Woolf: Shakespeare's Sister

I must say, although Virginia Woolf’s reading was somewhat difficult, it was also rather interesting. Throughout the reading, she basically describes, in detail, the difference between how men and women have suffered throughout history. She talks about how women were expected to be simple housewives their whole life, and how they weren’t supposed to be ambitious in any way. Woolf also explains how even if they WERE daring enough to pursue higher goals in life, they were persecuted so much that even the thought of it never crossed their minds. She then related the hardships of women to Shakespeare’s sister in a fictional sense.

In the story, Woolf explains how a woman could have the same acting skills as a man, but still never be as successful simply because of her sex. She also talks about the lack of women in literature throughout history, and how incredibly sexist society can be. Although her essay was written a long time ago, many of her points remain relevant today. In today’s society, although it isn’t as blatant, women are still being discriminated against because of their sex. The majority of higher-ranking jobs almost always go to men now-a-days, and unfortunately, that trend doesn’t seem to be changing. Many times, a woman can do the same job a man can do, if not better, but because of their sex, companies never find out.

If our society is to move forward however, women need to be start being viewed just as equal as men by everyone.