Virginia Woolf’s “Three Guineas”: Feminism and War Prevention
Virginia Woolf’s “Three Guineas”: A Critical Analysis
Virginia Woolf’s 1939 essay, Three Guineas, has received significant attention within cultural studies, despite Leavis’s description of it as “nasty, dangerous, and preposterous.” In Three Guineas, Woolf imagines replying to a letter from a barrister seeking advice on how educated women can help prevent war. Woolf addresses this question within the context of three hypothetical requests for financial support for different causes. She offers feminist cultural criticism through these replies:
- A reply to a treasurer’s letter requesting funds to rebuild a women’s college.
- A reply to a letter seeking a subscription to a society that helps educated women find professional employment.
- A reply to a letter asking educated women to sign a manifesto pledging to protect culture and intellectual liberty and to join the society in need of funds.
Woolf donates a guinea to each cause, but only under specific conditions. It’s crucial to remember that Three Guineas was written on the eve of World War II, when fascism was seen as a major threat to world peace.
The First Guinea: Exclusion and Subordination
In her response regarding the first guinea, Woolf critiques the exclusion and systematic subordination of women. Many men argued that upper-class women shouldn’t work because it was undignified and a form of slavery. Woolf counters that professional dependence is less oppressive than dependence on a father, exposing the patriarchal foundations of British society. This patriarchy is linked to a patriotism where men claim to fight for freedom and are driven by national pride. Woolf questions what patriotism means to educated women, raising the issue of national identity and stating that she has no country because it has historically treated women as dependents and slaves.
The Second Guinea: Social Construction of Gender
Woolf argues that sexual difference isn’t natural but shaped by cultural experiences and opportunities. A woman’s identity is largely a product of cultural differences within a male-dominated society. She recognizes a perceptual divide between men and women of her class.
In the second guinea, she summarizes the struggle of upper-class women to gain limited access to education. Woolf also addresses what we now call representation, highlighting how men have portrayed women as intellectually inferior and better suited for domestic duties. She offers this historical perspective when discussing education, professional opportunities, and even the church.
Woolf asserts that gender differentiation is a social construct, not a natural outcome of innate differences. This constructed difference is evident in signifying practices, where cultural influences shape how things are made to mean, such as dress, which has historically expressed gendered social positions.
The Third Guinea: Equality and Participation
Woolf goes beyond simply demanding equality, questioning whether women should even aspire to the world that dominant men have created. She recognizes that women can only influence society through full participation in education and the professions. A key argument is that women can only help prevent war if men allow them this full participation.
In the third guinea, the barrister asks Woolf to sign a manifesto pledging to protect culture and intellectual liberty and to join his society. She points out that women of her class have already contributed to male intellectual liberty, as resources that could have been used for women’s education were instead spent on men.