The androgynous mind: Can two things become one? Marilyn R. Farwell writes “Virginia Woolf and Androgyny”, in which she claims, that Woolf uses the concept of androgyny, the concept that “the masculine and the feminine should be balanced but not fused” (4, 434, Farwell). But, Farwell wastes no time and tells her reader that “the sharpness of its definition is not kept in place” (4). Already, it is evident that Farwell believes that Virginia Woolf’s “A Room of One’s Own” is a poor attempt, by the author, to write with an androgynous mind. Farwell believes that Woolf does not balance the two different perspectives of male and female, rather, she fuses, or merges them into one dominating argument. Farwell not only uses her own ideas and opinions to make her argument, but she also uses the ideas and arguments of other known writers and authors such as Coleridge, Nancy Topping Bazin, Herbert Marder, and other authors who have been given much praise and credibility due to their intellectual writing. She uses the ideas and arguments of these writers to support her overall argument which states the following: “The irony is thick as the tone falters between objective and subjunctive. Her anger, [referring to Woo lf] is not suppressed.” Farwell is telling her reader that Woolf is writing in the state of androgyny, but in actuality, is expressing negative emotions that do not allow her to completely argue or state her opinions or thoughts within her book. Farwell makes the argument that Woolf is a good writer but does not contain the correct amount of subjectivity to be able to argue on a “feminist” perspective without sounding like she is angry or upset with the counterpart, who, in this case, is the male figure. Regardless of the fact that she doesn’t think Woolf has the headstrong characteristic in her writing or clear enough vision of what she is trying to across, Farwell admits that Woolf makes and effort to provide us with other sources to help us make our own arrival at the concept of androgyny. Farwell states, “Thus, while she consciously argues for androgyny in terms that will be accepted by her male peers, she, like Galileo, seems to whisper a rebuttal. While we are left with an ambivalent and limited /concept of androgyny, we are also given the tools to go beyond that (451, Farwell). As Farwell continues her essay, her stance remains the same on her feelings towards Woolf’s concept of androgyny and how it is used. In “A Room of One’s Own”, Virginia Woolf makes it very clear to her audience in the first few pages that she knows her ideas, which at this time were quite radical, would have different reactions among two different groups: men and women. Woolf, as it can be noted by her new and upcoming ideas was a feminist, or, a woman who supports the advocacy of women’s rights. The concept of androgyny and the androgynous mind is defined to us by Woolf via her understanding of Coleridge’s definition “a great mind is androgynous…it is when fusion takes place that the mind is fully fertilized and uses all its faculties…” (106, Woolf). She does not stop there, instead, Virginia Woolf continues her explanation and understudying of the concept of the androgynous mind. Woolf states “A mins that is purely masculine cannot create, any more than a mind that is purely feminine” (106, Woolf). Right there, was the entire explanation for the technique and language that is used to write “A Room of One’s Own”. In my opinion, it is crucial to retain the idea that androgyny does not refer to the absence or removal of gender. In fact, it is the fusion or merging of the two genders that completely obliterates, or destroys any gender-baised opinions or perspectives. This mindset is the one I believe is portrayed by Woolf in the entirety of her book. It is commonly said that Woolf wrote her book out of spite and in protest of what was going on during her times. Sure, let’s say she did write to rebuttal the ignorance that was being exemplified…so what? As far as the reader can tell Woolf carried out all of her arguments with, what some may call, a “feminist perspective”, but then immediately made sure to add the counter-argument. Many people would ask why she would go out of her way to argue one thing and then provide the rebuttal immediately following it. The answer is simple, actually: Woolf was completely engulfed in the idea of having an “androgynous mind” when she was writing her book that she did not simple state radical and upcoming ideas that were targeted at women. Instead, Woolf allowed her reader to interpret the situation for him or herself. Woolf fought the mainstream idea of writing as a form of protest or rebuttal and made herself the narrator, but included not only, what we believe are her ideas, but also those of the counterpart.