Literary Analysis of Virginia Wolfe’s, Professions for Women

Fueled by the frustration of the masculine control that dominated her era, Virginia Woolf displayed her deepest feelings of oppression in her essay â€Å"Professions for Women†. Written in 1931, â€Å"Professions for Women† shows the internal conflict many women battled fiercely with when living their everyday lives. Woolf tells a story of a figurative â€Å"Angel in the House†, which is a stereotypical woman of the Victorian era and her efforts to break free from this stereotypical template. Woolf felt that for women to show men their true potential, they must wander beyond what society expects them to be and become an individual. Virginia Woolf’s skillful utilization of metaphorical diction and repetitious phrases help present her ideals to the reader while remaining rhetorically efficient. The â€Å"Angel in the House† example was referred to in numerous occasions in â€Å"Professions for Women†. The Angel was â€Å"charming†, â€Å"sympathetic† and â€Å"sympathetic† all qualities of a stereotypical woman in the Victorian era. Woolf’s diction implied dislike towards the Angel, stating â€Å"it was she who bothered me and wasted my time and so tormented me that at last I killed her†. Yet through extensive criticism, Woolf still referred to the Angel as â€Å"pure† and spoke of her good characteristics. The Angel in the House was a good thing and a bad thing. Good because all of her qualities were quite positive and seemed like a nice person, but bad because inadvertently, all these caring characteristics were holding women back from becoming their own individual. Instead of being an independent thinker, the Angel depended on men to support her and did not hesitate to serve them. The Angel would torment Woolf, telling her â€Å"Never let anybody guess you have a mind of your own† and because of the Angel’s messages; Woolf was forced to metaphorically â€Å"kill† the Angel to be able to think for herself. The Angel encompassed everything Woolf wanted to avoid; a naive, oblivious woman who was undermined by her masculine counterparts. Virginia Woolf wanted to create a profound effect on the readers of her work and her words reflect that goal. To solidify and strengthen some of her argument, Woolf took advantage of repeating phrases. When describing the Angel Woolf states, â€Å"She was immensely charming. She was utterly unselfish. She excelled in the difficult arts of family life. She sacrificed herself daily†. Woolf chose to use repetitious phrases and anaphors to reinforce the qualities of the Angel. If Woolf had simply listed the characteristics of he Angel, the description would have been weakened and less meaningful. Woolf uses a polymerization of two strategies to emphasize her purpose in the conclusion of her work â€Å"†¦how are you going to decorate it? With whom are you going to share it, and upon what terms†? Repeating rhetorical questions supplements her argument and provokes thought within the reader, which was Woolf’s goal from the beginning. Even though it was written in a n entirely different era, â€Å"Professions for Women† has many components that can be compared to live in the 21st century. Woolf was tied between two internal personas; the stereotypical, feeble minded woman (The Angel) and an independent, intellectually skilled writer and â€Å"Professions for Women† explores her internal battle with these distinct personalities. Purposefully, Wolf wanted to show that women could be independent and relinquish themselves from the mold society created. In today’s age we must ponder within ourselves; why as a society do we feel we must create models for people to follow? Can they make groups feel inferior to others?