A Room of One's Own
“Shakespeare's sister”
1. From 1021, Woolf imagines the career of of Shakespeare's fictional sister, Judith. What happens to Judith, and why? How does Judith's fate show that "genius" is not above history and material circumstance?
2. What was granted to Shakespeare that would not have been granted to a sister with equal potential?
“Chloe liked Olivia”
3. From 1023, Woolf invents "Mary Carmichael," a novelist. What criticisms does Woolf make of this fictional author? What is nonetheless promising, and even startling, about her work?
“Androgyny”
4. From 1025, what, according to Woolf, did Coleridge mean by his term "androgyny"? Why is Shakespeare an excellent example of this quality?
5. From 1027-9, why is it "fatal" to write solely as a man or as a woman? Why, according to Woolf, is the modern (post-WWI) way of constantly theorizing about gender and gender relations misguided?
6. What exhortation does Woolf offer women in her audience from 1029? What does she suggest that women should do to make progress? Is Woolf offering this advice to "women in general," or is her advice offered to a more limited group than that? Explain.
Mrs Dalloway
1. Clarissa Dalloway and Septimus Warren Smith are the main characters in the novel. How are they described? In what way are they similar or different?
2. “Fear no more the heat `o the sun/Nor the furious winter's rages” are the words from Shakespeare's Cymbeline which are going to reverberate through the novel. In what context do they appear in this fragment? What relevance do they have to this story?
3. Mrs Dalloway is constructed from many different points of view. Describe the three instances where the point of view changes and explain how Woolf accomplishes the transitions. In what respect are the transitions similar to the transitions Molly Bloom makes in her monologue between one subject and another?
4. World War I affected all the characters in the book to some degree. Choose two characters (including one other than Clarissa or Septimus) and explain how the war affected them.
5. The multitude of minor characters in the novel can be compared to a chorus in a classical Greek drama. Choose three minor characters and describe their role.
6. In what respects is this excerpt similar or dissimilar to the hypothetical novel written by Mary Carmichael in A Room of One's Own?