Women have not always had the freedom to indulge in the literary world. There was a point in time, not too long ago, where a woman?s sole purpose was to bear children and play the submissive role to her husband?s every whim. But if a woman did express a greater interest in any hobby outside of being a wife and mother, she was laughed at, possibly beaten, and sent back to wherever it was she came from. This was not even a century ago, and it is an issue that Virginia Woolf discusses in great detail, everything from the exclusion of women in social power to privilege. Woolf implies that society should accept that women are different and do things differently instead of encouraging adherence to the way of males do things, especially in regards to leadership.
Women during the early 20th century were not allowed in a library to actually acquire knowledge, few were even taught to read and write.
Portrait of Virginia Woolf by George Charles Beres...
English: Portrait of Virginia Woolf
English: Bust of Virginia Woolf, Tavistock Square,...All that knowledge locked behind metaphorical and literal doors that were inaccessible to women unless escorted by an educated man or given ?a letter of introduction.? Upon further though, Woolf realized that during that time period, a woman would never be able to afford to attend college anyway because she could not pay for the expenses. Neither could women collectively pay for a fun that would benefit other females to attend college because of their role in society. A woman?s only purpose was to have and rear her children. Woolf gives the example of Mary Seton, who was one of 13 children. Her mother only had time to take care of the children, and even if she did mysteriously gain access to accumulating money, it would only be spent according to what her husband believed it should be...