partnership with a married man was generally met with disapproval.
The young Tolstoy[8] did more or less the same thing, went into war and was able to gather various experiences unhampered and unscolded. Had he been living in the back of beyond, would he have been able to write “War and Peace”?
The women’s values described in books were very different from the men’s ones.
The male values seemed to prevail. An important book stated a critic, deals with war, and an unimportant one with female feelings. What genius and honesty must have been required to withstand in a pure patriarchal society. Jane Austin and Emily Bronte’ accomplished this deed. They wrote like women wrote, disregarding the permanent warning to write only this or that.
Another great problem that occurred was the lack of tradition; women could not retrace opinions or wording from former female novelists. In view of the fact that variety and freedom of expressions are utmost essential in the area of art, this inadequacy and lack of tools of the trade must have strongly affected women’s writing skills.
[1] Anne Finch, Countess of Winchilsea (1661-1720) was writing poems, which were influenced by her friends Alexander Pope, Jonathan Swift and John Gay.
[2] Margart Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle 8 1623-1673), eccentric poet with interest in the developing natural science
[3] Dorothy Osborne (1627-1695) was writing letters, which presented a vivid picture of her epoch and the relationship between both genders.
[4] Aphra Behn (1640-1689) was the first female professional writer, especially successful with her theatre plays.
[5] Jane Austin (1775-1817) was a famous English writer
[6] Charlotte Bronte (1816-1853) was an English novelist and the eldest of the three Brontë sisters whose novels
have become enduring classics of English literature.
[7] Mary Ann Evans (1819 – 1880), better known by her pen name George Eliot, was an English novelist
[8] Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) was a Russian writer – novelist essayist, dramatist and philosopher
In the 16th century, thinking of Elizabethan gravestones with all the kneeling, their hands folding children, who mourned their mother’s early death, looking at their houses with their gloomy and cramped front rooms the narrator found it impossible for a woman to write poems.
One of the first who dared to express herself in writing was Lady Winchilsea[1], born in 1661, aristocratic by birth as well as by marriage, and childless. She wrote poems and expressed herein her indignation about the social position of women. Pope and Gay two English poets called her “Bluestocking with a tendency to scribbling”.
Her contemporary the Duchess Margaret of Newcastle[2] wrote: “Women live like bats or owls, are slaving away like animals and die like worms”. Like the aforementioned she complained bitterly the women’s fate. Her mind grew crazy for freedom and loneliness. It goes without saying that the insane duchess served as a warning in order to intimidate bright young girls.
Since no intelligent woman obeying the rules of decency should write books Dorothy Osborne[3] only wrote melancholic and sensitive letters. Letters could be written while men talked as long as they were not disturbed.
Mrs. Aphra Behn[4] was a middle class woman who owned virtues like humor, vitality and courage. By reason of her husband’s death she was forced to make a living by using her talents. She was the first to succeed.
The great chance at the end of the 18th century was that women of the middle class commenced to write. Female writing was no longer a sign of insanity, it gained practical importance. Husbands could die or stroke of bad luck hit families. Hundreds of middle class women started writing or translating. The immense mental liveliness, exchange of opinions, meetings and writing of essays resulted from the fact that women were encouraged enough to earn money by writing. In the narrator’s opinion the fact that women turned to writing in general was more important than single books.
Jane Austin[5] did not possess a study of her own. Most part of her work must have been written in the living room. She took carefully care that no servant, no visitor or any person outside the next of skin perceived her occupation. Jane Austin was the first to be able to write without hate, bitterness or fear. Nevertheless, she still suffered from her life’s narrowness. It was impossible for a woman to leave her home alone. She was never traveling, never going by bus through London or was eating out all by herself. Maybe it was her nature not to long for what she did not possess.
Mary Benton doubted that this was equally true for Charlotte Bronte[6]´, who expressed her longing for distant areas in her book “Jane Eye”. The restlessness laid in her nature and tortured her. Surprising is the fact that most of the excellent novels were written by women who were to poor to buy several sheets of paper at a time.
George Elliot[7] escaped from the social constraints. But she was only able to flee into the isolation of a villa in St. John’ wood. Her marriage similar partnership with a married man was generally met with disapproval.
The young Tolstoy[8] did more or less the same thing, went into war and was able to gather various experiences unhampered and unscolded. Had he been living in the back of beyond, would he have been able to write “War and Peace”?
The women’s values described in books were very different from the men’s ones.
The male values seemed to prevail. An important book stated a critic, deals with war, and an unimportant one with female feelings. What genius and honesty must have been required to withstand in a pure patriarchal society. Jane Austin and Emily Bronte’ accomplished this deed. They wrote like women wrote, disregarding the permanent warning to write only this or that.
Another great problem that occurred was the lack of tradition; women could not retrace opinions or wording from former female novelists. In view of the fact that variety and freedom of expressions are utmost essential in the area of art, this inadequacy and lack of tools of the trade must have strongly affected women’s writing skills.
