Para. 5

But to continue the story of my professional experiences. I made one pound ten and six by my first review, and I bought a Persian cat with the proceeds. Then I grew ambitious. A Persian cat is all very well, I said; but a Persian cat is not enough. I must have a motor car. And it was thus that I became a novelist—for it is a very strange thing that people will give you a motor car if you will tell them a story. It is a still stranger thing that there is nothing so delightful in the world as telling stories. It is far pleasanter than writing reviews of famous novels. And yet, if I am to obey your secretary and tell you my professional experiences as a novelist, I must tell you about a very strange experience that befell me as a novelist. And to understand it you must try to imagine a novelist's state of mind. I hope I am not giving away professional secrets if I say that a novelist's chief desire is to be as unconscious as possible. He has to induce in himself a state of perpetual lethargy. He wants life to proceed with the utmost quiet and regularity. He wants to see the same faces, to read the same books, to do the same things day after day, month after month, while he is writing, so that nothing may break the illusion in which he is living—so that nothing may disturb or disquiet the mysterious nosings about, feelings round, darts, dashes and sudden discoveries of that very shy and illusive spirit, the imagination. I suspect that this state is the same both for men and women. Be that as it may, I want you to imagine me writing a novel in a state of trance. I want you to figure to yourselves a girl sitting with a pen in her hand, which for minutes, and indeed for hours, she never dips into the inkpot. The image that comes to my mind when I think of this girl is the image of a fisherman lying sunk in dreams on the verge of a deep lake with a rod held out over the water. She was letting her imagination sweep unchecked round every rock and cranny of the world that lies submerged in the depths of our unconscious being. Now came the experience, the experience that I believe to be far commoner with women writers than with men. The line raced through the girl's fingers. Her imagination had rushed away. It had sought the pools,the depths, the dark places where the largest fish slumber. And then there was a smash There was an explosion. There was foam and confusion. The imagination had dashed itself against something hard. The girl was roused from her dream. She was indeed in a state of the most acute and difficult distress. To speak without figure she had thought of something, something about the body, about the passions which it was unfitting for her as a woman to say. Men, her reason told her, would be shocked. The consciousness of what men will say of a woman who speaks the truth about her passion had roused her from her artist,s state of unconsciousness. She could write no more. The trance was over. Her imagination could work no longer. This I believe to be a very common experience with women writers they are impeded by the extreme conventionality of the other sex. For though men sensibly allow themselves great freedom in these respects, I doubt that they realize or can control the extreme severity with which they condemn such freedom in women.

Q：What does the sentence “ To speak without figure she had thought of something... would be shocked. ” indicate？

A: Her imagination was exploring freely until she thought of something, something about the body, about the passions, But she realized that it was unfitting for her as a woman to tell the truth about the body and about the passions because men would be shocked.

Notes on the Text

58. What is the main idea of Paragraph 5?

In this paragraph the author talks about her second experience in her profession of literature. As a novelist, she wished to remain "as unconscious as possible" so that nothing might disturb or disquiet the imagination. But she was faced with the conflict between her own approach to art and the conventional approach expected of her by male critics. She believed that sex-consciousness was a great hindrance to women’s writing. To illustrate this point, she employs a second figure of speech, "the image of a fisherman lying sunk in dreams on the verge of a deep lake."

59. proceeds: (plural) the money or profit derived from a sale, business venture, etc.

60. a still stranger thing:更奇怪的事情 Here the word "still" is an adverb, meaning even, yet, used as an intensifier with a comparative form. Example: It was cold yesterday, but it is still colder today.

61. I hope I am not giving away professional secrets...as possible.

(1) Translate the sentence into Chinese:如果我说小说家的主要愿望是尽量处于无意识状态,我希望我没有泄露行业秘密。

(2) giving away: To give away is colloquial, meaning to expose, reveal, or betray.

(3) unconscious: "Unconscious" means not aware of one's existence, not conscious of one’s self." The unconscious (or somebody’s unconscious)" is a term of psychoanalysis, referring to the sum of all thoughts, memories, impulses, desires, feelings, etc of which the individual is not conscious but which influence the emotions and behavior; that part of one’s psyche which comprises repressed material of this nature.

