Florinda

So, in chapter 6, we're introduced to Florinda. There's a lot of speculation about her, and a lot of anyalyzing. First, what do we think about her based on the clues? Is she stupid or not? It says that she's "ignorant as an owl." We agreed that owls were usually seen as symbols of the wise; why then would they be ignorant? My group thought it may have something to do with the fact that she seemed ignorant, but really knew a lot more than was let on. Or that she was logical and sensible, but wasn't formally educated. There was also speculation about her occupation. Is she a prostitute? If so, is Mrs. Stuart her "manager"?

We also started to look at the way that Florinda was presented. Is there some such link between beauty and brains and can you have both? Or maybe is it the narrator's way of introducing the way that Jacob saw her, as a brainless object? Maybe this was just her way of letting us know that Jacob thought less of all women--that he was sexist and biased.

What do you think? Let me know if I am way off. user:kco-c

My group also studied chapter six, and we came up with a few of the same ideas as your group. However, we came to a quick conclusion that Florinda was stupid. Jacob never really talks back to the women who talk to him, so it's hard to get his attitudes when he's with them. In this scene, Florinda just keeps talking and talking (sort of talking at him) on their date and he doesn't say anything. I'm not sure if it's just because he's shy, or because he's thinking, or because he believes himself above her. When he and Clara are picking grapes in the yard, he says a few words to her, but that's the most we get from him. As I mentioned, we get his thoughts, but what do we really know about him that helps us validate what he has presented to us through his thoughts? Well, he and Timmy talk of the Greeks: "'Probably,' said Jacob, 'we are the only people in the world who know what the Greeks meant.'" (58) Then further down on the page the narrator reveals that "Jacob knew no more Greek than served him to stumble through a play. Of ancient history he knew nothing." (58) Woolf could be taking another swipe at mankind through her feminist angle. She could be trying to grasp what men think once again by giving us Jacob's judgements about Florinda when he doesn't really know what's going on in her brain.

She does seem a tad flighty, however, and the fact that she lied about her virginity doesn't help her case. As far as Florinda being a prostitute, I don't see a huge amount of evidence to back it up. If she were a prostitute, she probably would not even be lying about her virginity, because she would know it's frivolous. She's just pretty and, according to Jacob (whose judgement, I'm guessing according to Woolf, is off because of his manhood), she is flighty. I'm sure Woolf believes that beauty and brains can come together. It's just Jacob who doesn't. 1200442268

After reading on in chapter 8 I believe, there seems substantial evidence that Florinda IS a prostitute, based on the fact that Jacob sees her on the street wrapped around some other man, and I think went home with him. So if Florinda is a prostitute, what is her relationship with Jacob? Upon discovering her he was surprised and upset, so he clearly didn't know... then was she actually interested in having a relationship with him?

In terms of her intellect, it seemed like Jacob thought she wasn't intelligent. She talked and talked, but did she really say anything of importance? He seemed to treat her like a pretty object; he could look at her for hours, but when it came to hearing what she had to say, he had no interest. Honestly, this could be based on her intellect, or on his general idea of women as unimportant and inferior, but I took it to mean that she really wasn't very smart. Also, he talks about the long, compassionate letters she would write with her awful spelling and lack of coherence, and it would seem that she tried to look worldly and smart, but she was just making a fool of herself, at least in Jacob's eyes.

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When we were first introduced to Florinda, I did not think that she was a prostitute. I just assumed that she enjoyed sleeping around with a lot of men. Perhaps that is the type of girl she is. It may be that she can't just be with one guy at a time, as we saw in Chapter 8 when she was hanging around another man. What I found very interesting was that in Chapter 8 we also find that Jacob and Florinda are living together. This is very intriguing, considering it seems as if Jacob only likes her for her beauty rather than her brains.

I also found it interesting that Florinda would settle for living with a guy when she knows she can't be with just one at a time. I still do not believe that she is a prostitute. It does sound like she is, but I would rather picture her as a woman who needs to be with a man, and more than one if it is necessary. I also believe that Jacob believes that she is not very intelligent. It seems as if he is only in it so he can look at something beautiful, and be with something beautiful. One would think that he would want more than just a beautiful girl. I would think that he would want someone to talk back to and not just "listen to". 1200973794