The ghost of gender discrimination will never leave the society. It is still hard for some people to acknowledge that women are capable of the same work that man, though, these days, those who keep to this idea prefer remaining silent. The woman of the 21st century is strong, confident, and, what is the most important, independent. The transition to this independence cost women much; now, every day they are forced to prove that they are no less strong (both physically and morally), intelligent, purposeful, persistent, convincing, and successful than men. Virginia Woolf’s Professions for Women reflects the beginning of this transition. This story is about a female writer who tried to suppress her subconscious desire to do what the society expects from her. In Woolf’s Professions for Women, the Angel in the House symbolizes the expectations of the society from what a woman should be; this Angel in the House got in the way of Woolf’s writing and should have been killed for her to become successful.
What should be mentioned above all is that the Angel in the House in Woolf’s story is the view of the society on women. In those times when the story was written, the gender discrimination was still present in the society, though the first attempts to fight with it have been already occasionally made. This Angel in the House constantly bothered the writer and wasted her time. This angel is a symbol of a woman, a housewife, a mother of her children who got used to oppression and limitation of rights: “She was utterly unselfish. She excelled in the difficult arts of family life. She sacrificed herself daily.” (Woolf 327). This is an image of a woman perfect for those times when most of the women did not work and the sense of their lives was pleasing their husbands and families with clean apartment, tasty dinner, washed dishes, ironed clothes, etc. This is what Woolf’s Angel in the House was like.
After discovering what the Angel in the House was all about, another question arises. If this image of a woman is so ideal, why did Woolf wanted and managed to kill it then? Woolf was a writer, and it is practically impossible to forbid these creative people to express what they really think in their works. The Angel in the House attempted to do this: “She slipped behind me and whispered: ‘My dear, you are a young woman. You are writing about a book … written by a man. Be sympathetic; be tender; flatter; deceive; use all the arts and wiles of our sex’” (Woolf 327). She dictated Wolf what to do, she stood in her way, and she did not let her be what she was. However, the most important, she limited her as a writer, the only profession in which there were not many obstacles for women. Therefore, the primary reason why Woolf wanted to kill the Angel in the House was that it stood between her and her writing talent.
And finally, the Angel in the House just had to be killed because otherwise it would have killed the writer. This is an allusion to the real-life situation. Fighting with gender discrimination was vital; if women did not stand up for their rights and demanded equality, the society would hardly be as developed as it is now. There would have still been limitations for women everywhere: work, education, public places, etc. Woolf mentions, “… I acted in self-defense. Had I not killed her she would have killed me. She would have plucked the heart out of my writing …” (Woolf 327). Woolf did not want to be oppressed; she did not want to be limited by the rules that the society imposed on her; and she expressed her utmost desire to get freed from these rules. This was her obligation as a woman and as a writer because “Killing the Angel in the House was part of the occupation of a woman writer” (Woolf 327). Only one of them could have stayed and Woolf turned out to be stronger in this fight. This was her personal contribution into the fight of women for their rights and independence.
Taking this all into consideration, it can be concluded, that Woolf’s Professions for Women is more than symbolistic. Her introducing the Angel in the House into her story gave meaning to her writing. Thus, the Angel in the House is an image of a woman as the then society saw her; this was an image of a perfect wife and mother who was unable to fight for her rights and who did what the society expected her to do. Woolf tried to fight with this image this is why she simply had to kill this Angel in the House. This was necessary for her as a woman in order to become free and independent, and as a writer, to be able to write what she considers necessary, rather than what the society tells her to write.