(4) Why does the author say that a novelist’s chief desire is to be as unconscious as possible? it's a difficult question to answer. First, woolf’s use of "unconscious"seems to have at least two levels of interpretation. She could be thinking in Freudian terms, that is, expressing a desire to have the subjects of her unconsciousness, which may reflect ancient angers and anxieties, rise up into her authorial perspective. Also she may be reacting against the notion expressed by Henry James(1843-1916) in "The Art of Fiction", which explicitly expresses his sense that an author should above all attempt to be fully conscious. In this latter sense, Woolf would seem to be taking a"modernist"point of view. Dissatisfied with realistic fiction, she explored the psychological nature of consciousness. In her psychological novels, the emphasis is not on plot or action but on the psychological realm occupied by her characters. For Woolf, the description of the immediate flow of her characters’ thoughts and their feelings of the moment was more important than the realistic depiction of their physical behavior. Basically she conceives of the imagination as shy and hidden so that the writer can only draw the deepest inspiration by suspending everyday rational consciousness in order to liberate an imaginative expression of their deepest creativity. So, the "unconscious" state would allow her to bring her imagination into the fullest play, to see and express her reality in stream of consciousness, fragmentation, or to develop her feminine writing.

62. He has to induce in himself a state of perpetual lethargy.

(1) Explain the meaning of the sentence: He has to cause in himself a particular condition in which he will remain abnormally drowsy and sluggish for a long time.

(2)induce: (formal) to cause a particular physical condition Example: this drug may induce drowsiness.

(3) lethargy: a condition of abnormal drowsiness; a great lack of energy; sluggishness,dullness,apathy This word is similar to the word "trance" used later in the same paragraph.

63. He wants life to proceed with the utmost quiet and regularity... that very shy and illusive spirit, the imagination.

(1) Why does he want life to proceed with the utmost quiet and regularity? Why does he want to do the same things day after day and month after month? To respond to this question, we have to use some Freudian terms: the ego and the id. Freud postulated the existence of three internal forces that govern a person’s psychic life (1) the id(本我), the instinctual force of life- unconscious, uncontrollable, and isolated; (2) the ego(自我), the external force that has contact with the real world; (3) the super-ego (超我), the governing force, or moral conscience, that seeks to control and direct the ego into socially acceptable patterns of behavior. In the Freudian sense, Woolf is asking that the ego manage the external factors of her life- the routine, the predictable social events, etc.- so that the id (or unconscious) would be unrestrained. In other words, she seeks tranquility in her surroundings in order not to distract her imagination/unconscious away from the creative task. Disturbances would involuntarily draw her attention and her inner energy to relatively trivial and mundane concerns. She believes that beneath the appearance of change and disorder that marks daily life is a timeless reality that becomes apparent only during pure "moments of being".

(2)Meeting people, reading books and doing things are some of the external factors of the author’s life, the routine, and the predictable social events. Wanting to see the same people,to read the same books and do the same things further explains her idea about life with the utmost quiet and regularity. Reducing everyday life to unchanging routines avoids having to pay much attention to the people or the events. This orientation has led to the establishment of some writers’ colonies or retreat centers where for a time writers do not have to worry about meals, children or housecleaning but only write.

(3) Translate the sentence into Chinese:他希望在他写作时,他每天见的人,读的书,做的事都是相同的,这样任何事物都不会打破他生活的幻想,也不会搅乱他的四处探求以及对那令人难以捉摸的东西一想像力的突然发现。

(4) the illusion in which he is living: Here the illusion is the fictional world a writer is creating in words and living in his imagination. The fictional world refers to the developing of the unconscious flow of the narrative, of the expression. If the author is deeply involved in listening to the unconscious and responding to it through language—new words and sentences, new images and characters—he does not want the routines of his ordinary life to interfere, and yet he needs these routines to maintain his life.

(5) disquiet: To disquiet means to disturb. The author uses two synonyms for emphasis.

(6) nosing: To nose means to look closely and inquisitively. "Nosings about" is similar in meaning to the following phrase "feelings round".

