A room of one's own

Paperback, 107 pages

English language

Published Nov. 8, 1982 by Granada.

ISBN:
978-0-586-04449-0
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(3 reviews)

A Room of One's Own is an extended essay by Virginia Woolf, first published in September 1929. The work is based on two lectures Woolf delivered in October 1928 at Newnham College and Girton College, women's constituent colleges at the University of Cambridge.An important feminist text, the essay argues for both a literal and figurative space for women writers within a literary tradition dominated by men. In her essay, Woolf uses metaphors to explore social injustices and comments on women’s lack of free expression. Her metaphor of a fish explains her most essential point, “A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction”. She writes of a woman whose thought had “let its line down into the stream”. As the woman starts to think of an idea, a guard enforces a rule whereby women are not allowed to walk on the grass. …

59 editions

About women writing, and much more

This was my second time reading this. The first time was long ago in school—from which I remembered the general premise, the fact that I liked it, and little else. This time I read it with a reading group. The other members of this group drew my attention to aspects of, and ambiguities in, the book that I might otherwise have missed. It’s a book with a lot of interesting and powerful ideas to ponder. It is also a very entertaining and often funny book. Well worth reading for its place in the history of women’s literature, for its exploration of the history of women in (Western) society, and for its analysis of, and ponderings on, literature in general.

Un magnifique petit bout de littérature

De quoi nous parle ce petit bouquin ? De femmes et de fiction. Plus précisément, des femmes romancière et poétesses. Ou plutôt de leur absence. « Beaucoup de livres écrits par des hommes parlent de femmes, mais il y a très peu de femmes qui parlent d'hommes ». On est pas du tout dans une conférence ou un écrit académique (même si l'autrice connaît très bien ses classiques). Woolf nous déroule le fil de ses pensées sur les deux jours précédant la conférence. Il ne s'y passe factuellement pas grand chose: elle marche sur une pelouse, se voit refuser l'accès à la bibliothèque, mange bien le midi et mal le soir. Mais ce qui importe, c'est ce que ces événements suscitent tout un tas de pensées qui éclosent de manière un peu foutraque, comme les bulles d'une eau en train de frémir.

La thèse qu'elle défend parmi tant d'autres est …

Subjects

  • Women authors
  • Women -- History
  • Women -- Great Britain
  • English fiction -- History and criticism

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