Virginia Woolf and the Languages of Patriarchy

By Jane Marcus

Arguing that Virginia Woolf is the first modern socialist feminist critic, Jane Marcus offers new readings of A Room of One's Own and the fiction, particularly the neglected novels The Years and Night... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0253204100
• ISBN13: 9780253204103
• Release Date: January 1987
• Publisher: Indiana University Press
• Length: 219 Pages
• Weight: 0.88 lbs.

Customer Reviews

terrific and courageous

It seems that phallus-worshipping white males have a lot to contend with when Jane Marcus writes another one of her marvellous books. This time she exposes the sexism of male readers who wish to make Virginia Woolf unimportant, secondary in literary (i.e., patriarchal white male writing) canons. It seems that Jane Marcus has insights into the male thought process that few other commentators have; she shows that the way males use language is entirely different from that of women, because males want competition and decending structures, while women want independence and freedom. Virginia Woolf exemplifies the courageous feminist whose radicalism is a threat to white males everywhere. I can't recommend this book highly enough- it is not only exhilerating, it is important.