(7) darts: A dart is a sudden, quick movement in a particular direction.

(8)dashes: A dash is a sudden, swift movement, similar to a dart. Alliteration and synonyms are used for emphasis.

(9) The author uses these words and phrases metaphorically, indicating that a modernist novelist has to search new and experimental ways of expressing himself and to discover his imagination, which is a shy and illusive spirit.

64. Be that as it may, I want you to imagine me writing a novel in a state of trance.

(1) Translate the sentence into Chinese:尽管如此我请你想像我在迷睡的状态中写小说。

(2) be that as it may:(formal) This phrase is used to say that even though you accept that something is true it does not change a situation, despite the fact that it may be so.

(3)trance: a state in which you behave as if you were asleep but are still able to hear and understand what is said to you, similar to the unconscious state

65. The image that comes to my mind when I think of this girl...out over the water.

(1) Translate the sentence into Chinese:当我想到这女孩时,脑海里浮现出一个形象:一个深的湖边有一位钓鱼者,他手握鱼竿,沉浸在梦境中。

(2) Both "trance" and "dreams" echo the idea expressed earlier in the paragraph that a novelist’s chief desire is to be as unconscious as possible .

(3) The image of a fisherman is the second metaphor the author uses in describing her profession experiences.

66. She was letting her imagination sweep unchecked... our unconscious being.

(1) Explain the meaning of the sentence in non-figurative English: She was letting her imagination explore freely every corner of her inner world that lies hidden in the deepest ts of our unconscious existence.

(2) cranny: crack

(3)submerged: covered with water, suppressed, hidden

(4) the depths of our unconscious being：无意识的最深层

being: state or fact of existing or living, existence, life; fundamental or essential nature

67. Now came the experience, the experience that I believe to be... than with men.

(1) What was the experience? The answer is found in her following remarks: Her imagination no longer worked, as the consciousness of what men will say of a woman who speaks the truth about her passions had roused her from her artist's state of unconsciousness.

(2) Why does the author believe that this experience was far commoner with women writers than with men? Again the author gives the answer later in the paragraph: For though men sensibly allow themselves great freedom in these respects (such as speaking the truth about their passions), the author doubts that they realize or can control the extreme severity with which they condemn such freedom in women.

68. The line raced through her fingers... dashed against something hard

(1) In these sentences the author goes on with her metaphor of the fisherman. The fisherman (a "fisherwoman", in this case) intended to seek the pools, the depths and the dark places where the largest fish would be. But suddenly, the line slipped through her fingers because it had hit upon something hard. As a result there was an explosion, foam (from the disturbed water) and confusion. Her fishing was interrupted, and she was roused from her dreams. The process of fishing is compared to the process of creative writing. That means the writer's imagination freely explored and examined the depths of the unconscious being, where hidden thoughts, feelings and impulses were to be found. Then suddenly the writer's imagination came across a big obstacle, and she was roused from her artist’s state of unconsciousness.

(2) slumbers: to sleep

(3) smash: a hard, heavy hit or blows a violent collision

(4) dash: to strike (against, on)

69. To speak without figure she had thought of something... would be shocked.

(1) to speak without figure:不用修辞手段、直截了当地说 figure,:figure of speech.

Up to now, she has been talking about her second experience in a figurative way comparing the novelist to a fisherman lying sunk in dreams on the verge of a deep lake with a rod held out over the water. At this point she turns to non-figurative, plain language.

(2) Explain the meaning of the sentence: Her imagination was exploring freely until she thought of something, something about the body, about the passions, But she realized that it was unfitting for her as a woman to tell the truth about the body and about the passions because men would be shocked.

