Comparing Virginia Woolf's Piece to Women in the Early 20th Century

Michael Brookhart

Professor Wilson

Sources 141, 143

25 April 2012

Source 141 (Virginia Woolf) - A Room of One’s Own

Virginia Woolf was one of the most famous writers in the twentieth century. Her piece, A Room of One’s Own, shows the complications faced by female authors throughout the centuries. Prior to this piece, written in 1929, women faced adversity in all areas of living. They did not receive the same education as men because it was stressed for women to work domestically. Also, it was illegal for a woman to own property. Lastly before 1919, women were not allowed to vote. However, Woolf is living and writing in a different age. She gives all females writers words of advice concerning how to move forward in the given time period. In her piece, titled A Room of One’s Own, Virginia Woolf stresses that females should not be hindered by the boundaries of the past centuries and they should act for the females of the past who were unable to act.

Woolf’s starts the piece by declaring that a woman must have both money and a room in order to write fiction. A problem arises when neither of things are able to be utilized because of barriers created by males. Woolf hypothetically creates a woman named Judith Shakespeare, who is Shakespeare’s brother and also a very successful writer during the sixteenth century. This was done in order to see what happens when a woman is born with great gifts. Even though she is very skillful, she has many hindrances that thwart her from showcasing her gift. Some of these barriers include a lack of education and respect from her male counterparts. Because she is unable to exhibit her talents, she loses her sanity and kills herself. Woolf proclaims that, “any woman born with a great gift in the sixteenth century would certainly have gone crazed” (Woolf, 297).

She then details a story that changed the way she thought about the other half of the human race and the barriers that they create. Woolf’s aunt died and she learned that...