[1] Anne Finch, Countess of Winchilsea (1661-1720) was writing poems, which were influenced by her friends Alexander Pope, Jonathan Swift and John Gay.
[2] Margart Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle 8 1623-1673), eccentric poet with interest in the developing natural science
[3] Dorothy Osborne (1627-1695) was writing letters, which presented a vivid picture of her epoch and the relationship between both genders.
[4] Aphra Behn (1640-1689) was the first female professional writer, especially successful with her theatre plays.
[5] Jane Austin (1775-1817) was a famous English writer
[6] Charlotte Bronte (1816-1853) was an English novelist and the eldest of the three Brontë sisters whose novels
have become enduring classics of English literature.
[7] Mary Ann Evans (1819 – 1880), better known by her pen name George Eliot, was an English novelist
[8] Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) was a Russian writer – novelist essayist, dramatist and philosopher
Virginia Woolf "A Room Of One's Own" Chapter 3
Chapter 3
It was disappointing that the only insight after a day of research was the fact that women were poorer than men. Mary Benton decided to go to the roots of this matter and looked up the words "women" and "position of" in the latest available history book by Professor Trevelyan[1]. What she was reading was the following: Beating a wife was a recognized right of man in 1470, which was exercised without shame throughout the social classes.
Likewise had a daughter who refused to marry the predestinated husband to be aware that she could be locked in, battered and pushed around the room without sympathy of the public. Not personal affections were relevant for a marriage, but only the family’s greed especially in the chivalrous upper class.
Even two hundred years later women of the middle and upper classes were only allowed to select their husbands themselves in very rare cases. The predestinated husbands were their master, at least insofar as permissible by law. In spite of that, Shakespeare’s women did not seem to lack personality and character. But this was only the woman in literature. In reality they were locked in, battered and pushed around.
In the rest of Professor Trevelyan’s book women were mentioned utmost seldom, only a queen or a high ranking lady. But by no means, a woman belonging to the middle class could take part in a great movement possessing nothing but her common sense and character. A woman of the Elizabethan era did not have any money, was married before she was grown up, most probably at the age of fifteen or sixteen.
She was not sent to school. She had no opportunity to study grammar and logic, never mind reading Horaz or Vergil. Every now and then she was reading a few pages but soon admonished by her parents to stir the soup, to darn the leggings and not to waste time with books and papers.
If she felt called to develop her poetic talent she would not only be hampered and hindered by others but also by her own contradicting feelings. A woman with a poetic gift, born in the 16th century was an unhappy woman.
Even in the 19th century she did not have her own room, unless her parents were extremely rich. Her pocket money dependant from her father’s voluntary will reached for her clothes at best. Still women were regarded as being inferior to men. Mr. Oscar Browning[2], once a great men in Cambridge, who examined also girls in Girton and Newham said, after looking through various exams, that he still have the impression that the best woman is intellectual inferior to the worst man. At Shakespeare’s time actresses and two hundred years later female composers and preachers were compared to dancing or upright walking dogs. Female artists were not encouraged. On the contrary, they were snubbed, insulted and advised.
[1] George Macaulay Trevlyan (1876-1962) was teaching history in Cambridge. His history of England, quoted by Virginia Woolf was issued in 1926.
[2] Oscar Browning (1837-1923) historian in Cambridge
It was disappointing that the only insight after a day of research was the fact that women were poorer than men. Mary Benton decided to go to the roots of this matter and looked up the words "women" and "position of" in the latest available history book by Professor Trevelyan[1]. What she was reading was the following: Beating a wife was a recognized right of man in 1470, which was exercised without shame throughout the social classes.
Likewise had a daughter who refused to marry the predestinated husband to be aware that she could be locked in, battered and pushed around the room without sympathy of the public. Not personal affections were relevant for a marriage, but only the family’s greed especially in the chivalrous upper class.
Even two hundred years later women of the middle and upper classes were only allowed to select their husbands themselves in very rare cases. The predestinated husbands were their master, at least insofar as permissible by law. In spite of that, Shakespeare’s women did not seem to lack personality and character. But this was only the woman in literature. In reality they were locked in, battered and pushed around.
In the rest of Professor Trevelyan’s book women were mentioned utmost seldom, only a queen or a high ranking lady. But by no means, a woman belonging to the middle class could take part in a great movement possessing nothing but her common sense and character. A woman of the Elizabethan era did not have any money, was married before she was grown up, most probably at the age of fifteen or sixteen.
She was not sent to school. She had no opportunity to study grammar and logic, never mind reading Horaz or Vergil. Every now and then she was reading a few pages but soon admonished by her parents to stir the soup, to darn the leggings and not to waste time with books and papers.
