Woolf on January 21, 1931,

Woolf

On January 21, 1931, Virginia Woolf delivered a compelling speech to the National Society for Women's Service. The speech, titled "Professions for Women," is addressed to a female audience. In the speech, Woolf presents a cohesive feminist argument in which she relies on pathos, ethos, and logos. As an esteemed writer, Woolf's ethos and personal credibility is established by the first line of the speech, when she states, "your secretary invited me to come here…and she suggested that I might tell you something about my own professional experiences." Thus, even those unfamiliar with Woolf's work can appreciate the veracity of her words.

In "Professions for Women," Woolf argues that writing has provided females with a viable creative and professional outlet. At first, Woolf states that her own foray into writing began because it was a path of little resistance. No one in her household was going to tell her that pen and paper was too costly to be wasted on a woman. As Woolf puts it, "Writing was a reputable and harmless occupation…the cheapness of writing paper is…the reason why women have succeeded as writers before they have succeeded in the other professions." Woolf is correct in noting how difficult it once was, and in many ways still is, for women to break into professions that were once solely in the male domain.

Next, Woolf claims that once a woman begins to write she will encounter two major obstacles that prevent her full creative flourishing. Those two obstacles include the tendency to be conciliatory, and the fear of expressing issues related to sexuality. On both these points, Woolf is absolutely correct. Women are socialized to be gentle, kind, and soft, and any sign of assertiveness is considered inappropriate. Similarly, women are not supposed to discuss their sexuality and if they do, they are considered immoral. Although social norms and gender norms have changed somewhat since Woolf delivered her speech to the National Society for Women's Service, the same two obstacles continue to plague females around the world.

There are no points upon which I would personally disagree with Woolf, who also does not omit any pertinent information that would detract from her argument. In fact, Woolf uses rhetorical strategies to their full effectiveness and does not use any logical fallacies. The author focuses on several key points related to the oppression and self-liberation of women. Woolf's argument remains surprisingly relevant nearly a hundred years later.

One of the reasons why Woolf's speech is so moving is the fact that she has a command of the English language and uses that to her advantage. For example, Woolf understands the power of parallelism. She frequently uses language parallels such as: "It is true I am a woman; it is true I am employed." In another passage, Woolf states, "She was intensely sympathetic. She was immensely charming. She was utterly unselfish. She excelled in the difficult arts of family life. She sacrificed herself daily." These language parallels anchor the audience's attention and stress Woolf's underlying feminist message. In addition to language parallels, Woolf also uses brilliant imagery and symbolism throughout the speech to convey the central ideas.

One of the main motifs in the speech is that of the Angel in the House. The Angel in the House symbolizes the suppression of women and their perpetual oppression by men. The angel comes to life in Woolf's speech, as she describes, "she slipped behind me and whispered: 'My dear, you are a young woman. You are writing about a book that has been written by a man. Be sympathetic; be tender; flatter; deceive; use all the arts and wiles of our sex. Never let anybody guess that you have a mind of your own. Above all, be pure.'"

Woolf symbolically kills the Angel in the House and tells her audience that all women must take responsibility for killing her too. "Had I not killed her she would have killed me. She would have plucked the heart out of my writing." Saying this empowers her audience, and Woolf achieves one of her foremost goals of the speech in informing women that they have the power to extricate themselves from patriarchy. Men are not going to consider women as human beings until women are willing to fearlessly assert themselves.

The imagery and symbolism combine to form the underlying pathos in Woolf's speech. "Professions for Women" is emotional and intense and yet Woolf does not slip into hyperbole because she does not need to. Her credibility as an author is evident in her deft use of diction. Her experiences as a woman bolster what she says, and the fact that patriarchy still prevails makes Woolf's speech still relevant. Therefore, the logos or logic of Woolf's speech is embedded in the very fact that what she says is true. Women are expected to be docile and sexless.