Question

Read the passage from A Room of One’s Own.

For surely it is time that the effect of discouragement upon the mind of the artist should be measured, as I have seen a dairy company measure the effect of ordinary milk and Grade A milk upon the body of the rat. They set two rats in cages side by side, and of the two one was furtive, timid and small, and the other was glossy, bold and big. Now what food do we feed women as artists upon? I asked, remembering, I suppose, that dinner of prunes and custard.

What idea is emphasized by the connotations of the underlined words?

Female artists live in an unhealthy, undesirable cultural environment.
Male and female artists have access to different resources.
All aspects of women’s lives are affected by the poor treatment they receive.

Answer 1

Male and female artists have access to different resources.

The contrasting connotations (furtive, timid, small vs glossy, bold, big) emphasize how different “food” (a metaphor for nourishment/opportunity/resources) produces very different outcomes — Woolf is arguing that women are given poor nourishment/opportunities, which limits them.