If she felt called to develop her poetic talent she would not only be hampered and hindered by others but also by her own contradicting feelings. A woman with a poetic gift, born in the 16th century was an unhappy woman.
Even in the 19th century she did not have her own room, unless her parents were extremely rich. Her pocket money dependant from her father’s voluntary will reached for her clothes at best. Still women were regarded as being inferior to men. Mr. Oscar Browning[2], once a great men in Cambridge, who examined also girls in Girton and Newham said, after looking through various exams, that he still have the impression that the best woman is intellectual inferior to the worst man. At Shakespeare’s time actresses and two hundred years later female composers and preachers were compared to dancing or upright walking dogs. Female artists were not encouraged. On the contrary, they were snubbed, insulted and advised.
[1] George Macaulay Trevlyan (1876-1962) was teaching history in Cambridge. His history of England, quoted by Virginia Woolf was issued in 1926.
[2] Oscar Browning (1837-1923) historian in Cambridge
Virginia Woolf "A Room Of One's Own" Chapter 2
Chapter 2
Mary Benton commenced chapter 2 by raising the questions
“Why is one gender so prosperous and one so needy?” and
“What effect does poorness have on literature?”
She took pencil and notebook and went to the reading room in the British museum to search for the truth
She was astonished, amazed and stunned, when she discovered how many books men wrote about women in the course of one year. Books with titles like “Gender and its nature” were not only published by doctors or biologists but also by young novelists whose only qualification seemed to be that they were no women. Women, on the contrary, did not write books about men. “Why are women so much more interesting for men than vice versa?
Why Samuel Butler[1] did said: “Wise men never say what they think about women?”
Judging by the books at hand Mary Benton had the impression that they seemed do nothing else, unfortunately the men's opinions were very different.
Pope wrote e. g. “Women are most often completely despicable”
La Bruyere[2] said “Women are extremes they are either better or worse than men”
Napoleon thought that women were incapable; Dr. Jonson[3] put forward the opposite opinion.
The truth about women was not touchable. From what she read and saw Mary Benton created artificially professor X who wrote the volume “The mental, moral and physical inferiority of women”. What prompted him to write this book? He was obviously furious but why? Possibly the insistence on the female inferiority helped him to stick to his own superiority.
Then Mary Benton referred gratefully to her own independence for she had inherited an annuity for life amounting 500 pounds per year. Around the time she received the money women got the entitlement to vote. Mary Benton admitted that the money was infinitely more important.
Before inheriting the money she had tried to survive by addressing envelopes, reading aloud to old ladies, teaching children the alphabet and making artificial flowers. To put it in a nutshell, she exercised all activities that were available to women before 1918. Mary Benton briefly remembered the bitterness in these days and the relief she felt when she got her permanent income. No once more did she need to hate a man, he could not harm her. No once more did she need to flatter a man, he could not give her anything.
[1] Samuel Butler (1835–1902), a novelist and critic, was maligned for his free opinions
[2] Jean de la Bruyere (1645-1696) famous French writer
[3] Dr. Samuel Jonson (1704-1784) poet, critic, biographer and lexicographer, one of the most influential men at his time was highly appreciated by Virginia Woolf.
Mary Benton commenced chapter 2 by raising the questions
“Why is one gender so prosperous and one so needy?” and
“What effect does poorness have on literature?”
She took pencil and notebook and went to the reading room in the British museum to search for the truth
She was astonished, amazed and stunned, when she discovered how many books men wrote about women in the course of one year. Books with titles like “Gender and its nature” were not only published by doctors or biologists but also by young novelists whose only qualification seemed to be that they were no women. Women, on the contrary, did not write books about men. “Why are women so much more interesting for men than vice versa?
Why Samuel Butler[1] did said: “Wise men never say what they think about women?”
Judging by the books at hand Mary Benton had the impression that they seemed do nothing else, unfortunately the men's opinions were very different.
Pope wrote e. g. “Women are most often completely despicable”
La Bruyere[2] said “Women are extremes they are either better or worse than men”
Napoleon thought that women were incapable; Dr. Jonson[3] put forward the opposite opinion.
The truth about women was not touchable. From what she read and saw Mary Benton created artificially professor X who wrote the volume “The mental, moral and physical inferiority of women”. What prompted him to write this book? He was obviously furious but why? Possibly the insistence on the female inferiority helped him to stick to his own superiority.
Then Mary Benton referred gratefully to her own independence for she had inherited an annuity for life amounting 500 pounds per year. Around the time she received the money women got the entitlement to vote. Mary Benton admitted that the money was infinitely more important.
Before inheriting the money she had tried to survive by addressing envelopes, reading aloud to old ladies, teaching children the alphabet and making artificial flowers. To put it in a nutshell, she exercised all activities that were available to women before 1918. Mary Benton briefly remembered the bitterness in these days and the relief she felt when she got her permanent income. No once more did she need to hate a man, he could not harm her. No once more did she need to flatter a man, he could not give her anything.
