Feminist Influence of Virginia Woolf's "A Room of One's Own"

Originally published in September of 1929, A Room of One's Own has become a critical piece of literature in the feminist movement's efforts and an inspiring work in the span of women's history in the sphere of writing. This particular publication is fundamental in the development and legacy of the novel for its inspiration and influence pertaining to the concepts mentioned above as well as Woolf's development as an influential, timeless author. This piece centers on an imagined narrator similar to Woolf herself who asserts the importance of having "money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction" (Woolf 2092). In connection to the title, a woman's ability to be relatively independent in order to support her own creative endeavors is prevalent through the main parts of the work, and Woolf expresses this through the thoughts and descriptions of her narrator in a stream-of-consciousness type of style similar to her 1925 novel Mrs. Dalloway. The legacy of this piece resonates with Woolf's call to action towards women pertaining to taking up the responsibility of paving their own ways in a world dominated by male voices and influences. Woolf's other literary works echo her strong narrative voice in A Room of One's Own, creating her legacy as not just a modernist female writer, but a creator capable of articulating issues that persist in our modern times, including the "identification of women as a poorly paid underclass... given the gender pay gap" (Gildersleeve) and the, "emphasis on the hierarchy of value placed on men’s writing compared to women’s (which has led to the establishment of awards such as the Stella Prize)" (Gildersleeve). All in all, this work certainly holds a place of importance in the timeline of the novel as a genre despite its shortness in length and size for its persistently relevant and interesting ideologies concerning women and their interactions with the endeavor to write.

 

Gildersleeve, Jessica. “Guide to the Classics: A Room of One's Own, Virginia Woolf's Feminist Call to Arms.” The Conversation, 23 Sept. 2020, theconversation.com/guide-to-the-classics-a-room-of-ones-own-virginia-woolfs-feminist-call-to-arms-145398.

Woolf, Virginia. “The Norton Anthology of English Literature.” The Norton Anthology of English Literature, by Stephen Greenblatt and M. H. Abrams, 8th ed., F, W.W. Norton, 2006, pp. 2092–2152.

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Event date:

Sep 1929 to Sep 1929