A Room of One’s Own Textual Question Answer
Choose the correct answer from the alternatives given :
1. What is the primary purpose of Virginia Woolf creating the fictional character of Judith Shakespeare?
a) To provide a historical account of William Shakespeare’s family.
b) To highlight the societal limitations faced by women in pursuing creative endeavors.
c) To rewrite the history of Elizabethan theater.
d) To offer a lighthearted exploration of sibling rivalry.
2. What obstacle(s) does Judith, Shakespeare’s hypothetical sister, face in her desire to write?
a) A lack of inspiration and talent
b) Limited access to educational resources
c) Discouragement from her family
d) All of the above
3. What can be inferred from the fate of Judith Shakespeare in the story?
a) Women with talent eventually overcome societal restrictions
b) True genius can flourish regardless of circumstances
c) The limitations placed on women stifle their creative potential
d) Only men are capable of achieving literary greatness
1. What is the primary purpose of Virginia Woolf creating the fictional character of Judith Shakespeare?
Correct Answer: (b) To highlight the societal limitations faced by women in pursuing creative endeavors.
🟢 Explanation: Woolf uses Judith as a symbolic character to show how talented women in history were suppressed by social norms, lack of education, and domestic expectations.
2. What obstacle(s) does Judith, Shakespeare’s hypothetical sister, face in her desire to write?
Correct Answer: (d) All of the above
🟢 Explanation: Judith faced every hurdle — she was denied education (b), discouraged and beaten by her family (c), and even though she had talent, the lack of opportunity and social freedom made it seem as if she lacked inspiration (a).
3. What can be inferred from the fate of Judith Shakespeare in the story?
Correct Answer: (c) The limitations placed on women stifle their creative potential
🟢 Explanation: Judith’s tragic end symbolizes how many talented women were never able to express their creativity due to rigid gender roles and lack of freedom.
Comprehensive Q&A Set
1. What is the main purpose of Woolf’s story about Shakespeare’s sister?
👉 To show how talented women in the past were not allowed to become writers or artists because of social rules.
2. Who is Judith in the essay?
👉 Judith is a made-up character – Shakespeare’s sister – who had talent like him but no chance to use it.
3. Why does Woolf make up a fictional sister for Shakespeare?
👉 To help us imagine how society treated women who had creative talent.
4. Why couldn’t women go to school like men?
👉 Because society thought women didn’t need education; they were meant to stay home.
5. What kind of work did women do at home?
👉 They cooked, cleaned, sewed, raised children, and took care of the house.
6. Why did girls have no time to read or write?
👉 Because they were always busy with housework and told not to waste time with books.
7. At what age were girls often married?
👉 Sometimes by 15 or 16, often chosen by parents.
8. How did fathers treat daughters who refused marriage?
👉 They could be beaten, locked up, and forced to obey.
9. Could women attend grammar school or university in Shakespeare’s time?
👉 No, only boys could go.
10. What books did boys like Shakespeare read?
👉 Latin books like Ovid, Virgil, and Horace.
11. Did girls learn Latin or grammar?
👉 No, they were not taught these things.
12. What did Judith want to do?
👉 She wanted to act and write plays like her brother.
13. What happened when she went to London?
👉 People laughed at her, and she was not allowed to be an actress.
14. Did anyone help her in London?
👉 One actor did, but he took advantage of her and made her pregnant.
15. What did Judith do in the end?
👉 She killed herself and was buried at a crossroads.
16. Why does Woolf say genius couldn’t grow in women’s lives?
👉 Because everything – law, money, family – stopped them from using their talent.
17. What was life like for a creative girl in the past?
👉 It was full of stress, shame, and sadness. People did not support her dreams.
18. What would happen if a girl tried to go to a stage door in the 16th century?
👉 She would face danger, shame, and rejection.
19. Why did women use male names to write?
👉 Because society didn’t take women writers seriously.
20. Name some women who used male pen names.
👉 Currer Bell (Charlotte Brontë), George Eliot, George Sand.
21. Why didn’t women write their names on books?
👉 Because they were taught to be modest and private.
22. What did Woolf mean by “a room of one’s own”?
👉 A private space where a woman could write without being disturbed.
23. Why is money important for women writers?
👉 Without money, women had to depend on others and had no freedom to write.
24. What is “pin money”?
👉 A small amount of money women got from fathers or husbands for personal use.
25. What kind of problems did male writers like Keats or Carlyle face?
👉 Poverty, health issues, and lack of support.
26. How were women’s problems even worse?
👉 They had no freedom, space, or even respect for wanting to write.
27. How did the world respond to men writing vs. women writing?
👉 Men were tolerated, but women were laughed at or stopped.
28. What does Woolf mean by “mute and inglorious Jane Austen”?
👉 A talented woman who never got the chance to become famous.
29. What does she suggest about women who wrote songs and poems but never signed them?
👉 That many of them were women whose work was never recorded.
30. Who does Woolf think “Anon” might often be?
👉 A woman whose name was not given.
31. When did the first women’s colleges open in England?
👉 In 1866.
32. When could married women legally own property?
👉 After 1880.
33. When did women get the vote in England?
👉 In 1919.
34. Why does Woolf say the excuse of “no opportunity” no longer works?
👉 Because women now have colleges, jobs, and more freedom than before.
35. Who is the poet that Woolf says still lives?
👉 Shakespeare’s sister – inside every woman with talent.
36. What must happen for her to be “born again”?
👉 Women must have freedom, time, money, and courage to write.
37. Why is it important for women to write honestly?
👉 So they can express real life, not just what men think.
38. What is Woolf’s wish for the next 100 years?
👉 That women will have rooms, incomes, and strength to create art.
39. What does Woolf believe about the importance of women writers?
👉 That they can change literature if given real chances.
40. What is the final message of the essay?
👉 If women support each other and write bravely, Shakespeare’s sister will live again.
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