[1] Samuel Butler (1835–1902), a novelist and critic, was maligned for his free opinions
[2] Jean de la Bruyere (1645-1696) famous French writer
[3] Dr. Samuel Jonson (1704-1784) poet, critic, biographer and lexicographer, one of the most influential men at his time was highly appreciated by Virginia Woolf.
Virginia Woolf "A Room Of One's Own" Chapter 1
Chapter 1
Mary Benton[1] was requested to speak about “women and literature” She broadened this general topic by raising the question “What does a woman need to be creative?” She put the utmost importance on the fact that a woman had to have sufficient money and her own room to be able to be creative, at least.
In the first chapter she mentioned two incidences which perhaps occurred to women continuously to hamper their creativity. She strolled through the Garden of Oxbridge University[2] and was busy contemplating the destiny of a little fish when she entered the lawn in an onrush of creativity. At the very moment raised a man and blocked her way. His face showed dismay and indignation. At first she could not understand his gestures, but then her reason helped her. He was the janitor and she was a women. The green was only allowed for fellows and scholars. A woman’s place was the path. She returned to the pebbles and her creative thoughts were gone.
A little bit afterwards she contemplated the handwriting of a poem by John Milton[3] and remembered that the original was being kept in the local library. She opened the door and instantly appeared a friendly old man like a guardian angel to prevent her from entering. He informed her that she was only allowed to step in if she possessed a credential or were accompanied by a fellow.
Mary Benton went enraged down the stairs, firmly determined to ask for hospitality never again. To prevent herself from further unpleasant surprises she did not even want to walk into the university church. Contemplating about these occurrences the narrator raised the question why men and women are treated so differently.
Looking at the walls she realized the tremendous amounts of money required to build and maintain these premises. These funds were provided by men. The adjacent women’s college Fernham[4] she was invited to, appeared by contrast plain and simple. Referring to the history of origin Mary Benton told her friend that in the year 1860 it was almost impossible for women to raise the required funds (30.000 pounds) for the building and equipment. There was no money for further comfort.
Both women were filled with indignation about the miserable poorness of their gender.
What have done their mothers that they were unable to leave their daughters any assets?
Were they only powdering their noses?
Her friend’s mother e. g. gave birth to thirteen children. To make a fortune and to raise thirteen children was impossible to manage for any human being. Apart form that, only since the enactment of the women’s property Acts (1870 and 1882) a married woman is allowed possessing her own property.
Referring to her two personal experiences in Oxbridge, Mary Benton found it embarrassing to be locked out but at the end of chapter 1 she considered how much worse it would be to be locked up. She started thinking about one gender’s security and prosperity by putting up the other’s poorness and uncertainty, the effects of tradition or the lack of tradition.
[1] Mary Benton is a figure in the Scottish ballade of the four Marys
[2] Oxbridge is composed of Cambridge and Oxford.
[3] John Milton (1608-1674) wrote the poem Lycidas referring to the death of his friend.
[4] Fernham is composed of Girton and Newnham
Mary Benton[1] was requested to speak about “women and literature” She broadened this general topic by raising the question “What does a woman need to be creative?” She put the utmost importance on the fact that a woman had to have sufficient money and her own room to be able to be creative, at least.
In the first chapter she mentioned two incidences which perhaps occurred to women continuously to hamper their creativity. She strolled through the Garden of Oxbridge University[2] and was busy contemplating the destiny of a little fish when she entered the lawn in an onrush of creativity. At the very moment raised a man and blocked her way. His face showed dismay and indignation. At first she could not understand his gestures, but then her reason helped her. He was the janitor and she was a women. The green was only allowed for fellows and scholars. A woman’s place was the path. She returned to the pebbles and her creative thoughts were gone.
A little bit afterwards she contemplated the handwriting of a poem by John Milton[3] and remembered that the original was being kept in the local library. She opened the door and instantly appeared a friendly old man like a guardian angel to prevent her from entering. He informed her that she was only allowed to step in if she possessed a credential or were accompanied by a fellow.
Mary Benton went enraged down the stairs, firmly determined to ask for hospitality never again. To prevent herself from further unpleasant surprises she did not even want to walk into the university church. Contemplating about these occurrences the narrator raised the question why men and women are treated so differently.
Looking at the walls she realized the tremendous amounts of money required to build and maintain these premises. These funds were provided by men. The adjacent women’s college Fernham[4] she was invited to, appeared by contrast plain and simple. Referring to the history of origin Mary Benton told her friend that in the year 1860 it was almost impossible for women to raise the required funds (30.000 pounds) for the building and equipment. There was no money for further comfort.
Both women were filled with indignation about the miserable poorness of their gender.
What have done their mothers that they were unable to leave their daughters any assets?
Were they only powdering their noses?
