Question

According to Woolf, why were there no "female Shakespeares" in Shakespeare's time? In your own words, state the point, or idea, about women that Woolf makes in the passage.

Answer 1

t would have been impossible, completely and entirely, for any woman to have written the plays of Shakespeare in the age of Shakespeare. Let me imagine, since facts are so hard to come by, what would have happened had Shakespeare had a wonderfully gifted sister, called Judith, let us say. Shakespeare himself went, very probably . . . to the grammar school, where he may have learnt Latin . . . and the elements of grammar and logic. . . . Very soon he got work in the theatre, became a successful actor, and lived at the hub of the universe, meeting everybody, knowing everybody, practising his art on the boards, exercising his wits in the streets, and even getting access to the palace of the queen. Meanwhile his extraordinarily gifted sister . . . was as adventurous, as imaginative, as agog to see the world as he was. But she was not sent to school. . . . She picked up a book now and then, one of her brother's perhaps, and read a few pages. But then her parents came in and told her to mend the stockings or mind the stew and not moon about with books and papers. . . . [B]efore she was out of her teens, she was to be betrothed to the son of a neighbouring woolstapler. She cried out that marriage was hateful to her, and for that she was severely beaten by her father. . . . She made up a small parcel of her belongings, let herself down by a rope one summer's night and took the road to London. . . . She had the quickest fancy, a gift like her brother's, for the tune of words. Like him, she had a taste for the theatre. She stood at the stage door; she wanted to act, she said. Men laughed in her face. . . . [A]t last Nick Greene the actor-manager took pity on her; she found herself with child by that gentleman and so — who shall measure the heat and violence of the poet's heart when caught and tangled in a woman's body? — killed herself one winter's night and lies buried at some cross-roads where the omnibuses now stop outside the Elephant and Castle.

Answer 2

here is my answer

Answer 3

According to Woolf, the reason why there were no “female Shakespeares” was because in the long run the female would have suffered anyways. Woolf is clear that no matter how hard a female would have tried in this time, she would have ended up suffering in her life because of the pressure of society, and even her own parents. Her parents pressured her to not live her own life, but in contrast to live the life they wanted for her. “...But she was not sent to school. . . . She picked up a book now and then, one of her brother's perhaps, and read a few pages. But then her parents came in and told her to mend the stockings or mind the stew and not moon about with books and papers…” But, if that even fair? Was this woman placed in this world to live her own life, to make a difference, or to pursue someone else's’.Everything was so enclosed and strict, that even writing was not in the destiny of a woman. Even if this was one of her biggest dreams, everyone would bring her down and somewhere down the road, she would have gone through trials and tribulations that may have been too much for her to handle. Woolf develops this idea in the passage by giving a clear visual of the potential life a girl could have if she tried to pursue something other than what society wanted her to.

Answer 4

@Shadow

Answer 5

@Vocaloid

Answer 6

it's not a bad start but it's a little vague and repetitive, you mentioned that a woman in that era would face "societal pressures" "trials" "tribulations" but it would benefit from being a bit more specific

for example:

- women were not given a formal education ("Meanwhile his extraordinarily gifted sister... she was not sent to school.")
- women were expected to do domestic labor ("parents came in and told her to mend the stockings or mind the stew")
- women wanting to pursue a career were not taken seriously ("Men laughed in her face")