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Summary Of Virginia Woolf's Three Guineas

Decent Essays

Virginia Woolf’s Three Guineas tackled the complicated question of ‘How do we prevent war?’ in a series of letters addressed to an educated man. In the second chapter, Woolf discussed the lack of women getting a college education as well as women not receiving a fair income. She also addressed the fact that women were constantly being told to not worry about jobs, but rather remain working in the home. This prompted her to ask the question “Who protects our [women’s] freedom?” and worries about the power of nationalism. Throughout the entire second chapter, Woolf discussed these issues with specific examples, while subtly tying it in with the world that was surrounding her at the current time. Near the beginning of the chapter, Woolf informed the reader that the income of the W.S.P.U was £42,000 and earning £250 per year was “quite an achievement even for a highly qualified woman with years of experience” (44) according to Ray Strachey in Careers and Openings for Women. Woolf completely disagreed with both statements and claimed that £42,000 was “incredibly minute compared to the income of conservative and liberal parties [that educated women’s brothers belonged to]” (44). She believed that the W.S.P.U didn’t have the money to make the changes needed to prevent war, and had reasoning as to why the W.S.P.U didn’t have much money later on in the letter. Later on in the letter, Woolf described the realities of women being paid an income. Men during that time period received

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