Breaking down

“Shakespeare’s Sister”

Part 1:​ Read​ ​"Shakespeare's Sister: From a Room of One's Own"​ ​and identify the elements of
classical argument. Describe each element in your own words ​and​ include a quote from the text
as support.

Element Description/Quotes
Introduction: The introduction addresses gender inequalities that women lived through
and how during the Elizabethan Era. In the passage it states, “It would be
better to draw the curtains; to shut out distractions; to light the lamp; to
narrow the enquiry and to ask the historian, who records not opinions but
facts, to describe under what conditions women lived, not throughout the
ages, but in England, say in the time of Elizabeth.” It questions the idea why
women didn’t produce literature throughout this era and why men were
writing all the sonnets and poems.

Background: The author found books discussing the history of England and every
time it brought up women and their position, it always said that men
could beat their wives and that it was reckognized as a right of a man.
Other examples included, “the daughter who refused to marry the
gentleman of her parents' choice was liable to be locked up, beaten
and flung about the room, without any shock being inflicted on public
opinion.” The author talks about how marriage wasn’t really a
relationship based on love, but rather chivalries and family
reputations.

Lines of Argument: - It wouldn’t be possible for women at the time to write like
Shakespeare. The author then gives the example of Judith, an
imaginary character. In the made up scenario, Judith is the
sister of Shakespeare yet she’s not given the same
opportunities as her brother shakespeare. In the passage it
states, “She had no chance of learning grammar and logic, let
alone of reading Horace and Virgil. She picked up a book now
and then, one of her brother's perhaps, and read a few pages.
But then her parents came in and told her to mend the
stockings or mind the stew and not moon about with books and
papers.”
- Any woman in Shakespeare’s day couldnt have had his
intelligence. Since his intelligence isn’t born from labouring and
normal people. Yet there must’ve been a genius among them
 even though they were forced to stay at home. In the passage it
states, “Yet genius of a sort must have existed among women
as
it must have existed among the working classes. Now and again
an Emily Brontë or a Robert Burns blazes out and proves its
presence. But certainly it never got itself on to paper.” The
author states how although there could’ve been really smart
women, it was never written down due to many reasons.

Alternative One of the alternative arguments is that a woman who was very smart
Arguments: must’ve gone crazy because of the society around them. If she used
her gift others would ridicule her and therefore that would cause her
torture. Later on in that paragraph it talks about chastity and how
important it is in a woman’s life. It also talked about how a woman
could not have lived free without chastity and religious values. In the
passage it states, “It was the relic of the sense of chastity that dictated
anonymity to women even so late as the nineteenth century.” In a way
this restricts women because they have to live up to their reputation of
being pious and chaste.

Conclusion: The conclusion talks about the idea of how complex Shakespeare's mind was.
This is something that the author also brings up earlier. Also in the 19th
century women weren't considered artists. The masculine complex has a lagr
impact on how women are seen and their roles in society. Also the author
states that women don’t belong in politics. The history of men’s opposition to
women’s emancipations is more interesting than the story of emancipation
itself. Lastly, the author ends with talking about Shakespeare and his state of
mind. His poetry was free and flowing because he was allowed to express his
work.

Part 2:​ Read the article​ ​A room of one's own: why women need to have their artistic voice
heard​ ​By Brigid Delaney

1. According to the author, why do women need to have their artistic voice heard?
The author doesn’t know if the women were artistic back then because there was no
books, songs, and poems about them. The author also says that they were women and so
therefore back then they couldn’t have wealth or power. It’s important for women to have their
voice heard because according to the article, “​Imagination – that hinterland where ideas are
born – needs acres of time, not just snatched minutes between cooking and cleaning.”

2. What does the writer mean by "writers speak to each other through time and space?"
This phrase means that to communicate to others we have to communicate through
language. Since writing and speaking words require time and space. Writing stuff or speaking
requires space and to do the actions is time. Therefore the only way we can communicate
which is by talking and writing requires space and time.