Question

“This may be true or it may be false—who can say?—but what is true in it, so it seemed to me, reviewing the story of Shakespeare’s sister as I had made it, is that any woman born with a great gift in the sixteenth century would certainly have gone crazed, shot herself, or ended her days in some lonely cottage outside the village, half witch, half wizard, feared and mocked at.” (Virginia Woolf, “In Search of a Room of One’s Own” What is possible analysis of this paragraph?

Answer 1

I wasn't able to find this question online to see if it is supposed to be a multiple-choice question or an open-ended one. Therefore, I will provide you with my own analysis and interpretation of the paragraph.

Answer and Explanation:

In this particular excerpt from Virginia Woolf's “In Search of a Room of One’s Own,” the author shows how dangerous it was for a woman to be intelligent and talented in the sixteenth century. Society feared and mocked gifted women. Mocked in the sense that they would try to convince her it was shameful, disgraceful to have her own thoughts expressed, to express her own feelings, to defy the status quo. Feared in the sense that society knew very well how powerful women could be once they began to express themselves, once they realized they too could write and produce ideas in a powerful manner. Women were "half witch, half wizard," inspiring respect and repulsion at the same time. That treatment by society would be enough to drive any woman - anyone, as a matter of fact - crazy.