(3) something about the body: In the next paragraph Woolf sums up her second professional experience as"telling the truth about my own experiences as a body". This is something that D. H. Lawrence was also seeking to do with more directness and success,particularly in his novel Lady Chatterley’s Lover (1928). Of course he was writing from a male body perspective. Woolf wants to talk about a woman’s sense of her sexuality. She is expressing her sense of the need for an original feminine writing. This issue goes back to her central concern with women in this piece. Getting rid of the Angel in the House helps clear the decks for inner exploration, but it does not guarantee access to the somatic dimension of womanhood, which had been repressed in the process of socialization. She is not satisfied with the acknowledgement that she as woman has a body, witch is different from that of a man; she wants to find an imaginative means (in words,in fiction) whereby that body can express itself. One of her experiments along these lines is her novel Orlando. In this fantastic novel the main character Orlando begins as a young Elizabethan nobleman and ends, three hundred years later, as a contemporary young woman. One of the interpretations of this novel is the inner history of England as being sexually described at one period as masculine and then changing to feminine. The novel reflects the author’s idea of androgyny: being both male and female in one, a blend of male and female characteristics and roles.

(4)The word "passion" implies a strong emotion that has an overpowering or compelling effect. It also means strong love or affection, sexual drive or desire, and lust.

70. The consciousness of what men will say of a woman... her artist's state of unconsciousness.

(1) Explain the meaning of this sentence: She realized that men didn’t approve of a woman daring to tell the truth about the body and her passions. They would surely say bad things about such a woman. This realization interrupted her imagination and roused her from the state of unconsciousness, in which an artist desired to be.

(2) Translate the sentence into Chinese:她意识到男人们会如何议论一个敢讲有关激情真话的女人,这使她从艺术家的无意识状态中惊醒了。

71. they were impeded by the extreme conventionality of the other sex: The progress of women writers was hindered by men’s extremely conventional thoughts and behaviors.

72. For though men sensibly allow themselves great freedom in these respects... in women.

(1) Explain the meaning of the sentence: It was a sensible thing for men to give themselves great freedom to talk about the body and their passions, But if women want to have the same freedom, men condemn such freedom in women. And I do not believe that they realize how severely they condemn such freedom in women, nor do I believe that they can control their extremely severe condemnation of such freedom in women.

(2) doubt: The verb "doubt" is not to be mixed up with "suspect". To doubt means to question, to feel distrust; to be inclined to disbelieve. While to suspect means to think it probable or likely; to guess or to surmise; to suppose. Compare the following sentences:

(a) I doubt that any woman has solved it yet. (Para. 6) (I don’t think that any woman has solved this problem yet.)

(b) I suspect that this state is the same both for men and women. (Para. 5)(I suppose that this state is the same both for men and women.)

(3) severity: the quality or condition of being severe; strictness, harshness The adjective "severe" applies to a person or thing that is strict and uncompromising, and connotes a total absence of softness, laxity, etc.

Para. 6

These then were two very genuine experiences of my own. These were two of the adventures of my professional life. The first—killing the Angel in the house—I think I solved. She died. But the second, telling the truth about my own experiences as a body, I do not think I solved. I doubt that any woman has solved it yet. The obstacles against her are still immensely powerful and yet they are very difficult to define.Outwardly, what is simpler than to write books? Outwardly, what obstacles are there for a woman rather than for a man? Inwardly, I think, the ease is very different; she has still many ghosts to fight, many prejudices to overcome. Indeed it will be a long time still, I think, before-a woman can sit down to write a book without finding a phantom to be slain, a rock to. be dashed-against. And if this is so in literature, the freest of all professions for women, how is it in the new professions which you are now for the first time entering?

Q: Outwardly, what is simpler than... rather than for a man?

A: The author is making a contrast between the outward and the inward. Here “outward” means clearly apparent, observable, and visible while “inward” is situated within, on the inside, of or belonging to the inner nature of a person, mental and spiritual.

Notes on the Text

73. What is the main idea of Paragraph 6?

(1) This paragraph sums up the author’s two experiences, pointing out that the second obstacle is more difficult to overcome than the first. Women have many prejudices to overcome in the profession of literature and especially in new professions that women are entering.

(2) Why is the second obstacle more difficult to solve? The first has to do with the conscious way of thinking, one’s education, social attitudes and traditional values, etc. The second experience has to do with one’s unconscious, the depths of the unconscious being. Thus it is more difficult to define, to examine and certainly harder to deal with.

