Analysis of Virginia Woolf: A Room of One’s Own

In this text, Virginia Woolf’s A Room of One’s own will be analysed. First of all, it is a narrative essay and the title of the book reflects the ideas in it, because the author talks about how women are treated by a men dominant society in the 20th century. The book was published in September 1929 by Virginia Woolf in England.

When it comes to the summary of the book, it is crystal clear that Woolf talks about feminism in the 19th (she was born in 1882) and 20th century, and the place of women in a patriarchial society. As she was born in the Victorian Era, she was raised in a very conservative country. According to Britannica, in the Victorian Era men were free, able to vote, have a voice in the parliament also working however; women were dependent, were only at home, dealing with chores and kids. This is the exact situation which Woolf is talking about throughout the book. She tells that women are treated as if they are less human than men and less smart. Because during those times, women were not even allowed to go to university, even they were not accepted to university’s library without the companionship of a man also it was forbidden to walk on the grass of the campus. Those “priviliges” were belong to men, she says throughout the book. The main character of the book goes to a café for example, and emphasizes that her aunt inherited her some money and after her death, she uses that money, thanks to that she can drink and eat. However, women are not allowed to have prestigious occupations and the protagonist says that every woman should have their own money, own room and so on.

The main idea of the book is women should be economically, ideologically independent, also they should have the same rights as men. However, she does not hate men she says “It was absurd to blame any class or any sex, as a whole. Great bodies of people are never responsible for what they do. They are driven by instincts which are not 32 within their control.” (Wolf, 1929,)
In order to persuade the reader, the author gives examples from Shakespeare. She claims that at those times, women were not even allowed to play in his games. In the book Woolf (1929, p.60) cites Samuel Johnson’s sentence by saying . “Sir, a woman’s composing is like a dog’s walking on his hind legs. It is not done well, but you are surprised to find it done at all” In addition to these, the protagonist stresses the fact how the famous Cambridge personalities saw women as a useless item by giving the example “’that the impression left on his mind, after looking over any set of examination papers, was that, irrespective of the marks he might give, the best woman was intellectually the inferior of the worst man” by Mr. Oscar Browning. As it is a narrative essay the readers can see a personal style and she complains about the society. In addition to these, main character does not have a certain name. Author wants her to be called Mary Beton, Mary Seton, Mary Carmichael or something else. I believe this title is given in order to emphasize the importance of woman’s independence. The author wants to create an effect which reminds the reader that being independent is highly crucial for woman and in a society where women have to write their books with a fake name, they have a right to have at least their own room.
The author obviously complains about the society and its traits. However, she is not a passive complainer, in an era which women do not have an occupation and use fake names to publish their books, she writes books. The most precious thing is, she “dares” to speak up and write books regardless of idle opinions of rich men like Oscar Browning. On the other hand, as the main character does not have a job (the main character and Woolf live at the same century and country, so both of them share things in common) due to the inherited money which was granted by aunt, the reader might slighly pity for her, because it is not even her money.

The surface meaning of the book is feminism and the ordinary life of a woman in United Kingdom. The implied meaning is, with the medium of the narrator in the book Woolf talks about her story ,too. According to Koç (2015, p3) “The writer categorises this relationship into three interrelated dimensions: women and what they look like, women and literature they reveal, women and writings about them”. Woolf all the time argues about how men see women even if women are not like that at all. For example, in the book she gives examples how women were not accepted to university, library, how even in the Shakespearen times women were not allowed to plays, how they were ignored by the society. The main character in the book searchs for a book and she finds out a section called “Women and Poverty” and in that section there are writings about : “Shakespeare’s opinion of, Lord Birkenhead’s opinion of, Dean Inge’s opinion of, La Bruyere’s opinion of,…” (Wulf, 1929, p.33) Wulf also quotes Pope’s sentence by saying: “Most women have no character at all.” (1929, p.34) All these examples show how men think that they are superior than women, in addition to these the most devastating thing for me is not only uneducated men but also highly educated and intellectual men have negative opinions about women.
Furthermore, she also implies that apart from men’s untrustworthy thoughts about women, there is a very explicit discrimination in daily life. Koç (2015, p.4) gives an example from book by saying that “In the book the meals which are served in Fernham College, seems like Woolf’s aunt’s Newham College that is just for women, where the writer is going to make a speech are really humiliating as compared with the ones served to the men in Oxbridge.” It is highly brave of her how she can be the voice of women in such society, thanks to her book she raised awareness among woman.
Her sentences are not too complex, she uses an active voice and as this text is normally an essay, words are formal. Wolf both sounds objective and subjective in the book, because she talks about how women are seen by men throughout the years and as she lived in Victorian Era, it was at climax. According to Appel (2012) in the Victorian Era the only duty of women is taking care of home. Appel also claims that, before marriage they were expected to learn the chores, of course because of patriarchy it was not possible to be as intellectual as men and they could not go to college to take a proper education. These are all facts and the reasons why she sound objective. However, from the perspective of a man who lives in the 20th century she probably sounds subjektive. Wolf tries to persuade the reader that this system is wrong and people should not be blind to the reality anymore, I believe this essay kindled a hope for women. Because such topics cannot be ignored anymore, feminism is a must.

PINAR BECKEN

Meet Me Under Mulberry Tree In The Mild Winter

Reference:
Steinbach, S. (2019) Victorian Era https://www.britannica.com/event/Victorian-era#ref343820
Koç, C. (2015) A Feminist Study of A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/download/article-file/356890
Appel, F. (n.d.) Victorian Ideals: The Influence of Society’s Ideals on Victorian Relationships https://www.mckendree.edu/academics/scholars/issue18/appell.htm