--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: To be a woman and a writer is double…" description: "\"To be a woman and a writer is double mischief, for the world will slight her who slights \"the servile house,\" and who would rather make odes than beds...." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6df/dilys-laing-74022_bed_to-be-a-woman-and-a-writer-is-double-mis_1729663.jpg" --- # To be a woman and a writer is double mischief, for the… ![“To be a woman and a writer is double mischief, for the world will slight her who slights "the servile house," and who would rather make odes than beds.” quote by Dilys Laing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6df/dilys-laing-74022_bed_to-be-a-woman-and-a-writer-is-double-mis_1729663.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6df/dilys-laing-74022_bed_to-be-a-woman-and-a-writer-is-double-mis_1729663.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6df/dilys-laing-74022_bed_to-be-a-woman-and-a-writer-is-double-mis_1729663.jpg) > “To be a woman and a writer is double mischief, for the world will slight her who slights "the servile house," and who would rather make odes than beds.” [Dilys Laing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dilys-laing/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Female writers face societal scorn, yet their creative defiance challenges norms. **In simple terms:** Women writers are doubly scorned. Key Takeaway Persist in creative expression despite criticism. Themes gender creativity defiance Mood defiant inspired Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - publishing - academic writing - activism Key Concepts feminist literature social critique Questions to Reflect On - How does double marginalization affect your work? - What fuels your creative rebellion? A Different Perspective Societal backlash can be severe. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bed/) [Double Mischief](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/double-mischief-1418958/) [Feminism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feminism/) [House](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/house/) [Justice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/justice/) [Mischief](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mischief/) [Odes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/odes/) [Slights Servile](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slights-servile-1418959/) [Social justice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/social-justice/) [Woman Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/woman-writer-431211/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) [Writer Double](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer-double-1418960/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [“It is my opinion that every woman can be a writer.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-chekhov/it-is-my-opinion-that-every-woman-can-be-a-writer/) [Anton Chekhov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-chekhov/) > [A woman writer, quitting love before literature when love lets her down, will put literature before love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/a-woman-writer-quitting-love-before-literature-when-love-lets-her/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [If you're a woman writer, sometime, somewhere, you will be asked: Do you think of yourself as a writer first, or as a woman…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/if-you-re-a-woman-writer-sometime-somewhere-you-will-be-asked-do-you/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [Of the paperbacks that you see at the airport, I am the most violent woman writer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chelsea-cain/of-the-paperbacks-that-you-see-at-the-airport-i-am-the-most-violent/) [Chelsea Cain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chelsea-cain/) > [I just think of myself as a writer. Yes, I'm a woman. And I'm a writer. The main challenge is that I like to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jenny-han/i-just-think-of-myself-as-a-writer-yes-i-m-a-woman-and-i-m-a-writer/) [Jenny Han](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jenny-han/) > [“Of course, if I write a first-person novel about a woman writer, I am inviting every book reviewer to apply the autobiographical label --…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-irving/of-course-if-i-write-a-first-person-novel-about-a-woman-writer-i-am/) [John Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-irving/) > [“Killing the Angel in the House was part of the occupation of a woman writer.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/killing-the-angel-in-the-house-was-part-of-the-occupation-of-a-woman/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [“Now, I can tell you about some women writers who truly are fantastic. One is Anna Kavan. 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Indeed, no woman writer can write "too much"...No woman has ever written enough.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bell-hooks/no-black-woman-writer-in-this-culture-can-write-too-much-indeed-no/) [Bell Hooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bell-hooks/) > [A good poem is a tautology. It expands one word by adding a number which clarify it, thus making a new word which has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alasdair-gray/a-good-poem-is-a-tautology-it-expands-one-word-by-adding-a-number/) [Alasdair Gray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alasdair-gray/) > [ I enjoyed \[playing lawyer in From The Hip\] as an ode to my dad. My dad went to Harvard and Harvard Law School, so… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judd-nelson/i-enjoyed-playing-lawyer-in-from-the-hip-as-an-ode-to-my-dad-my-dad/) [Judd Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judd-nelson/) > [Anything Can Happen is also, incidentally, a poem that arose from teaching. I'd talked about the Horace Ode (I, 34) \[on which the poem…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/anything-can-happen-is-also-incidentally-a-poem-that-arose-from/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [She dotes on poetry, sir. She adores it; I may say that her whole soul and mind are wound up, and entwined with it.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/she-dotes-on-poetry-sir-she-adores-it-i-may-say-that-her-whole-soul/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) ## More by Dilys Laing > [memory is a storm I can't repel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dilys-laing/memory-is-a-storm-i-can-t-repel/) [Dilys Laing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dilys-laing/) > [Women receive he insults of men with tolerance, having been bitten in the nipple by their toothless gums.