Question

Which detail from the passage supports Kew Gardens the idea that social class impacts people's sense of reality? by Virginia Wolff Long pauses came between each of these (1 point) remarks; they were uttered in toneless and monotonous voices. The couple stood still on the ". . . [H]e pulled the parasol out of the edge of the flower bed, and together pressed the earth with a jerk and was impatient to end of her parasol deep down into the soft earth. find the place where one had tea with The action and the fact that his hand rested on other people, like other people." the top of hers expressed their feelings in a strange way, as these short insignificant words “. . . [T]here was a bill that he would also expressed something, words with short pay with a real two shilling piece, and wings for their heavy body of meaning, it was real, all real, he assured inadequate to carry them far and thus alighting himself, fingering the coin in his awkwardly upon the very common objects that pocket, real to everyone except to surrounded them, and were to their him and to her . . . .” rested on the top of hers expressed them, or what slopes of ice don't shine in the sun their feelings in a strange way, as on the other side? Who knows? Who has ever these short insignificant words also seen this before? Even when she wondered what expressed something, words with sort of tea they gave you at Kew, he felt that short wings for their heavy body of something loomed up behind her words, and meaning . . . ." stood vast and solid behind them; and the mist “. . . but who knows (so they thought very slowly rose and uncovered—O, Heavens, what were those shapes?—little white tables, as they pressed the parasol into the and waitresses who looked first at her and then earth) what precipices aren't at him; and there was a bill that he would pay concealed in them, or what slopes of ice don't shine in the sun on the other with a real two shilling piece, and it was real, all side? Who knows? Who has ever real, he assured himself, fingering the coin in his seen this before?"

Answer 1

The detail that best supports the idea that social class impacts people's sense of reality in Virginia Woolf's "Kew Gardens" is found in the line where the couple reflects on the bill he will pay with a "real two shilling piece." The passage reveals that while he associates the coin with a tangible sense of reality, it’s “real to everyone except to him and to her.” This suggests a disconnect between their experience and the experiences of others, indicating that their social class influences how they perceive commonplace realities. The emphasis on the weight of these words and the greater meaning behind them, alongside the sense of unease about paying the bill, highlights how their social class shapes their understanding of the situation and their feelings about it. This notion of social class affecting perception of reality underscores the theme that one's financial status can deeply influence one's experiences and interpretations of everyday life.