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Summary
” Profession for Women” is originally a speech given to a women’s group. The essay is an adaptation of the speech that Virginia Woolf gave at the National Society for Women’s Service on January 21, 1931. She argues that women must overcome special obstacles to become successful in their careers. She describes two hazards(risks) for all the women who aspire professional life. First they must overcome their tendency (प्रवृत्ति) to sacrifice their own interest to those of others and second they must overcome their disinterest to challenge conservative male attitudes.
She explains her job as a writer, leading her audience to believe it was an easy profession to acquire. Then she lists the difficulties she had when she first started out. Her profession is literature and there are many other women who had already been in literature before her making the path of literature smooth. According her, when she came to write, there were very few obstacles in her way. She says that writing is really a reputable and harmless occupation. The family peace is not broken by the pen. This profession is cheap, too because one can buy paper and other materials just with ten and six pence. Parents do not have burden of economy while investing in the field of writing. Sitting at home, one can write. So, family peace is not broken. If they choose the field of doctors and astronauts, they should have the problem of economy and should go outside to fulfill their tasks and they might be viewed negatively by the society.
Once she became a journalist and her effort was rewarded on the first day of next month. She was rewarded by a letter from an editor containing a cheque for one pound, ten shillings and six pence. She bought a beautiful Persian cat with that sum instead of spending on bread, butter, rent, shoes etc.
Once she was writing novel review of a famous man. While she was writing, she remembered that first she had to fight with a certain phantom (ghost) and that ghost was woman. Woolf claims that in order to be a successful writer, female writer must defeat “The Angel in the House.” “The Angel in the House’ symbolizes the expectations of the society from what a woman should be. This is a symbol of a woman, a housewife, a mother of her children. Similarly, she was sympathetic, charming, ideal, unselfish, pure. The Angle in the House used to come between her and her paper while she was writing review. The Angel in the House constantly bothered the writer and wasted her time. So finally she killed The Angel in the House. The writer thought if she had not killed her, she would have killed the writer.
From the essay, she wants all females to be bold and educated. She is trying to say that they are as equal as males. So they should not be angel in the house rather they should divert them towards making future. They should involve in productive works. She wants women’s freedom from economic slavery. She makes a strong appeal for women’s liberation from conventional (traditional) shackles (chains). In the late Victorian and early twentieth century, women had no economic independence. They were not free to speak, to write and to think in the way they liked. They were compelled to live by man-made standards.
Questions
1. Analyze and discuss Woolf’s “Angel in the House” metaphor How does it enhance her essay ?
Ans: Once while she was writing novel review of a famous man, she remembered that first she had to fight with a certain phantom (ghost) “The Angel in the House”. “The Angel in the House” is the metaphor which is described as her phantom. It symbolizes the expectations of the society from what a woman should be. This is a symbol of a woman, a housewife, a mother of her children. Similarly, she was sympathetic, charming, ideal, unselfish, pure. The Angle in the House used to come between her and her paper while she was writing review. The Angel in the House constantly bothered the writer and wasted her time. So finally she killed “The Angel in the House”. The writer thought if she had not killed her, she would have killed the writer.
By using the metaphor “Angel in the House”, the writer has enhanced her essay. This metaphor has really strengthened her essay and she has become successful to convey the message what she wanted to convey. Through the essay, she wants to convey the message that all females should be bold and educated. The females are as equal as males. So they should not be angel in the house rather they should divert them towards making future.
2) Of the two major problems Woolf names-the Angel in the House and the extreme conventionality of men-which, in your opinion, continues to cause professional women most difficulty?
Ans: Virginia Woolf points out two major problems “Angel in the House” and “the extreme conventionality of men”. In my opinion both problems equally cause the difficulty to professional women. It depends upon the concept of family, society and the women themselves. Some families and societies are patriarchal where the men have all or most of the power and importance. In such family or society, women are guided by the rules made by men. So the professional women’s life is affected. In some families and societies the women themselves seem to show the concept of “Angel in the House” Although the family members encourage the women to be professional, they themselves think that they should be devoted wife or devoted daughter-in-law. That’s why they can’t be professional.
3. How could Woolf’s warnings about the danger of the Angel in the House be useful to modem women who are in careers other than writing, such as law or publishing or engineering?
Ans: Woolf’s warnings about the danger of the Angel in the House be useful to modem women who are in careers other than writing, such as law publishing or engineering. The phantom ” Angel in the House” symbolizes the expectations of the society from what a woman should be. This is a symbol of a woman, a housewife, a mother of her children. The writer killed this phantom and she became successful in her life. Similarly, “the Angel in the House” can be useful to modem women who are in careers other than writing, such as law or publishing or engineering. Certainly the modem women who are in careers of law or publishing or engineering have to labour hard. If they suffer from this phantom and try to be devoted wives or devoted daughters- in – law, they may not be successful in their profession. So they should also kill this phantom like the writer.
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