Fueled by the frustration of the masculine control that dominated her era, Virginia Woolf displayed her deepest feelings of oppression in her essay “Professions for Womenâ€. Written in 1931, “Professions for Women†shows the internal conflict many women battled fiercely with when living their everyday lives. Woolf tells a story of a figurative “Angel in the Houseâ€, which is a stereotypical woman of the Victorian era and her efforts to break free from this stereotypical template. Woolf felt that for women to show men their true potential, they must wander beyond what society expects them to be and become an individual. Virginia Woolf’s skillful utilization of metaphorical diction and repetitious phrases help present her ideals to the reader while remaining rhetorically efficient. The “Angel in the House†example was referred to in numerous occasions in “Professions for Womenâ€. The Angel was “charmingâ€, “sympathetic†and “sympathetic†all qualities of a stereotypical woman in the Victorian era.