Her friend’s mother e. g. gave birth to thirteen children. To make a fortune and to raise thirteen children was impossible to manage for any human being. Apart form that, only since the enactment of the women’s property Acts (1870 and 1882) a married woman is allowed possessing her own property.
Referring to her two personal experiences in Oxbridge, Mary Benton found it embarrassing to be locked out but at the end of chapter 1 she considered how much worse it would be to be locked up. She started thinking about one gender’s security and prosperity by putting up the other’s poorness and uncertainty, the effects of tradition or the lack of tradition.
[1] Mary Benton is a figure in the Scottish ballade of the four Marys
[2] Oxbridge is composed of Cambridge and Oxford.
[3] John Milton (1608-1674) wrote the poem Lycidas referring to the death of his friend.
[4] Fernham is composed of Girton and Newnham
Virginia Woolf
Virginia Wolff’s curriculum vitae
Virginia Woolf (1882– 1941) was an English novelist and essayist who was regarded as one of the foremost modernist literary figures of the 20th century.
Virginia Woolf was the daughter of the author Leslie Stephen and his second wife Julia Jackson (widowed Duckworth, born Jackson). Virginia Woolf had altogether seven siblings, among them two brothers (George und Gerald Duckworth) and one sister (Stella Duckworth) from her mother’s first marriage.
Virginia Woolf (1882– 1941) was an English novelist and essayist who was regarded as one of the foremost modernist literary figures of the 20th century.
Virginia Woolf was the daughter of the author Leslie Stephen and his second wife Julia Jackson (widowed Duckworth, born Jackson). Virginia Woolf had altogether seven siblings, among them two brothers (George und Gerald Duckworth) and one sister (Stella Duckworth) from her mother’s first marriage.
Her mental health was impaired. Caused by her mother’s sudden death in 1895 and that of her half sister Stella two years later, Virginia Woolf suffered from several nervous breakdowns. Her father’s death in 1904 induced her most alarming collapse and she was briefly institutionalised.
Her breakdowns and subsequent recurring depressive periods, modern scholars have claimed, were also caused by her sexual abuse committed by their half-brothers George and Gerald
Woolf married the writer Leonard Woolf in 1912. Judging by her last written words, before she committed suicide it must have been a very sensitive and happy partnership.
During the post war period, Woolf was a significant figure in London literary society and a member of the Bloomsbury Group. Her most famous works include the novels "Mrs Dalloway" (1925), "To the Lighthouse" (1927), and "Orlando" (1928), and " A Room of One's Own"(1929) with its famous quote, "a woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction".
Virgina Woolf A Room Of One's Own Introduction
Introduction
A Room of One's Own is a very sensitive 112 -page novel by Virginia Woolf. Beside her book “Three Gunnies” it presents her most famous feminist work. A Room of One’s Own was first published in 1929. It was based on a series of lectures she delivered at Newnham College and Girton College, two women's colleges at Cambridge University in October 1928. Immediately before she published her book "Orlando" in which she revealed indirectly her relationship to Vita Sackville-West.
A Room of One's Own is a very sensitive 112 -page novel by Virginia Woolf. Beside her book “Three Gunnies” it presents her most famous feminist work. A Room of One’s Own was first published in 1929. It was based on a series of lectures she delivered at Newnham College and Girton College, two women's colleges at Cambridge University in October 1928. Immediately before she published her book "Orlando" in which she revealed indirectly her relationship to Vita Sackville-West.
Mittwoch, 13. Juni 2007
A year in Provence - Lavatory a la Turque
Peter Mayle described an odd facility which is still used in France. (I know this piece of furniture from my own experience. Imagine my surprise, when I arrived exhilarated in Paris, wanted to powder my nose and came across this unusual device).
It is a
shallow porcelain tray with a hole in the middle and foot-rests at each side. If you use the flushing it is highly probable that your feet get a shower for free. To avoid soggy feet you can try to operate the flushing from the safety of the doorway. For this purpose monkey-like arms are required. You can take a second opportunity and not flush at all. According to Peter Mayle’s opinion, which corresponds to mine, the second variant is prevailing.A year in Provence - The menace of vipers
In the 
forest, Peter Mayle’s acquaintance Massot put up signs saying Prive´ and other with the unwelcoming message “Viperes “ to get rid of the hated Germans. Peter Mayle didn’t believe in this danger and got immediately a private lecture from his distant neighbour.
If a viper bites a man, the man dies. If the viper bites a woman – then the viper dies.
Even so, told Massot, snakes are normally peaceful creatures and attack men only if they feel provoked. Massot advised him to run in zigzags’ uphill to escape the furious, jumping viper.
