Persuasiveness of the text: An analysis of Virginia Woolf\u27s Three Guineas

This analysis is a consideration of the Three Guineas by Virginia Woolf and deals with her use of endnotes and citations throughout the essay-novel, and their persuasive role in regards to the text. This paper will investigate this paratextual source material and its purposeful inclusion into the work. As mnemonic components and logical evidence, the textual citations are subservient to the persuasive quality of the text and the arrangement of her argument. After separating historical elements from the rhetorical aspects of the essay-novel, the paper explores Virginia Woolf\u27s use of Classical rhetorical strategies in constructing her argument in Three Guineas. Next, the persuasive quality of Three Guineas is considered through Woolf\u27s effective deployment of various aspects of patriarchal language against itself within the work. Ultimately this paper shows, with her systematic usurpation of language, Woolf actually creates one of the most persuasive and rhetorical works of the last century