Interruption Motif & The Manx Cat

With the country devastated by the war, the cat lacking a tail symbolizes England’s castration: its melodious language “cut-off” and substituted by ordinary conversation. In the same way the cat appears out of place, women at a university have a similar position, and without a welcome on the lawn.

The theme, or motif, of INTERRUPTIONS is significant in “A Room of One’s Own” and comes up when the narrator is interrupted and can’t seem to recover her concentration. These interruptions serve as a barrier for creativity and writing, and reaffirm that without a private space free of interruption, women are destined to difficulty in their work. In Chapter one, while describing the fictitious university, Oxbridge, her concentration shifts to a tailless Manx cat.





Though this out-of-place sight of a cat [I actually have a cat, Josey Quervo-named this because she is insane-who looks almost identical to this one - and yes, looks out of place] without a tail causes her to lose her train of thought, it also allows her to reflect on what it would be like to be a woman writer: Out of place and unwelcome. This interruption serves as an outside distraction that men don’t have to overcome in order to be successful in their endeavors. Women who don’t have “a room of their own,” a private place free of distractions, cannot contend with men who don’t have to fight for these mere necessities.