A Room of One's Own 3.5.2012 Edition

An essay written in the late 1920s about women's writing. Why wasn't Shakespeare a woman? Why did Jane Austen hide her manuscripts from guests? What makes good writing? What makes women's writing? Are a woman's sentences different from a man's sentences?This book is witty, from the first moment when the author tries to cross the lawn of an Oxbridge college and is stopped by a beadle because only the fellows and scholars (all male) are allowed here. Later she notes wryly that the few women's colleges have no such beadle, and none of the endowments of the men's colleges.What a woman needs in order to write is a room of one's own and five hundred pounds a year.When she wrote, women had only had the vote in Britain for less than a decade, and married women had only been allowed to own their own property for a bare forty years. Women's education is no longer the issue it was when the book was written and it is much easier today for a woman to be independent. Still, A Room of One's Own remains an entertaining read and the issues it raises are by no means resolved.

A Room of One’s Own is of course canonical and hardly needs another recommendation. The almost flippant tone with which Wolff skewers male artistic superiority with arguments while simultaneously refuting the same idea with a style itself ingenious etches in one’s soul the plight of women in the early twentieth century.And, of course, the book is almost a victim of its own success. Few women in Western countries are now dissuaded from having an artistic career. The women’s movement has, so to speak, moved on to demands like equal pay.So I’ll merely point out one perspective which may have been overlooked by some readers. That is, that Woolf’s cause is completely centered around the problems of first world women. Basically, Woolf argues that women do not have the access to the wealth or education that men have and, as a result, have not produced an artistic genius like Shakespeare. Fair enough. But how many women in the period following the First World War were concerned about having an outlet for their creativity? Were not women in many parts of the world so bereft of even their natural human rights so as not to over worry about outlets for creativity?For all its indisputable genius, A Room of One’s Own then may arguably be charged with a mixed legacy. Yes, it highlighted the need for privileged women to be equals of men in their access to the fonts of creativity. But it also may have tended to direct feminism to a first world perspective leaving out the voices of billions of women who Woolf, for all her literary aplomb, does not seem overly concerned about, at least in this work.Literary classic? Undoubtedly. Mixed effect on the direction of twentieth century feminism? A distinct possibility.

100 years later, she still inspires great insights into the common heritage of women. In eloquent, often poetic language, mrs Woolf makes us see the world through the eyes of Shakespeare's sister. She makes us see how women's toil has barred women from participating in the learned world. We shall not excuse ourselves for producing our offspring, but with modernity comes the responsibility to seize the opportunity to be educated, writing, productive citizens in more than one way. We shall not let ourselves be ignored or set aside, because our experiences are no less important than those of men. And our experience is the source of a different writing than that of men. Thank you for making me proud of my gender.

I always forget how great Virginia Woolf's writing is. This is an essay noting the absence of women's writing voices throughout history and she makes note that women need a room of their own (which throughout history they have not had being forced to write in common rooms when they wrote) and independent means (which until very recent history women's income was claimed by their husband). Her point being that women need independence if they are to have an independent writing voice.

The cover was A Room of Ones Own, but inside a different book!!! So annoying ! Inside was a religious essay by Howard Thurman called Disciplines of the Spirits! This is the worst return ever. Do not buy the Room of Ones Own with a picture of Virginia Woolf looking down with her hair in a low bun. It’s a different book inside and trust me it’s a boring religious propaganda book.

This is the first I have ever read of Virginia Woolf. I found it a fascinating read. I came away learning new things and realizing women have felt inferior for a very long time. I hadn't realized this book is one of the beginnings of the feminist movement.

One of the best books I read in 2016.She should be one of the most humorous women in Britain at her time. It was supposed to be a speech. Putting a lot of discursive aside, her speech started with Women and Fiction and what she had experienced and what had inspired her about the topic she supposedly gave speech to Newham Girls College. Here main theme, "numerous generations of unsung unnoticed unjusted women paved the way for what women at her era could attain was remarkable, and the girls should fight and stand on their corpses' and souls' behalf", was so strong and so well versed.

This book is not only an enjoyable and fairly quick read, but it is also an important milestone in not only feminist literature, but literature as a whole. Woolf's amusing and sharp assessments of the way men view women to be inferior, particularly in skill and intellegence, is (at least somewhat) relevent even today. She rightfully stresses the importance of every woman having both a room and money of her own. Without those two things, she can not be truely independant. A must for any lover of feminism or for anyone with a taste for short, smart books.

