31 pages 1 hour read

Virginia Woolf

Mr. Bennett and Mrs. Brown

Nonfiction | Essay / Speech | Adult | Published in 1929

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Important Quotes

Quotation Mark Icon

“Most novelists have the same experience. Some Brown, Smith, or Jones comes before them and says in the most seductive and charming way in the world, ‘Come and catch me if you can.’ And so, led on by this will-o’-the-wisp, they flounder through volume after volume, spending the best years of their lives in the pursuit, and receiving for the most part very little cash in exchange. Few catch the phantom; most have to be content with a scrap of her dress or a wisp of her hair.”


(Page 3)

Instead of stating her argument, Woolf tells stories and employs figurative language to convey her meaning. She uses direct quotation, giving her “characters” (who are only named in general terms as “Brown, Smith, or Jones”) a voice. She also uses metaphor to create an atmospheric sense that the character is elusive: they are described as a “will-o’-the-wisp” and a “phantom.” Character is not an abstract term but has substance with “a scrap of her dress or a wisp of her hair.”

Quotation Mark Icon

“My first assertion is one that I think you will grant—that every one in this room is a judge of character. Indeed it would be impossible to live for a year without disaster unless one practised character-reading and had some skill in the art. Our marriages, our friendships depend on it; our business largely depends on it; every day questions arise which can only be solved by its help.”


(Page 4)

Woolf employs rhetorical devices to persuade her audience. The passage begins, clearly and decisively with the announcement of her “first assertion,” which Woolf then explains through appeals to the reader’s experience and a list of three items: marriages, friendships, and business. This listing of three is a standard rhetorical device and perhaps reflects the fact that this essay was first delivered as a speech.

Quotation Mark Icon

“But now I must recall what Mr. Arnold Bennett says. He says that it is only if the characters are real that the novel has any chance of surviving. Otherwise, die it must. But, I ask myself, what is reality? And who are the judges of reality?”


(Page 10)

Woolf engages with Bennett’s argument that characters should be “real” and echoes his language of “surviving” or dying, language that raises the stakes of the discussion and makes it clear that Woolf considers it crucial.

Related Titles

By Virginia Woolf

Study Guide
logo

A Haunted House

Virginia Woolf

A Haunted House

Virginia Woolf

Plot Summary
logo

A Haunted House and Other Short Stories

Virginia Woolf

A Haunted House and Other Short Stories

Virginia Woolf

Study Guide
logo

A Room of One's Own

Virginia Woolf

A Room of One's Own

Virginia Woolf

Study Guide
logo

Between The Acts

Virginia Woolf

Between The Acts

Virginia Woolf

Study Guide
logo

Flush: A Biography

Virginia Woolf

Flush: A Biography

Virginia Woolf

Study Guide
logo

How Should One Read a Book?

Virginia Woolf

How Should One Read a Book?

Virginia Woolf

Plot Summary
logo

Jacob's Room

Virginia Woolf

Jacob's Room

Virginia Woolf

Study Guide
logo

Kew Gardens

Virginia Woolf

Kew Gardens

Virginia Woolf

Study Guide
logo

Modern Fiction

Virginia Woolf

Modern Fiction

Virginia Woolf

Plot Summary
logo

Moments of Being

Virginia Woolf

Moments of Being

Virginia Woolf

STUDY + TEACHING GUIDE
logo

Mrs. Dalloway

Virginia Woolf

Mrs. Dalloway

Virginia Woolf

STUDY + TEACHING GUIDE
logo

Orlando

Virginia Woolf

Orlando

Virginia Woolf

Study Guide
logo

The Death of the Moth

Virginia Woolf

The Death of the Moth

Virginia Woolf

Study Guide
logo

The Duchess and the Jeweller

Virginia Woolf

The Duchess and the Jeweller

Virginia Woolf

Study Guide
logo

The Lady in the Looking Glass

Virginia Woolf

The Lady in the Looking Glass

Virginia Woolf

Study Guide
logo

The Mark on the Wall

Virginia Woolf

The Mark on the Wall

Virginia Woolf

Study Guide
logo

The New Dress

Virginia Woolf

The New Dress

Virginia Woolf

Study Guide
logo

The Voyage Out

Virginia Woolf

The Voyage Out

Virginia Woolf

Study Guide
logo

The Waves

Virginia Woolf

The Waves

Virginia Woolf

Study Guide
logo

Three Guineas

Virginia Woolf

Three Guineas

Virginia Woolf