The Struggle of Women Intellectuals: Thematic Analysis

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The struggle of Women Intellectuals: A Thematic Analysis Of Selected Works
From the given sources, Virginia Woolf, Sui Sin Far, Edith Wharton, and Sharon Olds are the woman writers who have elaborated on this theme in some of their works. In "Shakespeare's Sisters," Virginia Woolf elaborates on the theme of the struggle of woman intellectuals in the conservative western societies by proposing that if Shakespeare had equally talented sisters, they would not have got the opportunity to pursue a career. Similarly, Sui Sin Far explains the struggle and academic accomplishments of a woman despite utter social resistance and impediments and thus, reinforces the notion that women can overcome hurdles and achieve their aim. Moreover, in "The Angel at the Grave," Edith Wharton explains how society thwarts a woman's literary interest, efforts, and talent and how she finally achieves her aim. Finally, a short poem by Sharon Olds, "The Death of Marilyn Monroe," provides a highly subtle but effective message of the ingratitude of society towards women artists.
Virginia Woolf is one of the early novelists of the Victorian era marked for its conservative nature and maltreatment of women. So naturally, in almost all her writings, the themes of female subjugation, disadvantages of the patriarchal system, and status of females in matrimonial ties frequently appear. However, a Room of One's Own is an exclusively feminist novel, and her passage "Shakespeare's Sisters" is a deliberate insertion in the text to accentuate the problems of female intellectuals and artists in the conservative Victorian society. In this passage, MS Woolf uses a carefully constructed imaginary situation to explain the dilemma of women intellectuals. Furthermore, the analogy of Shakespeare's sisters with similar literary talent and intellect clarifies this theme by forcing the reader to comprehend Victorian women's intellectual woes using deductive reasoning.
MS Woolf reveals the gender discrimination and low treatment conducted with women of the fifteenth and sixteenth century by explaining how the dominant male society disregards women's intellectual abilities and talents and deems them inferior beings with limited cognitive abilities. The following lines of the text expound her argument: "any woman born with a great gift in the sixteenth century ……………….. half-witch, half wizard, feared and mocked at "(Woolf 57). These remarks clarify that Virginia Woolf understands and lament the maltreatment of women intellectuals in sixteenth-century society.
As discussed above, she uses an imaginary situation to further elaborate on this central theme by proposing what kind of treatment would have been given to her if Shakespeare had an equally talented and skilled sister named Judith. Extending her imaginary situation, MS Woolf explains that despite Judith being gifted with the same talent, she would not have had any chance to learn grammar and logic as Shakespeare would have. Similarly, MS Woolf continues, even if Judith happened to read any of his brother's books, she would have been engaged in domestic chores by his parents and would never have had a chance to complete it. Furthermore, well before ...