74. telling the truth about my own experiences as a body: telling the truth about my body and passions as a woman

75. Outwardly, what is simpler than... rather than for a man? The author is making a contrast between the outward and the inward. Here "outward" means clearly apparent, observable, and visible while "inward" is situated within, on the inside, of or belonging to the inner nature of a person, mental and spiritual.

76. Inwardly, I think, the case is very different; she has still many ghosts to fight, many prejudices to overcome.

(1)The word "ghosts" is similar to the word"phantom"used in Paragraph 3.

(2) Translate the sentence into Chinese:从内心精神方面看,情况颇为不同。妇女还要与许多鬼怪展开斗争,还有许多偏见需要去克服。

77. Indeed it will be a long time still... a rock to be dashed against. It will take a long time for women to rid themselves of false values and attitudes and to overcome the obstacle to telling the truth about their body and passions.

Para. 7

Those are the questions that I should like, had I time, to ask you. And indeed, if I have laid stress upon these professional experiences of mine, it is because I believe that they are, though in different forms, yours also. Even when the path is nominally open—when there is nothing to prevent a woman from being a doctor, a lawyer, a civil servant--there are many phantoms and obstacles, as I believe, looming in her way. To discuss and define them is I think of great value and importance; for thus only can the labour be shared, the difficulties be solved. But besides this, it is necessary also to discuss the ends and the aims for which we are fighting, for which we are doing battle with these formidable obstacles. Those aims cannot be taken for granted; they must be perpetually questioned and examined. The whole position, as I see it—here in this hall surrounded by women practising for the first time in history I know not how many different professions-is one of extraordinary interest and importance. You have won rooms of your own in the house hitherto exclusively owned by men. You are able though not without great labour and effort, to pay the rent. You are earning your five hundred pounds a year. But this freedom is only a beginning; the room is your own, but it is still bare. It has to be furnished; it has to be decorated; it has to be shared: How are you going to furnish it, how are you going to decorate it? With whom are you going to share it, and upon what terms? These, I think are questions of the utmost importance and interest. For the first time in history you are able to ask them; for the first time you are able to decide for yourselves what the answers should be. Willingly would I stay and discuss those questions and answers--but not tonight. My time is up; and I must cease.

Q：What does the sentence “To speak without figure she had thought of something... would be shocked. ” indicate？

A: Her imagination was exploring freely until she thought of something, something about the body, about the passions, But she realized that it was unfitting for her as a woman to tell the truth about the body and about the passions because men would be shocked.

Notes on the Text

78. What is the main idea of Paragraph 7?

In this last paragraph Woolf concludes her speech by raising some important questions concerning the new role of women and the new relationship between men and women.

79. Those are the questions that I should like... yours also. These two sentences link up the author as an individual woman with the other women as a group, making her personal experiences common to all women.

80. Even when the path is nominally open... looming in her way.

(1) Explain the meaning of the sentence: Even when the path is open to women in name only, when outwardly there is nothing to prevent a woman from being a doctor, a lawyer, a civil servant, inwardly there are still false ideas and obstacles impeding a woman’s progress.

(2) looming: To loom is to appear, take shape, or come in sight indistinctly as through a mist in a large, threatening form. Example: The peak loomed up before us. The word is also used figuratively. Example: The specter of war loomed ahead.

81. To discuss and define them is I think of great value and importance; for thus only can the labour be shared, the difficulties be solved.

讨论和界定这些障碍是十分重要的,因为只有如此我们才能共同努力克服困难。

82. But besides this, it is necessary also to discuss the ends and the aims... obstacles.

(1) ends: The word "end" (usually plural) means an outcome, result, and consequence.

(2) formidable: causing fear or dread; hard to handle or overcome

83. Those aims cannot be taken for granted; they must be perpetually questioned and examined.

那些目的是什么,对这个问题我们不能想当然,而要不断地提出疑问和进行审视。

84. You have won rooms of your own in the house hitherto exclusively owned by men.

(1) "A room of one's own" is the third metaphor Woolf uses in this piece. A room is a space, not only space for living, but also space for creative activity. Here a room is compared to freedom, while the house is compared to the whole society. The implied meaning of the sentence is that through fighting against the Angel in the House, through great labor and effort, some women have gained a position or certain freedom in a society which has been up to now dominated by men.

