The New Dress and The Duchess and the Jeweller by Virginia Woolf - Essay Example

A Comment on the Second Review Having experienced a sense of inadequacy myself, I could well relate how tough it must have been for Virginia Woolf to carry on with the ordeal of trying to grasp for hope, if any, to attain happiness and fulfilment. In her own way of addressing this issue, much has truly been divulged in the characters of Mabel and Oliver in ‘The New Dress’ and ‘The Duchess and the Jeweller’ respectively and these stories profoundly reflect her inner struggles, perceptions, and even how she was managing to arrive at a resolution despite her prevailing mental illness at the time.

The article in response expresses that Woolf’s feelings are understood by many women at present because modern society would always impose certain standards ‘to always be thin and pretty’ as portrayed through the fictitious Mabel by whom Virginia communicates her excruciating lack of self-worth. Though Oliver similarly exhibits failure to show the favour of confidence upon himself by supposedly disclosing his true affections, Woolf appears to draw a line between these two characters. Oliver is a type who is aware that his elite position and state of affairs in the high society matter and is capable of intimidating people and he deliberately uses it to his advantage for survival while Mabel does not at all borrow or derive strength from other potentials to somehow compensate for the inferiority complex.

Like the article’s author in observing how the wealthy jeweller gains full control of pretending to possess downright confidence to others, I understand that in reality this has happened quite a number of times in several lives. While Diana is an embodiment of the vivid truth and weakness which Oliver needs to overcome, the jeweller’s wealth on the other hand makes a representation of the treasure in writing for Woolf in which she had often sought refuge in hiding her low self-esteem and tons of unhappiness that could not be released elsewhere other than through her superb literary abilities.