But by far the best antidote to vipers would be, being joined by a woman. The snake would catch the female creature first. Another infallible peasant’s trick is spitting in the open mouth of the viper after catching it. Peter Mayle went home circumspectly by practising his spitting form time to time.
forest, Peter Mayle’s acquaintance Massot put up signs saying Prive´ and other with the unwelcoming message “Viperes “ to get rid of the hated Germans. Peter Mayle didn’t believe in this danger and got immediately a private lecture from his distant neighbour.If a viper bites a man, the man dies. If the viper bites a woman – then the viper dies.
Even so, told Massot, snakes are normally peaceful creatures and attack men only if they feel provoked. Massot advised him to run in zigzags’ uphill to escape the furious, jumping viper.
But by far the best antidote to vipers would be, being joined by a woman. The snake would catch the female creature first. Another infallible peasant’s trick is spitting in the open mouth of the viper after catching it. Peter Mayle went home circumspectly by practising his spitting form time to time.
“Buying a house in Provence is not without its complications.”
Outline of the situation in Austria
Sorry, but I can’t resist dealing with taxes.
Peter Mayle described in his book that all property in France costs more than its advertised price. An unlucky buyer could end up paying as much as 15 % on top of the price, as he has to pay the property price, government fees, legal fees and the agent’s commission.
If unmovable property (land and buildings) is transferred in Austria, the acquirer has to bear the following expenses:
(On basis of the agreed acquisition cost)
Property transfer tax (if not purchased from a closely related person) 3,50 %
Land register fee 1,00 %
Fees of the notary public ( approx. ) 2,00 %
Agent’s commission incl. VAT 3,60 %
Total 10,10 %
If land is debt-financed additional fees arise.
Sorry, but I can’t resist dealing with taxes.
Peter Mayle described in his book that all property in France costs more than its advertised price. An unlucky buyer could end up paying as much as 15 % on top of the price, as he has to pay the property price, government fees, legal fees and the agent’s commission.
If unmovable property (land and buildings) is transferred in Austria, the acquirer has to bear the following expenses:
(On basis of the agreed acquisition cost)
Property transfer tax (if not purchased from a closely related person) 3,50 %
Land register fee 1,00 %
Fees of the notary public ( approx. ) 2,00 %
Agent’s commission incl. VAT 3,60 %
Total 10,10 %
If land is debt-financed additional fees arise.
Dienstag, 12. Juni 2007
A year in Provence
Discussion questions
1) How well did Mayle's frequent trips to Provence as a tourist prepare him for the reality of residing there? What were some of the initial surprises he and his wife encountered?
To my mind, it is impossible to prepare oneself as a tourist for a future life as a prospective resident. When you decide to change your residence you want to realize their harboured dream and there is a huge gulf between a dream and its materialization.
Of course, Peter Mayle and his wife took French lessons but the spoken language in Luberon was quite different. They dreamed of mild winters instead of the gloomy and cold ones in England but the climate turned out to be so very cold and frosty that their pipes burst. They learnt about the existing long-term agreements concerning the agricultural use of land which come under discussion when the property is transferred.
When it comes to their cuisine, the French appear very proud sometimes even smug and conceited. Monsieur Bagnols, for instance, who described in a picturesque way that the English kill their lamb twice; once when it is slaughtered and once when it is cooked.
The weird forest inhabitant Antionne Massot pointed out that the French eat their haunted foxes as opposed to the Englishmen who were chasing after them for hours and then only cut off their tails.
The paperwork connected with the purchase of their house and their car that drove them nearly crazy. Peter Mayle and his wife had not only to present their birth certificates, their passports and their marriage certificate but also their electricity bills and telephone accounts.
(I am very sorry to tell you that the last point is become international practice. Based on the experience that on the one hand people are very creative when it comes to transfer their residence to get perquisites, but on the other hand they are very reluctant to pay the connected ordinary expenses).
2) How does the form of the book--a month-by-month journal--enhance the immediacy of Mayle's observations and draw the reader into his experiences? How do the changing seasons mirror Mayle's own adjustment to his new environment?
The monthly descriptions of Peter Mayle’s life, his experiences and his adventures simplifies to follow the thread of the story. It divides the occurrences of the book into ones that are typical for the respective month or season and ones that are personal and extraordinary. I am under the impression that Peter Mayle and his wife relished and treasured the new life from the very beginning. The regarded their new neighbours as warm hearted, sociable and reliable people and they tried and succeed to fit in.Apart from enjoying sumptuous dinners and the local wine the Mayles got step by step acquainted with the behaviour of their neighbours as well as that of their craftsmen. For instance a purchase of a piece of furniture or a crate of wine was nothing that could be done within minutes. Such undertakings always required contemplating and discussing the subject over several pastis or glasses of wine. The final outcome was usually quite different from the originally intended one.
3) Mayle writes that neighbors take on an importance in the country that they don't have in the city [p. 6]. How do his relationships with Faustin, Massot, Menicucci, and the other local workmen reflect this? Does the fact that Mayle is a foreigner influence the way he is treated? How do the men working on his house endear themselves to Mayle, despite his continuing frustrations with their casual attitude about completing the job?
