Virginia Woolf's A Room of One's Own is a quintessential piece of feminist literature. She takes a stand for women's rights and the need for women to be accepted as equals in the twentieth century. Woolf speaks out against inequality through her illustrations of female writers. Woolf chooses to showcase Jane Austen, George Eliot, and the Brontes and their ability to contend with male writers. She is quick to say that female writers are not in the same class as male writers, but that is not because women are inferior to men, rather that women are not properly educated.
"A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction; and that, as you will see, leaves the great problems of the true nature of woman and the true of fiction unresolved" (1229).
Woolf believes that the life women are expected to live is in direct opposition to the life of a writer. Women need independence and to have the luxury to have time for themselves. She cites this as part of the reason why women lack the skills to write great literature. Women are always being interrupted without time to themselves. Woolf identifies Austen's writing technique of writing in the "general sitting room subject to all kinds of casual interruptions" then covering her manuscripts with blotting paper (1245). Austen never had anytime to collectively plan and execute her novels. She could only write when she had the chance, and even then she could never be sure when her next interruption would enter the room. Then she would have to hide her manuscript when someone entered the room because it was shameful for a woman to write. Woolf believes that Austen could have been a better writer if she did not have to "hide her manuscript" and was taught to feel ashamed for doing what she enjoyed (1246). Women have been shunned from education and financial independence which has resulted in fewer female writers, and female writers, themselves lack the ability to be truly great. Woolf believes that women can be great and equal to men, but in order to achieve that the world must accept women as equals. Society must provide women with a room of their own.
Lauren,
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on having published your 20th post! You are the first student in the class to complete the blog assignment.
Good final post on Woolf, with some observant discussion of her points on opportunities and education for women. I think that some of your previous posts on shorter texts were probably superior to this one, as the sheer length of A Room of One's Own makes it difficult to focus and go into depth in your discussion, especially in a short writing genre like blogging. Good work overall in your blog, though—you should be proud of your accomplishments!