(2) hitherto: adv. (formal) until this time; to now Example: The Internet has made large quantities of information available to people hitherto unable to obtain them.

85. You are able, though not without great labour and effort, to pay the rent.

"Not without" is double negative. The sentence may be explained like this: You are able to pay the rent, though you have to do this through great labour and effort.

86. But this freedom is only a beginning; the room is your own... it has to be shared.

(1) Here Woolf is continuing with her metaphor of a room of one’s own. She is saying that when women are able to pay the rent or earn five hundred pounds a year, they have won financial independence to a certain extent. She thinks that this freedom is only a beginning, and that women still have a long way to go. For when the old ideas, attitudes and values have been done away with, a void is left, And that void has to be filled with new ideas, attitudes and values.

(2) bare: empty, not covered by anything, or not having any decoration Example: This room looks very bare- you need some pictures on the walls. Here the words "bare", "furnished" , "decorated" and "shared" are all part of the metaphor.

87. How are you going to furnish it, how are you going to decorate it... upon what terms?

(1) terms.(plural) conditions of a contract, agreement, etc.; mutual relationship between or among persons; footing

Examples:

Under the terms of the agreement, Hong Kong returned to China in 1997. I bought this car on reasonable terms. If I agree to do this it will be on my own terms. We are on good terms with all our neighbors. They were barely on speaking terms. Chinese companies want to be able to compete on equal terms with their overseas rivals.

(2)By these questions, which are phrased figuratively, Woolf alerts her audience that women are now faced with a set of new questions such as"What is the new role of a woman?""What should be the relationship between men and women? "She only raises these questions in her concluding remarks of this piece, without attempting to answer them. These issues are fully explored in her famous feminist critical work A Room of One’s Own.

88. A Room of one's Own: Considered to be the most persuasive of all feminist literary manifestos, this work deals with the status of women, the difficulties of a woman artist, the future of fiction and woman’s part in it. In his article"Habits of Thought" John Burt outlines the main ideas of the book in this way:

A Room of one’s Own is primarily about the effects of women’s poverty upon their art, but it is also about growing uneasiness between sexes... The central argument of the book might be summarized in five theses:

1) Patriarchal society imposes economic and social restrictions upon women on account of its own need for psychological support.

2)These restrictions limit the experience upon which art depends, causing creative women to suffer and depriving the general culture of their contributions.

3)As the material condition of women has improved, women writers have emerged, and the integrity of their work, its freedom from the scars and kinks of personal limitations, has risen in proportion to their status.

4) The rise of women has deprived the patriarchy of its psychological support, causing uncomfortable relations between the sexes that reflect themselves in the limitations of contemporary art.

5)When the emancipation of women is complete, a more adequate sexuality and a more adequate imagination, marked by androgyny or sexual openness, must emerge.

In reviewing this critical book, V. Sackville—West, who was a very close friend of Virginia Woolf and whose life and family history formed the basis of Orlando, makes the following comments,"Mrs. Woolf, as you probably know, is a critic as well as a novelist; but this little book, which is not a novel, is not pure criticism either. In so far as it is ‘about’ anything at all, it is a study of women, their circumstances (especially in the past), and the effect of those circumstances upon their writing... The burden of Mrs. Woolf’s exhortation to women is that they should be themselves, and should exploit their own peculiar gifts instead of trying to emulate the gifts proper to the masculine mind... Mrs. Woolf is too sensible to be a thorough-going feminist. There is no such thing as a masculinist, she seems to say, so why a feminist? And she goes on to wonder(amateurishly, she says) whether there are two sexes in the mind corresponding to the two sexes in the body, and whether they also require to be united in order to get complete satisfaction and happiness? I know of no writer who fulfils this condition more thoroughly than Mrs. Woolf herself. She enjoys the feminine qualities of, let us say, fantasy and irresponsibility, allied to all the masculine qualities that go with a strong, authoritative brain; and it is precisely this combination added to her profound knowledge of literature which fits her so admirably to discuss women in general, and women who write in particular."