Beautiful woman Quote by Virginia Woolf
““Life, it has been agreed by everyone whose opinion is worth consulting, is the only fit subject for novelist or biographer; life, the same authorities have decided, has nothing whatever to do with sitting still in a chair and thinking. Thought and life are as the poles asunder. Therefore — since sitting in a chair and thinking is precisely what Orlando is doing now — there is nothing for it but to recite the calendar, tell one’s beads, blow one’s nose, stir the fire, look out of the window, until she has done… Surely, since she is a woman, and a beautiful woman, and a woman in the prime of life, she will soon give over this pretence of writing and thinking and begin at least to think of a gamekeeper (and as long as she thinks of a man, nobody objects to a woman thinking). And then she will write him a little note (and as long as she writes little notes nobody objects to a woman writing either) and make an assignation for Sunday dusk… She was kind to dogs, faithful to friends, generosity itself to a dozen starving poets, had a passion for poetry. But love — as the male novelists define it — and who, after all, speak with greater authority? — has nothing whatever to do with kindness, fidelity, generosity, or poetry. Love is slipping off one’s petticoat and — But we all know what love is… If then, the subject of one’s biography will neither love nor kill, but will only think and imagine, we may conclude that he or she is no better than a corpse and so leave her.””
About This Quote
Source Novel: Orlando by Virginia Woolf, 1928
The passage critiques the expectation that women should focus on domestic tasks rather than intellectual pursuits, highlighting gendered constraints on creative expression.
In simple terms: Women are expected to be idle, not thinkers.
Challenge gender roles in creative work.
Themes
Mood
Type
When to use this quote
- literary analysis
- teaching gender studies
- writing workshops
Key Concepts
Questions to Reflect On
- How do societal expectations limit women's intellectual freedom?
- What can be done to support women's creative voices?
Women can be both creators and thinkers despite societal pressure.