Reflection 2: A Room of One’s Own
“The world did not say to her as it said to them, Write if you choose; it makes no difference to me. The world said with a guffaw, Write? What is the good of you writing?” – A Room of One’s Own (pg 52)
Summary
A Room of One’s Own is a set of essays written by Virginia Woolf discussing Women and Fiction. Through these essays, she tells the story of how she came to her conclusion that in order to write, women need 500 pounds a year and a room of one’s own with a lock. She starts the story at the site of a fictional university where she, as a woman, encounters many different obstacles to her journey. These setbacks then lead her to leave the university and head to the British Museum where she attempts to find books written about women, only to find they are all written by men. However, there are no books about men written by women. Through this, she also explores part of why women do not write the way that men do, and a large part of that is women do not have money. She explores the story of her aunt, Mary Beton, who is trying to raise money for the college but she and other women find they are unable to because they themselves do not have money because their mothers did not have money. There is a brief exploration of what would happen if women did work, and women did have money, and the conclusion is something would have had to be given up, and that is Mary herself. After all, it is women who birth and raise children.
It is here that Virginia Woolf proposes that in order to write, one must have money. In particular, 500 pounds a year, which is the sum that her aunt left her when she died. She continues to explore this notion of why women do not write as men do by exploring the difference between William Shakespeare and Judith Shakespeare, his imagined sister. Shakespeare was given opportunity after opportunity to hone his genius, while his sister was forced to marry, and then to have a child, all while having doors slammed in her face because the notion of a woman acting or writing plays was ridiculous. From there she speaks of Jane Austen and the Brontë sisters, all of whom were unmarried and childless, and all of whom wrote novels. She asks why they wrote novels and not poetry, and came to the conclusion that fiction is easier to write in a room with others in it.
The book continues to delve into the issue of money, time, and space, all of which were inaccessible to women at the time of Jane Austen and Judith Shakespeare, but also explores how things are changing. Women are allowed to own property, and thus allowed to control their finances. More women are writing non-fiction as well as fiction, and they are gaining in popularity. She states that women must continue to write, no matter their circumstances, because it is women’s voices that we have been missing, and in order to do so, they must have money and a room of their own. She states, “…five hundred a year stands for the power to contemplate, that a lock on the door means the power to think for oneself….” All of this is a metaphor explaining that women are limited in their experiences and their opportunities, and both must be open for them to write.
The pedagogical use of the book: If you can consider using it for language teaching purposes, and if so how. If you think you can’t, then articulate your reasons for why.
I would absolutely not use this book for language teaching purposes unless the language learners were of incredibly high proficiency. This is a book usually reserved for university or post-graduate students. The language is not accessible and the concepts in it are very abstract. I would, however, use points from this book in language teaching purposes. There are many good points that she raises that can be adjusted for lower language targets, such as the economic class and aspects of sexism that women face when trying to do anything. In the book, Virginia Woolf talks about women and writing, but now it might be more akin to women and the sciences or mathematics. I would take those themes from the book and develop lessons without having my students try and parse the language and metaphors in the essays themselves.
Discussion points in the book for your students to reflect on
- In what way does economics and the ability to own property influence the freedoms a person might or might not have?
- In modern day, with the ability for anyone to publish a book on Amazon, do you think that there are still inherent biases when it comes to women writing fiction? What do you think these biases are?
- There is a quote from the book, “Rich people are often angry because they suspect that the poor want to steal their wealth.” Do you think this is still true today? How does that influence who is able to write fiction?
- What barriers exist today for women, people of color, and those in lower economic classes that might keep them from creating poetry or fiction?
- If you had time, the space, the money, and the ability to think for yourself, what would you do with your freedom?
How the book embodies/reflect the core concepts and issues we discussed in the class
This book embodies so much of what we talk about in class. Even if you ignore the feminist angle and the criticisms of the patriarchy, this book also embodies the discussion surrounding class. Virginia Woolf is the first to admit that people who are poor don’t have the time or energy to create literature, and thus their voices and their histories get ignored. She focuses on women, but what she says can be applied to any marginalized group. When you have to work or take care of children, especially the latter, you do not have the time or energy to write a novel.
This book does not make large claims or push for society to change. It is more a chronicle of the issues of Virginia Woolf’s time and her experience as a female writer speaking to other women, and her exploration of the topic, Women and Fiction. She states at the very beginning she doesn’t have any answers and is unable to draw any conclusions. This, I believe, is an important aspect of social justice because there is so much going on and so many facets and differing opinions that it’s difficult to say there is one right answer. Virginia Woolf takes over 100 pages to explain that she can only give her opinion on what it takes for women to write fiction and how sexism has impacted female writers. There is an undeniable problem, but the answer is more complicated than just give women money and time. That is only the beginning. There needs to be a massive structural change in society if the issue is to be fixed, but when that issue is fixed, it may (and most likely) will cause other issues.
Hey Sarah,
I think your point about how we don’t always have to push for change/highlight injustices is also an important part of our class. Oftentimes we mean well, but can actually cause harm if we don’t realize we’re being too directive as opposed to reiterating someone else’s ideas that we agree with. I know there are topics I can’t speak for , only about, since they don’t directly involve me. We have to know our place to get the most effective reactions from our students.
Hi Sarah,
I understand your concerns about the language of the book, but there’re different ways we can use a material besides reading it as is for comprehension. How about using the summary of it? Or maybe finding a youtube video on it? Because I really like the discussion questions you posed in your reflection and it’d be a shame not to delve into a discussion on them in the class. I also do appreciate you bringing up Amazon. I think Amazon itself deserves a whole unit in language classrooms!
Sarah! Wow! This post is amazing. First of all, thank you SO much for such a clear summary of the book. For some reason, when I was trying to imagine the book, I was reminded of the movies “Enola Holmes,” and “Little Women,” – have you seen them? I thought I hadn’t spent much time thinking about women in this time period, but now I realize more stories have come to light on the topic.
This book seems so important and interesting, and I’m so glad you found a book that relates to your personal interests so strongly. I was really happy to learn about it, and if you ever want to give me a Sparknotes version of any book, I would love that.
I think the points made about how women and lower income folks have way less time and opportunity to write makes a lot of sense. Their stories get told less because of this. I also really can understand the idea of women having less space – this reminds me of moms that work from home but their babies still follow them around, or they have to hide from their kids in order to get anything done. This topic continues to be very relevant today and I feel very engaged by it, as I’m sure your students will too. I loved the questions you came up with for them. One thing I don’t really understand is the emphasis on fiction vs. non-fiction? I think I might be missing something there. I think I did understand that you would need more mental space to write poetry though.
Thanks for making me nerd out! I might have to go watch Enola Holmes (with you??).
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This helped me a lot, thank you.
You nailed it.
This should be featured everywhere.