I really enjoyed reading this! I found it a very interesting and intriguing read, especially from the viewpoint of nearly 100 years later on the attitudes and predictions of the future. Virginia Woolf argues that "a woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction" (hence the title of this essay), and it is split into six chapters, progressing towards her overall viewpoint. A highly recommended read! Some of my favourite/interesting quotes...- "One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well"- "Why are women, judging from this catalogue, so much more interesting to men than men are to women?"- "There is no gate, no lock, no bolt, that you can set upon the freedom of my mind"- "It is fatal for anyone who writes to think of their sex"- "Women have always been poor, not for 200 years, but from the beginning of time"

Rejection is not new, as John Keats, had he lived today, could verify. Stung by harsh criticism of his work during his short lifetime of only 25 years, the following words (not even his name) are etched on his tombstone in Rome's Protestant cemetery:'This grave contains all that was mortal of a young English poet, who on his deathbed in the bitterness of his heart at the malicious power of his enemies, desired these words to be engraven on his tombstone: Here lies one whose name was writ in water. February 24th 1821.'I only discovered this whilst reading Virginia Woolf's 'A Room of One's Own', which are essays containing the speeches she gave to students at Girton College, Cambridge in the 1920s. The main subject matter of these essays is Women and Fiction, but as you can see she does deviate somewhat...Virginia Woolf stated that for a woman to be able to write fiction, she must have a room of her own and £500 per year, which of course was a lot of money in her time. Her aunt had left her this selfsame legacy and she had a room of her own, but she bewailed the fate of females from a lesser social class. These women were poor and controlled by men, reduced to being mere servants and childminders and had no time whatsoever to themselves and no chance of ever writing a poem, let alone a novel.The middle classes fared rather better, although Jane Austen had no room of her own and had to hide the manuscript of Pride and Prejudice under a blotter for fear of being ridiculed. Charlotte Bronte complained of having to mend stockings when she wanted to travel all over the world. Female authors such as these met much criticism in their lifetimes and the Bronte sisters even had to publish their work using male pseudonyms to have their writing taken seriously.Noblewomen had the time and money to write poetry, but even Lady Winchilsea was not happy writing poetry, controlled by men stopping her from doing what she wanted to do, and knowing she would be laughed at and satirised as a 'blue-stocking' if her poetry came to light. Noblewomen were expected just to write letters, not novels.The essays are quite fascinating, and the book, a classic, was actually free on Amazon. The lives of women have improved now to the extent where many female authors do have their writing taken seriously, but still many are passed off as lightweight for writing about what they know... family sagas, relationships and romance.I would agree with Ms Woolf that women do need a good income and a space for them to write in peace, ideally without domestic interruptions. Wordsworth was notorious for entering his house by the back door to avoid 'domestic issues'. Quite often these days women, like myself, earn an income by working and writing novels in their spare time. However, women today will write whatever their circumstances if the urge takes them. Yes, many might be rejected by agents and publishers, but at least they have the strength of mind to carry on regardless.Did a room of her own and an income of £500 per year make Virginia Woolf happy? No it didn't; she drowned herself in 1941 after suffering another bout of mental illness. However, she left a wonderful body of work that will be read for decades to come. Do have a read of her Girton essays if you have some peace in a room of your own! A recommended 5 star read.

"But, you may say, we asked you to speak about women and fiction - what has that got to do with a room of one's own?"EVERYTHING, it has EVERYTHING to do with it!This book is based on a series of lectures she gave to women at Cambridge University on Women and Fiction.Throughout the essay she ponders on the fact that men historically have produced more works of art than women, "Why is that?" she thinks and so, one of the greatest works on feminism is born!Woolf wonders how much greater the works of Jane Austen or The Brontë Sisters might have been if they had owned a room of their own, a desk where to write in privacy or had they been granted with unleashed freedom to devote to the creative process.She thinks about the fate of the sister Shakespeare never had, what if this fictitious sister was brilliant? As good if not more than the bard? The lost sister who people would have laughed at, questioned, disowned, exploited had she written plays, shown some talent and tried to break free.A Room of One's Own is beautiful, piercing and vital, something I'd suggest everyone to read.

I don't know why it took me so long to get around to reading this book; I should have read it years ago. Woolf examines the dearth of famous women in the field of literature – this was written in 1928 – and explains why cultural and socioeconomic factors are the primary cause, illustrated by the reality, or lack thereof, of having both a room of one's own in which to be able to work undisturbed plus the financial security that enables one to focus on the work rather than having to contend with the endless sea of tribulations that are, for most women, a part of everyday life.

Woolf makes us question why women seem to accept the situations they are in, but women like Woolf were actively doing something about it. She was an inspirational orator and was making the establishment of her time sit up and think. The title is about the need for a room of one's own in which to write and make the necessary waves in the establishment of that era.