The sentence which best states the idea that the excerpt helps to develop is the following one:
B. In England, women were seen more as objects of affection than as capable people.
The way Professor Trevelyan is described, as queer and imaginative, but of no practical significance, shows how the speaker sees her: as unable to perform her task adequately. The Professor had written a History book, and according to the speaker all there is in it is poetry and fiction. In the end, the speaker says: "She dominates the lives of kings and conquerors in fiction; in fact she was the slave of any boy whose parents forced a ring upon her finger", which shows how underestimated Professor Trevelyan is, especially if compared to men. In fact, she is said to be the slave of one, which means she stands at inferior ground in the speaker's opinion.
