How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
If a woman wrote, she would have to write in the common sitting-room. (4.22)
To be free to write exactly what she would like, a woman needs to the freedom to write alone. She needs to be free of people bothering, and free of interruptions. Hm. We've got a nice jail cell for you…
Quote #8
Literature is open to everybody. I refuse to allow you, Beadle though you are, to turn me off the grass. Lock up your libraries if you like; but there is no gate, no lock, no bolt that you can set upon the freedom of my mind. (4.32)
Woolf puts this powerful quotation in the mouth of a hypothetical woman, a "firebrand" who wrote in 1828 despite heavy criticism. Her point is that it would be a hard thing for a woman to say to herself. Yet taken alone, it sounds like a battle cry.
Quote #9
One had a sense of physical well-being in the presence of this well-nourished, well-educated, free mind, which had never been thwarted or opposed, but had had full liberty from birth to stretch itself in whatever way it liked [...] But after reading a chapter or two a shadow seemed to lie across the page. It was a straight dark bar, a shadow shaped something like the letter "I." (6.4)
Maybe freedom isn't the only thing you need to write well. This author, Mr. A, has everything Woolf says you need to do good work in spades. But something is still missing, and we think we know what it is: mental freedom. Guess it's not only women who are confined.