A Room of One's Own

At her home in London, Mary Beton is disappointed because she has only furthered her suspicions about men writing distorted portrayals of women in literature of all types. Mary examines women’s role in British history, which she concludes is very minimal. Women are absent from history, both as the real-world players recorded in history books and from their own self-representation. The same men who write about women without knowing them also paint, compose symphonies, and create elaborate poetry about women. These salient representations of women are not supported by her role throughout history, where she has been relegated to domestic tasks and objectified.

Mary describes a thought experiment supposing that William Shakespeare had an equally capable sister named Judith. She wonders what this (fictional) figure might have accomplished had she also lived in Elizabethan England. Judith, like her brother, is interested in literature; however, she is discouraged from pursuing it, unlike her brother. At 16 years old, Judith must marry the man her father selects according to tradition. When Judith rejects this, she is framed as the aggressor for violating her father’s expectations. Judith runs away to pursue a career in theater, but laws forbid women from acting.