Henry Wilkinson - 4/12 response

In "Betrayed by the Angel: What Happens When Violence Knocks and Politeness Answers?," by Debra Anne Davis, an account of rape is given within the frame narrative of Virginia Woolf's writing"Professions for Women" that talks about the 'Angel in the house.' The angel is this fictitious spirit of politeness, purity, and subservience that both Woolf and Davis seem to battle with. I on occasion have encountered spirits like this, the nagging voices in the back of our heads that tell us to fit into a certain mold laid out for us by society. I found it very interesting, albeit depressing, that Davis chose to use this as the frame metaphor for the essay as a whole. The entire time, when she was a child and stabbed by the boy next to her in class, to the point where she was raped, to when she refused to converse with the man in the coffee shop, she appears to still be battling this angel. It was both shocking and unsurprising to me reading about her experiences. They are experiences friends of mine have had and they are experiences I have witnessed. Each time one hears about an instance of rape it is always horrible, but it also does not come as a surprise to me because of the way society treats rape. In a way, society is run by the Angel in the House, who wants us to excuse boys and accommodate men, forcing women to give up their emotions in the process. It's terrible... it's absolutely terrible.