Kew Gardens vs. A Society

           

 

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         Virginia Woolf once said, “If one could be friendly with women, what a pleasure - the relationship so secret and private compared with relations with men. Why not write about it truthfully?” Woolf’s writings are interpreted as a feminist’s outlook on the world. This perspective also applies to two short stories from her posthumously published book “A Haunted House and Other Short Stories”, “A Society” and “Kew Gardens”. Published in 1919, “Kew Gardens” uses vivid imagery and vague generalizations of nature to support Woolf’s ideas of feminism. “A Society” channels its feminist themes through concrete plot descriptions. Although these short stories are located on opposite ends of Woolf’s stylistic spectrum, their messages of feminism both suggest the same idea. In “A Society” and “Kew Gardens” Woolf uses the male dominated society of the 1920’s to advocate women taking a more active and dominant role over men.

Notwithstanding on the surface “Kew Gardens” appears as a story about an afternoon surrounded by nature, Woolf suggests that women should not act submissive towards their men. Woolf sets the scene with her first example: a married couple unsure of where they stand in terms of power. relations. While in the gardens, the man recalls his previous relationship which included a failed marriage proposal. “And my love, my desire, were in the dragonfly; for some reason I thought that if it settled there, on that leaf, the broad one with the red flower in the middle of it, if the dragonfly settled on the leaf she would say 'Yes' at once. But the dragonfly went round and round: it never settled anywhere­of course not, happily not, or I shouldn't be walking here with Eleanor and the children­. Tell me, Eleanor. D'you ever think of the past?" As he recalls his rejection from this woman, he asks his wife whether or not she thinks of the past. Woolf brings up this memory in order to show that women can have a mind of their own and reject men. By suggesting that women can have this power, Woolf endorses feminism. After the man reminisces about his past, his current wife promptly ignores him and thinks about her own past. This shows that women don’t have to listen to men; they should do what they feel is best. “The people, though, all seem caught in a state of psychological stasis. The young couple, particularly the man, is trapped by desire for the other and the uncertainty of what to do next” (Martin). According to Robert Stanley Martin, the man is more unsure of himself than the woman is of herself. This supports Woolf’s idea that women should be in charge since women are more quick thinking than men. In “Kew Gardens” Woof shows that women should be independent of men, advocating for the ideals of feminism.

In “A Society” a group of women are discussing their everyday trivial matters when all of a sudden, Poll, a woman dependent on her father’s fortune, bursts into tears, complaining about mundane literature. At this proclamation, the women start debating whether or not they should bear and raise men if all they only contribute trite books to society. Therefore, the women start to investigate the world in men “[because] these women want to know if men have produced anything of high value” (Dick.) A couple of the women disguise themselves as men and start living as a male. This results in many hilarious stories focusing on the idiocy of men. One of the women tells the story in which a man orders one of the disguised women to spank him, “At length he decreed that if she gave him four strokes and a half in the small of the back at a spot indicated by himself (the half conceded, he said, in recognition of the fact that her great grandmother's uncle was killed at Trafalgar).” In this silly ancedote, Woolf suggests that perceptive and intelligent women should be able to control their own lives since men can’t even control their own “societies”. In “A Society”, Woolf suggests that since women are more aware of their lives they should control society.

In both “A Society” and “Kew Gardens” Woof suggests that intellectually superior women should be able to command society. Through witty examples and funny dialogue, Woolf proposes that women direct society because women are the paramount gender.

Bibliography:

Dick , Susan . "What Fools We Were!." 20th Century Literature. 33.1 (1987): 51-66. Web.

26 Sep. 2011. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/441332>.

Martin, Robert. "Fiction Review: Virginia Woolf, "Kew Gardens"." Pol Culture. 25 01 2010. Web.

11 Oct. 2011. <http://polculture.blogspot.com/2010/01/fiction-review-virginia-woolf-kew.html>.

Woolf , Virginia . "Kew Gardens." The Literature Network. The Literature Network , n.d. Web. 11

Oct 2011. <http://www.online-literature.com/virginia_woolf/862/>.

Woolf , Virginia . "A Society." The Literature Network. The Literature Network , n.d. Web. 11 Oct

2011. <http://www.online-literature.com/virginia_woolf/857/>.