How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
That building, for example, do I like it or not? Is that in my opinion a good book or a bad? Indeed my aunt's legacy unveiled the sky to me, and substituted for the large and imposing figure of a gentleman, which Milton recommended for my perpetual adoration, a view of the open sky. (2.14)
Here is where Woolf starts to show us how wealth might make aesthetic judgment possible. If you don't need anyone to give you money, then you don't have to pretend to share their opinions. Can art ever really be good if you have to do it for the money?
Quote #8
Money dignifies what is frivolous if unpaid for. It might still be well to sneer at "blue stockings with an itch for scribbling," but it could not be denied that they could put money in their purses. (4.21)
A "blue stocking" is an intellectual woman. So it's not just that having money makes it possible to think your own thoughts, but it works the other way around, too: do a good job putting your thoughts on paper and you'll end up with money.
Quote #9
It is [Aphra Behn]—shady and amorous as she was—who makes it not quite fantastic for me to say to you tonight: Earn five hundred a year by your wits. (4.21)
In 1928, 500 pounds per year was enough to live comfortably. But here's the question: Mary Beton didn't earn her money. So, is it better to earn money "by your wits" or to have it fall out of the sky?