Surfacing and Rise of the Woman

In literature, the woman question has attracted a lot of debate due to the fluid nature of women’s rights and freedom. Britain and the United States have been at the forefront of the rights and freedom of women for many years. The Victorian period in particular motivated women to question their role and identity in the grander scheme of things. Virginia Woolf and Kate Chopin have different versions on the surfacing and the rise of the woman-question by demanding for their liberation in different ways. The woman-question has been the antecedent for social change by encouraging women to push beyond the limits upon which the society has imposed upon them. On that note, most women played the role of waiting for marriage.

It formed a vital component in their lives forcing them to eagerly wait for it as the next most important event in their lives after birth. It was this cocoon of marriage that was created by the society that forced significant authors of the time to react in distinctive ways (Chopin 36). Kate Chopin was an American author that wrote many southern local stories. She was forced to write because she viewed marriage to be no different from slavery. Most importantly, to signify that indeed women had come of age and the issue of women-question brought to light, she quickly calculated the number of years she had to live her own life. She was relieved that life was indeed long for her.

“Her fancy was running riot along those days ahead of her. Spring days, and summer days, and all sorts of days would be her own. She breathed a quick prayer that life might be long. The role of Kate Chopin was not to change the world but to describe it most vividly. In that way, she would show people the truths that were often hidden from people about their rights, sexuality in addition to their complexities and contradictions in relationships with their husbands. Chopin revolted against the traditional system of authority which many people can hardly dare to gauge to this day. The life of women was submerged at the time and lacked a figure that would comfortably liberate them from the chains of oppression.

Nonetheless, she was at the forefront of campaigning against the submerged life of women by laying the groundwork for future liberation undertakings. Nonetheless, for over a century, the breadwinner role has been quickly changing by incorporating women into the complex task. They have therefore caused changes in marriage and family constitution. On the issue of contraception and reproduction, women in both states have ensured that they are not depended on men to bring forth new offspring. Nowadays, sperm is available on the internet making it easier for any woman willing to reproduce to purchase them easily. Regardless o the existence or presence of men women can quickly look for doctors who can assist in self-insemination. They have formed an essential aspect of challenging the accepted patterns by seeking to re-arrange them.

Virginia Woolf notes, “Lock up your libraries if you like; but there is no gate, no lock, no bolt that you can set upon the freedom of my mind” (Woolf 43). As Woolf points out, women have been marginalized for a long time. Implications of having a room of one’s own as the author suggests are unfathomable because they rectify the wrong of the voices that are uniquely silent. As a result, women who have often faced a level of isolation can be key parts of the social order when they can regain their particular sense of identity and the change in the structure of their room. Her essay is an eye-opener for women to come out of the private sphere that has been forced upon them.

Woolf was a short-story writer and a critic that criticized the patriarchal nature of the society (Jayakrishna 3). Woolf challenged the inferior nature of women in the society. Her discussion of the woman-question in the society has often revolved around questioning the set norms ideologies and division of gender, therefore, shedding light on a topic that has often been assumed by many contemporary male writers. Virginia Woolf, therefore, attempted to challenge the conventional gender divisions in English history. It was not a coincidence as most people note throughout history. The desires, aspirations, and needs of the social force people into accepting a narrative that women form a social class is lower than women in addition to playing a periphery role (Jayakrishna 2). World wars as experienced in England and America challenged the woman-question by encouraging women to take their rightful position to spearhead their destiny.