Peter Mayle became a partner to his neighbour Faustin. Faustin looked after Peter Mayle’s newly acquired land under the traditional system of metayage
The owner of the soil pays the capital costs of new wine socks and fertilizer and the farmer does the work of spraying cropping and pruning. I think the kind of welcome party including a five hour dinner served also as a means to guarantee a perfect takeover of this long existing agreement.
I believe that Peter Mayle was an advocate of supporting the local economy and therefore was getting along well with Monsieur Menecucci the local plumber and the other local craftsmen and in the end even with their wives.
4) Mayle notes there are "two areas of endeavor in which France leads the world-- bureaucracy and gastronomy" [p. 23]. What particular characteristics of the French does Mayle bring to light in stories about the bureaucracy involved in buying the house, a car, insurance, and other necessities?
5) The influx of tourists begins in May and reaches a high point in August. How does his status as a resident affect Mayle's attitudes about friends and acquaintances who, as he himself once did, try to take in everything Provence has to offer during a short holiday? Does he learn things about himself and the life he has chosen by looking through the eyes of visitors? To what extent are his own perceptions influenced by his English upbringing?
He pointed out several stereotypes concerning aliens: Germans are supposed to scatter their waste everywhere. Belgians were feared for their ruthless driving and English are said to be always suffering from diarrhoea. I do not find that his perception is affected by his English origin. Maybe he understands the intentions and manner of the visitors to the country better than his native acquaintances.
6) How does the Mayles' party for the workmen and their wives, as well as their own Christmas dinner at a local restaurant, put the events of the year into context and serve as a coda to the book as a whole?
My opinion
I like the book. It was not too difficult to read. The story is well structured and all characters are depicted in an endearing way. In Luberon seems to exist functioning neighbourhood assistance, problems are discussed and solutions are offered over a good meal and several pasties. For my taste, this is a very attractive procedure. Let’s move to France.
Samstag, 9. Juni 2007
Ninochka - film
Tina’s presentation has rekindled my memory. Her film “ Moscow on the Hudson” has reminded my to the movie “Ninotchka” which was frequently shown on the Austrian TV decades age.Ninotchka is an American film produced in the year 1939. The main parts were played by Greta Garbo and Melvin Douglas. It received four Academy Awards nominations, for Best Picture, Best Actress in a Leading Role, Best Original Story, and Best Screenplay.
Plot
Three Russians, Iranoff , Buljanoff
and Kopalski, are sent to Paris in order to sell jewelry confiscated from the Czar’s family during the Russian Revolution of 1917. Shortly after they begin to enjoy the capitalist lifestyle, the Soviet Union sends Nina Yakushova (Greta Garbo), a special agent who is supposed to conclude the jewelry deal with Count Leon as soon as possible and to bring back the three men.Rigid and stern at first, she slowly becomes attacted by the West and the Count, who falls in love with her.
The previous
owner, the Grand Duke Swana, who has been attracted by Count Leon too, threatens to impede the transaction of jewelery unless Ninotchka promises to return to Russia at once and to meet Leon never ever again.Due to her loyalty to Russia Ninotchka agrees and returns with her comrades to Russia. Leon tries to visit her but he doesn’t succeed. In Moscow Ninotschka and her comrads are mourning after their time in Paris. Shortly after their meeting, Iranoff , Buljanoff and Kopalski, are sent to Konstantinopel to sell Russian furs.
An anonymous report about their inability and decadence arrives in Moscow and Ninotschka is sent after them to observe them again. Upon her arrival she realizes that the account has been a trick by Leon. He confesses her his love and persuades her to remain in the West.
My opinion
"Ninotchka" is a romantic comedy and funny satire to the fight of classes, The confrontation between the capitalism and socialism systems is overdone, but presented so excellently that you cannot help but laughing. It is a pity that the movie isn’t shown on TV any more.
My friend Harvey
Dealing with my presentation of fairies and imps I realised that one of my favourite black and white fi
lms “My friend Harvey” is dealing with a sort of Irish imps. Harvey, the invisible friend of Elwood P. Dowd, is a Pooka in the shape of a six foot, three and a half inch tall white rabbit.
The film is based on the novel “Harvey” by Mary Chase who won with it the Pulitzer Prize in 1945.
The principal figure Elwood P. Dowd is played by James Stewart.
Josephine Hull won an Oscar in the category “Best side-actress”
Plot
At a society party Elwood P. Dowd starts to introduce his imaginary friend Harvey a Pooka in the shape of a six-foot three and a half inch tall, rabbit to the guests His sister Veta has enough of his eccentric behavior. She fears that he could destroy her efforts to find a suitable husband for her elderly daughter. Though she decides, to commit him to a sanatorium to spare her daughter Myrtle Mae and their family future embarrassment.
