"Mad Man"

In Virginia Woolf's, A Room of One's Own, the word "angry" maddens the pages of Woolf's essay, most prominently in the second chapter. As a woman, it is difficult to read the passage that focuses on men's arguments of "the mental, moral, and physical inferiority of women" (32). For centuries women have been deemed inferior to men. Women have had to work harder and fight longer than any man ever has to get to the top of any establishment so it is no surprise that Woolf turns red and becomes flushed with anger; almost any female reader or writer would most likely feel the same. This question of anger comes up numerous times within a few pages and Woolf never seems to establish a solid answer. However, she is able to juggle the issue of the inferiority of women to men as a true writer should.



"How explain the anger of the professors? Why were they angry?" (32). It seems that when any human being feels his "superiority" in jeopardy, he immediately places himself on the defence. He secretly begins to guard his being, his livelihood and his ego. As Woolf says most cleverly, "there is no end to the pathetic devices of the human imagination-over other people" (35). The men who wrote these books on the inferiority of women seem to be suffering from some sort of problem, maybe even some illness if you will, when it comes to women and their slow, but yet inevitable, climb up the ladder of society and status. The status of women has improved significantly over the centuries and men have felt threatened by that. Instead of being angry back at the men in her essay, Woolf is cautious and careful and does not succumb to blaming men for the unequal treatment of women over the centuries. She even admits that life has been a struggle for both sexes, even if it was harder for women than men. "Life for both sexes . . . is arduous, difficult, a perpetual struggle" (35). Woolf does what she argues and takes a stand against the angry men and against the discrimination of women while also establishing an argument with indisputable proofs. It looks at if Woolf has won her case, for now as she outshines the men in the books she selects by taking a stand without an angry attitude.