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"What Fools We Were!"

“The premise on which Woolf  bases her story is that these young women know as little about the social, political and artistic achievements of men as most men know about those of women. The society they now create among themselves will both expose and challenge [the men].” In “What Fools We Were!” by Susan Dick, Dick suggests that Virginia Woolf’s short story, A Society was a counterargument to a anti-feminist article called Our Women: Chapters on Sex Discord. Dick uses background on Woolf and plot summary to conclude that “ A Society” was written with a pro-feminist outlook, but ended up supporting the opposite argument due to Woolf’s fear of a uproar from the male audience.

Susan Dick first introduces “A Society” by giving some background information on the story. Due to the author’s wishes, Virginia Woolf’s short story “A Society” was not published alongside her other short stories after her death. Dick suggests that Woolf didn’t want to republish her work because her short story didn’t implement her usual narrative technique and she had already explored feminist views in her previous works.  Woolf always explores the lives of women “within the historical and cultural context which shapes their lives and which, through the course of the narrative most come to see more clearly.” Dick also points out that“ A Society has affinities with the fable and the novel of ideas. It also resembles some of Woolf’s own essays in which fictional situations serve as the occasion for the discussion of ideas.” Woolf felt that this short story reiterated ideas and themes she had already wrote about. In the beginning of “What Fools We Were!” Dick provides the audience with background information and brings up the pattern of feminism in “A Society”. 

           Establishing that “A Society” is a feminist short story, Dick continues her claim by proposing it was written in counter argument to Arnold Bennett’s book Our Women: Chapters on the Sex Discord. In her counterargument located in New Statesmen disagrees with Bennett’s point that women are “intellectually inferior to men.”  Woolf argues that Sappho was a female Greek poet who’s skills couldn’t be challenged by any other male poet. In the short story, Woolf continues her former argument by using, “The group of young women who form themselves into a society ‘for asking questions’.” One of most hypocritical characters in the society is Cassandra, who agrees with all the requirements, but backs out on her word in the end. The fact that Woolf told “A Society” from the point of view of Cassandra, shows that Woolf was afraid to voice her true feelings. Cassandra forces “readers to draw their own conclusions about discoveries the society makes.” rather than stating what she truly means. Dick declares that even though “A Society” is a short story with feminist themes, Woolf is still afraid of backlash from the public and attempts to hide her true purpose behind her short story. 

    After giving the background information, Dick approaches “A Society” by summarizing the plot and making conclusions. “While sitting one day after tea begin as usual to praise men, these young women are about to begin questioning the “usual” assumptions of their society. In doing so they unknowingly enacting the process through which new societies evolve.” After this meeting, the women decide to go into the world of men and figure out exactly what it is men do with their time and their intellects. Each of the women come back with their hilarious experiences as “men” and come close to concluding men as a waste of time and energy to raise. However, Cassandra, the main character who’s point of view is most apparent to the audience soon reveals that she is pregnant with child and the women, “hear men in the street…this passage associates Castalia’s concern for her daughter’s future and her denunciation of the fruits of men’s intellect with the war and its aftermath.” At which point the women decide to disband the society. Dick claims that that while reading the story, the audience is pushed to believe the feminist themes; however, at the last minute Woolf pulls a twist which leaves the audience confused and unable to agree with one idea or another. However, because of the background information on Woolf, we now know that Woolf was trying to put across the feminist ideals, but was unable to due to fear of public backlash. 

          Dick suggests that although this short story is often seen as a feminist story, Woolf’s usage of names detracts from the message of the story. “The suggestion that a matriarchal society could evolve to replace the bellicose patriarchal one is supplemented in the story by the richly allusive names Woolf gives her characters…the names suggests a long female tradition of which these women are a vital part.” For example: “Cassandra’s name clearly seems an ironic allusion to the prophetess who was condemned by Apollo to tell the truth and not be believed…Cassandra which presents a bitter and impassioned portrait of the restricted life of a young woman in the middle of the previous century.” Dick explores Cassandra’s hypocrisy by describing the meaning Woolf gives to her name. Woolf is also to have said that “Thus though women have every reason to hope that the intellect of the male sex is steadily diminishing it would be unwise until they have more evidence than the great war and the great peace to announce it as a fact.” In ‘A Society’, Woolf brings up the point of women being more intelligent than men but doesn’t support it in fear of too much heat from the public. 

“The compelling links between the societies of women envisioned in ‘A Society’ and 3 Guineas bring to mind the observation Woolf makes that ‘we think back through our mothers if we are women.” According to Dick, Woolf wanted to get her feminist opinions across and believed that feminism was a topical and important right to fight for. However, Woolf makes a complete 180 degree turn at the end of “A Society” which Dick attributes to her fear of public outrage. 

Cite:  Dick , Susan . "What Fools We Were!." 20th Century Literature. 33.1 (1987): 51-66.       Web. 26 Sep. 2011. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/441332>.