When they arrive at the sanitarium Veta is mistaken for her brother. But when the truth comes out the search is on for Elwood and his invisible friend. When Elwood shows up at the sanitarium looking for his lost friend Harvey, it seems that he mild mannered Elwood’s delusion has had a strange influence on more than one of the doctors.
Only just before Elwood is about to be given an injection, Dr. Chumley’s formula nine-seven-seven that will make him, as his taxi driver says, into a perfectly normal human being and you know what bastards they are, does Veta realize that she’d rather have Elwood be the same as he’s always been- carefree and kind - even if it means living together with Harvey, the Pooka, forever.
Personal opinion
lms “My friend Harvey” is dealing with a sort of Irish imps. Harvey, the invisible friend of Elwood P. Dowd, is a Pooka in the shape of a six foot, three and a half inch tall white rabbit.The film is based on the novel “Harvey” by Mary Chase who won with it the Pulitzer Prize in 1945.
The principal figure Elwood P. Dowd is played by James Stewart.
Josephine Hull won an Oscar in the category “Best side-actress”
Plot
At a society party Elwood P. Dowd starts to introduce his imaginary friend Harvey a Pooka in the shape of a six-foot three and a half inch tall, rabbit to the guests His sister Veta has enough of his eccentric behavior. She fears that he could destroy her efforts to find a suitable husband for her elderly daughter. Though she decides, to commit him to a sanatorium to spare her daughter Myrtle Mae and their family future embarrassment.
When they arrive at the sanitarium Veta is mistaken for her brother. But when the truth comes out the search is on for Elwood and his invisible friend. When Elwood shows up at the sanitarium looking for his lost friend Harvey, it seems that he mild mannered Elwood’s delusion has had a strange influence on more than one of the doctors.
Only just before Elwood is about to be given an injection, Dr. Chumley’s formula nine-seven-seven that will make him, as his taxi driver says, into a perfectly normal human being and you know what bastards they are, does Veta realize that she’d rather have Elwood be the same as he’s always been- carefree and kind - even if it means living together with Harvey, the Pooka, forever.
Personal opinion
The movie can be described as an extraordinary pleasant amusement.
The plot isn’t difficult to understand and all characters are depicted in a likeable way.
The plot isn’t difficult to understand and all characters are depicted in a likeable way.
Freitag, 8. Juni 2007
Another chapter of American history ?
When I was a little girl my father encouraged me to read the daily newspaper. I was nearly scared to death when I read about “Agent Orange” at the age of 8.
Agent Orange is an herbicide, developed a weed killer in the 1940’s. During the Vietnam War this means was employed by Americans to destroy covering vegetation in order to detect their enemies. All in all, about 40 million litres Agent Orange were sprayed by helicopters.
The Austrian newspapers were then full of warnings concerning the long-term effects. The main problem was supposed to be the poisoning of the soil with dioxin for decades or even centuries. This was said to cause cancer of various kinds and children’s innate malformation even in the second or third generation. Neglecting all these warnings the presidents between 1961 and 1971, (John F Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon) and the Congress approved of using this substance.
All the sombre premonitions came true, nowadays the third generation is poisoned and the result is still horrifyingly deformed children. According to the Vietnamese Red Cross suffer still about 500.000 people from long-term consequences. Other estimations speak about 4 million victims.
In 1984, some chemical companies that manufactured Agent Orange paid 180 million $ into a fund for United States veterans following a lawsuit. The Vietnamese victims didn’t receive any compensation. The Americans did not see a context between the malformations and the use of Agent Orange. The courts stated that Agent Orange was not considered a poison at that time. The fact that even then international scientists warned forcefully was completely insignificant. Should we not all take responsibility for our past actions?
Agent Orange is an herbicide, developed a weed killer in the 1940’s. During the Vietnam War this means was employed by Americans to destroy covering vegetation in order to detect their enemies. All in all, about 40 million litres Agent Orange were sprayed by helicopters.
The Austrian newspapers were then full of warnings concerning the long-term effects. The main problem was supposed to be the poisoning of the soil with dioxin for decades or even centuries. This was said to cause cancer of various kinds and children’s innate malformation even in the second or third generation. Neglecting all these warnings the presidents between 1961 and 1971, (John F Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon) and the Congress approved of using this substance.
All the sombre premonitions came true, nowadays the third generation is poisoned and the result is still horrifyingly deformed children. According to the Vietnamese Red Cross suffer still about 500.000 people from long-term consequences. Other estimations speak about 4 million victims.
In 1984, some chemical companies that manufactured Agent Orange paid 180 million $ into a fund for United States veterans following a lawsuit. The Vietnamese victims didn’t receive any compensation. The Americans did not see a context between the malformations and the use of Agent Orange. The courts stated that Agent Orange was not considered a poison at that time. The fact that even then international scientists warned forcefully was completely insignificant. Should we not all take responsibility for our past actions?
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