woolf scholar and feminist critic jane marcus believes woolf was giving radclyffe hall and other writers a demonstration of how to discuss lesbianism discreetly enough to avoid obscenity trials; "woolf was offering her besieged fellow writer a lesson in how to give a lesbian talk and write a lesbian work and get away with it." marcus describes the atmosphere of woolf's arrival and presence at the women's college with her lover vita sackville-west as "sapphic". woolf is comfortable discussing lesbianism in her talks with the women students because she feels a women's college is a safe and essential place for such discussions.