A room of One’s Own is an essay written by Virginia Woolf in the early 1900s.
The main theme of this book is female creativity, “the woman and the novel”, as the author herself writes in the work.
I admit that I have struggled to read the first few pages, made up of complex reasoning and rather long periods. Virginia Woolf goes from talking about an imaginary situation to referring to real life experiences. She herself initially stated that it will be the reader’s task to decide what in the book is real and what is not. The book is composed of just over a hundred pages, which are however very challenging. Anyway, the book gets smoother as you go along.
What initially seems to be a simple reflection on what and how a woman needs to bring out her creativity in a men’s world (500 pounds and an avaible room, in this case), turns out to be a deep analysis of the condition of the woman of the time, too often relegated to the role of mother, wife… Never considered intellectually equal to man. Although the book is quite short, it gives us a complete reflection: Virginia Woolf, in fact, analyzes texts that speak of women, paying attention to the fact that many are written by men, speaks of a hypothetical sister of Shakespeare, then cites other great writers who came before her, such as Jane Austen. There is no lack of criticism of the difference in salary, an argument that we know all too well in the Western world in 2021. But what I liked most about the book was the ironic language that Virginia Woolf manages to use, talking about topics that inevitably arouse anger.
I think that this book is still extremely up-to-date and that having it at disposal is a great opportunity for men and women to learn how to fight inequalities. “A room of One’s Own” not only gives us important ideas to talk about feminism, but also helps us to understand and appreciate the magnificence of a strong woman and a great writer such as Virginia Woolf.
In conclusion, I can say that this book has taught me a lot and that I will surely read it again in a little time, when I will have more language skills and I will know how to appreciate it and understand it more than I do now.
“The history of men’s opposition to women’s emancipation is more interesting perhaps than the story of that emancipation itself” -Virginia Woolf, A room of one’s own
Valeria Del Sordo 4N
