Virginia Woolf

At the end of class today, my class and I were discussion a claim Woolf made at the end of chapter two. Woolf asserts that if she had to choose between money and the right to vote she would choose the money because it is much more important. This made me think. Women before her had worked so hard to gain women everywhere the right to vote and she was claiming that money was infinitely more important? How would those women who fought so hard for that right react to this claim? I then started thinking about what money in the hands of women during that time period meant. Money could provide so many opportunities for women, for example a woman could pay for an education or hired help. Were these opportunities greater then voting? Money could also, for the most part, guarantee something; voting was could be seen as just giving your two cents on a certain matter. When it comes to voting, what you say does not always happen, but with money, if you pay someone to do something they are obliged to do it. In a way money is a way to guarantee what you want to happen does actually happen. This does not always happen with voting. Looking at all of these different options and possible outcomes of events that include either money or voting, I would have to say I agree with Woolf when she says money is more important than a vote. Money, especially in the time of this book, granted so many more options and gives more power to women then a vote did.