Female writing?

Students examine Mansfield's "A Dill Pickle" for evidence of Woolf's claims in "Women and Fiction," e.g.:

argument
Mansfield passage
comment
order of things: a male convention 'But what has become of your beautiful piano?' . . . 'Sold. Ages ago.' . . . He let it go at that. (228) Man fails to inquire further. The information interrupts his story of Russia; his story is more important than hers.
order of things: a male convention 'Are you still so fond of perfumes? Ah, when I was in Russia . . .' (228) Man does not wait for her answer.
obscure lives of women 'I did not know the names of any flowers. I am still just as ignorant for all your telling me.' . . . that memory faded. His was the truer. (227) Suggests his attitude that flowers are for women and not something he need concern himself with. Vera displaces her own memory.
obscure lives of women she felt the strange beast that had slumbered so long within her bosom stir (228) poetic and feminine, the feeling is not conveyed by Vera to the man
order of things: a male convention But now, the surprising thing was that it was he who held back. (229) Very looks for validation by the man, but he determines the terms of their encounter and is emotionally separate from her.
language: sentence is made by men 'I feel those three words are all I recall of some forgotten, heavenly language' (227) spoken by the man, but written by a woman (hints at a feminine language inaccessible to him)
from personal to critical of society His was the truer. (227) Vera is always compromising her own memories just to remember things the same way as he does; typical of how women bend to men's will in this society.
from personal to critical of society a little pot of caviare. It had cost seven and sixpence. He could not get over it. (229) She enjoys things for what they are; he cannot get past what things are worth.
from personal to critical of society   he seems to be well off; she seems to be struggling (sells her piano)
order of things: a male convention in a way she recognized immediately as his 'special' way, he was peeling an orange (226) his skill in a public place; cf. his daring in travel, etc.
order of things: a male convention She had gone. He sat there, thunder-struck, astounded beyond words. (231) a sense of paralysis within social convention (her act violates his sense of convention; seems inexplicable to him)
language: sentence is made by men 'your beautiful way of speaking' (227) the man hears Vera as opposed to listening to her
order of things: a male convention she watched him draw her glove through his fungers, gently, gently (230) suggests the man is in love with her packaging rather than who she really is
other comments  

his memories painted in a positive light, as though his is the 'official' version; she is continually reminded of the negative aspects of the memories

our knowledge of Vera's life is minimal compared with what we learn of the man's, even though the story is mainly focalized on Vera

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Document prepared October 6th 2002