My profession is literature; and in that profession there are fewer experiences for women than in any other, with the exception of the stage--fewer, I mean, that are peculiar to women. For the road was cut many years ago---by Fanny Burney, by Aphra Behn, by Harriet Martineau, by Jane Austen, by George Eliot —many famous women, and many more unknown and forgotten, have been before me, making the path smooth, and regulating my steps.

【参考译文】我所处的是文学领域，妇女在这个领域里拥有的经验不比其他任何领域多，我的意思是说，除去了那些专属妇女的行业的其他任何领域。道路已被开辟已久，在我之前的许多知名女性----范妮﹒伯尼，阿芙拉﹒贝思，哈丽雅特﹒马蒂诺，简﹒奥斯汀，乔治﹒艾略特，以及无数不详其名的或已被遗忘的，早已将道路铺平并指引着我前进的步伐。（徐倩 译）

【参考解析】

1.之所以把上文补充进来，是因为这里for是个表原因的并列连词，在书面语中，for分句前常有一个逗号，但有时也可以用一个句号与上文断开：

When I saw her in the river I was frightened. For at that point the currents were dangerous.  看见她在河里，我吓坏了。（因为）那里水流险恶。

2.还有一个难点在于—many famous women, and many more unknown and forgotten, have been before me, making the path smooth, and regulating my steps.这是进一步补充解释for分句中前面的句子the road was cut many years ago---by Fanny Burney, by Aphra Behn, by Harriet Martineau, by Jane Austen, by George Eliot。

注意：简化这个句子,可能就清楚了。

many  people have been before me, making the path smooth, and regulating my steps.

=many  people have been making the path smooth and regulating my steps before me

【补充理解】下文来自百度文库现代大学英语第五册第四课的详细解析，希望能对网友理解有所帮助：

Para 1 Main idea: In the profession of literature, the author finds that there are fewer experiences peculiar to women than in other profession because many women writers before her have made the road smooth.

 1.Why does the author say that in the profession of literature---that are peculiar to women? The answer is in the next sentence: The road was cut many years ago by many famous women writers as well as many more unknown and forgotten women writers who have been before her, who have made the path smooth, regulating her steps.