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dilys-laing/women-receive-he-insults-of-men-with-tolerance-having-been-bitten-in/) [Dilys Laing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dilys-laing/) > [“I put down my book, The Meaning of Zen, and see the cat smiling into her fur as she delicately combs it with her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dilys-laing/i-put-down-my-book-the-meaning-of-zen-and-see-the-cat-smiling-into/) [Dilys Laing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dilys-laing/) [Explore all 4 Dilys Laing quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dilys-laing/) ## More Bed quotes > [When man of slender visits you / Nothing on earth that one can do / In well he’ll hide, or watery hole / And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-goldstein/when-man-of-slender-visits-you-nothing-on-earth-that-one-can-do-in/) [Jack Goldstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-goldstein/) > [Your idea of fidelity is not having more than one man in bed at the same time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederic-raphael/your-idea-of-fidelity-is-not-having-more-than-one-man-in-bed-at-the/) [Frederic Raphael](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederic-raphael/) > [The beginning of love is all about the butterflies, but the end of it is when you can't get out of bed in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taylor-swift/the-beginning-of-love-is-all-about-the-butterflies-but-the-end-of-it/) [Taylor Swift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taylor-swift/) > [Home is behind, the world ahead, And there are many paths to tread Through shadows to the edge of night, Until the stars are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/home-is-behind-the-world-ahead-and-there-are-many-paths-to-tread/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I wish I had as much in bed as I get in the newspapers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-ronstadt/i-wish-i-had-as-much-in-bed-as-i-get-in-the-newspapers/) [Linda Ronstadt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-ronstadt/) > [ Leave a cavity behind the \[wall\] facings, and on the inside build walls two feet thick, made of red dimension stone or burnt brick… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-vitruvius-pollio/leave-a-cavity-behind-the-wall-facings-and-on-the-inside-build-walls/) [Marcus Vitruvius Pollio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-vitruvius-pollio/) > [Why couldn't Jesus command us to obsess over everything, to try to control and manipulate people, to try not to breathe at all, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamott/why-couldn-t-jesus-command-us-to-obsess-over-everything-to-try-to/) [Anne Lamott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-lamott/) > [“To all the secret writers, late-night painters, would-be singers, lapsed and scared artists of every stripe, dig out your paintbrush, or your flute, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shauna-niequist/to-all-the-secret-writers-late-night-painters-would-be-singers-lapsed/) [Shauna Niequist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shauna-niequist/) > [“In the parking lot, she drove and parked in a dark area with no other cars around. She reclined her seat, and listened to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tao-lin/in-the-parking-lot-she-drove-and-parked-in-a-dark-area-with-no-other/) [Tao Lin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tao-lin/) > [It wasn't really touching to be young; it was touching not to be young, because you had less of life left. Touching to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rose-macaulay/it-wasn-t-really-touching-to-be-young-it-was-touching-not-to-be-young/) [Rose Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rose-macaulay/) > [I have to meditate before I go to bed, always. I have to let the day go and let the eternal in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bellamy-young/i-have-to-meditate-before-i-go-to-bed-always-i-have-to-let-the-day-go/) [Bellamy Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bellamy-young/) > [Sometimes by a woodland stream he watched the water rush over the pebbled bed, its tiny modulations of bounce and flow. A woman's body…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/sometimes-by-a-woodland-stream-he-watched-the-water-rush-over-the/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [I think life is full of challenges and problems. I don't believe that anyone is perfect. We all make mistakes. It's not a bed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nigel-mansell/i-think-life-is-full-of-challenges-and-problems-i-don-t-believe-that/) [Nigel Mansell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nigel-mansell/) > [When I saw him I thought I could curl up inside him and go to sleep and never wake up." "Men are no good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherynne-m-valente/when-i-saw-him-i-thought-i-could-curl-up-inside-him-and-go-to-sleep/) [Catherynne M. Valente](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherynne-m-valente/) > [I always wanted to be a movie star. I thought it meant being famous and having breakfast in bed. I didn't know you had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/june-allyson/i-always-wanted-to-be-a-movie-star-i-thought-it-meant-being-famous/) [June Allyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/june-allyson/) [Browse all 4,159 Bed quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bed/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "To be a woman and a writer is double mischief, for the world will slight her who slights \"the servile house,\" and who would rather make odes than beds.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Dilys Laing" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dilys-laing/to-be-a-woman-and-a-writer-is-double-mischief-for-the-world-will/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Bed" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dilys-laing/to-be-a-woman-and-a-writer-is-double-mischief-for-the-world-will/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6df/dilys-laing-74022_bed_to-be-a-woman-and-a-writer-is-double-mis_1729663.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6df/dilys-laing-74022_bed_to-be-a-woman-and-a-writer-is-double-mis_1729663.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6df/dilys-laing-74022_bed_to-be-a-woman-and-a-writer-is-double-mis_1729663.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“To be a woman and a writer is double mischief, for the world will slight her who slights \"the servile…” — Dilys Laing", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Dilys Laing", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dilys-laing/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "To be a woman and a...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dilys-laing/to-be-a-woman-and-a-writer-is-double-mischief-for-the-world-will/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dilys-laing/to-be-a-woman-and-a-writer-is-double-mischief-for-the-world-will/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```