The View Towards Feminism and A Room of One’s Own

Written in 1929, A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf has been broken apart into many different view points and meanings that in a whole, affect woman and/or artists. The interesting thing about Woolf’s piece, is that it’s an essay that uses fictional characters and narration that would later be used to debate whether it was completely a true feminist approach to women’s writing and money, or if wasn’t enough of a feminist approach, especially when involving other races.

A Room of One's Own Summary Some of the critics argue that Woolf way of writing scrambled the ideas that were supposed to be taken from the essay. Others believe that the style in which the essay was wrote had no affect on its meanings involving women and society. Such beliefs lead to never-ending discussions on one of the most important works by a leading writer of the Modernists movement. The early 20th century novelists, Andrew Bennett, is one who believed that Woolf’s essay wasn’t at all a feminist work. In labeling it as non-political, Bennett states: “It is an essay a little about men and a great deal about women. But it is not ‘feminist. ’ It is non-partisan”(Bennett).

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It seems more clear that Bennett in away rejects the political idea of Feminism because at the time of it’s writing, to be a feminists, was to be all for women suffrage. Around the time when women were granted suffrage, Woolf had gained an inheritance and soon wrote “of the two-the vote and the money-the money, I own, seemed infinitely more important”(Woolf). Bennett uses this quote that she wrote as evidence for his case that Woolf did not value the right to vote as much as she valued money, thus, not portraying a feminist edge.

In the time in which Bennett and Woolf lived, feminism and suffrage went hand in hand, conveying the same meaning. With Woolf not considering suffrage as much of an importance, in a way portrays her as a non and anti-feminist. Unlike Bennett, the literary critic David Daiches, who wrote Virginia Woolf (1963), feels that the essay is completely aimed for feminism and to people who are of “genius” who aren’t able to have privacy to produce their craft nor the money (Daiches). “Rooted in a larger democratic feeling” is how Daiches describes the type of feminism that Woolf represents (Daiches).

Trying to convey Woolf’s feminism in a simple way, Daiches explains that the subliminal meaning is this: “All those who have talent should be given the opportunity to develop and use it... [and] should be allowed to have an income and a room of their own” (Daiches). The importance of woman being able to delve into the craft of fiction writing is also implied by Daiches as one of Woolf’s main cares. A line from the essay that gives evidence to Daiches case is: “For genius like Shakespeare’s is not born among uneducated, servile people... it is not born today among the working classes” (Woolf).

Analyzing this line gives Daiches the opportunity to believe that Woolf wasn’t only addressing women, but the working class that doesn’t have the means to be able to create fiction. However, Daiches even doubts this theory because Woolf is so assertive that even women in upperclass don't have the ownership of money to have a room of their own and create fiction. Though, Daiches theories on A Room of One’s Own and the feministic approach are straddling the line of appealing to women solely and the working class, the next critic believes that Woolf is completely appealing to the “genius” of woman only.

The critic, Mary Gordon, of the New York Times who wrote The Fate of Women of Genuis, feels similarly to Daiches in that A Room of One’s Own emphasized the “genius” of woman, who either were rich or poor. She uses the example of Shakespeare’s sister that Woolf used to demonstrate the idea of woman ,in a whole, could not find the means (financially or independently) to write great fiction (Gordon). “The fate of women of genius” is the idea that Gordon has clung onto in reading A Room of One’s Own. Gordon says that Woolf sought out a world where “ Shakespeare's sister might survive her gift, not one in which a miner's wife can have her rights to property; Woolf's passion is for literature, not for universal justice” (Gordon).

Gordon goes on to explain that Woolf was leading more to the freedom of women mentally and financially where they could be in private writing. Even if a woman was apart of the upperclass, she did not own any of the money that her husband had, therefore her ability to fulfill being a genius to fiction writing was out of reach to her. The same view can be said by the next critic, however, she is more strict in the sense of the male and female interactions.

Jane Marcus, an NYU professor who wrote A Key to a Room of One's Own in 1984, also believes that the essay is directed solely to women, but has an interesting view on men. Marcus has found that in A Room of One’s Own, Woolf is demonstrating a sort of resentment towards m en because not only do they own most of the money, by they still carry ownership over women.

Marcus asserts that Woolf’s essay is the modernist eginning of a feminist movement in text. She also links women to fearing men and their rule over women in all senses. Marcus hints that Woolf was trying to say that there should be no interaction between men and women when it comes to money and creativity stating: “They should take Woolf’s in A Room of One’s Own and avoid male mentors” (Marcus). Its a little harder to fully understand Marcus’s view points on Woolf’s essay, but in a nut shell, she is basically refusing the idea of men and women collaboration when it comes to independent fiction writing. The last and very different critic who goes by the name of Alice Walker completely rejects A Room of One’s Own for a very different reason when compared to the other critics.

In Walkers 1983 novel In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens, she addresses many subjects that appeals to the “Womanist” theory that is basically a feminists group for African Americans and other minorities. Walker criticizes Woolf’s essay not because its for feminism or not for feminism, but because it doesn’t address women of color in the creative writing process. Stating:'Virginia Woolf, in her book A Room of One's Own, wrote that in order for a woman to write fiction she must have two things, certainly: a room of her own (with key and lock) and enough money to support herself, but what if the woman doesn’t even own herself” (Walker).

Walker also goes on to relate the quote to Phillis Wheatley, a slave who had became a novelists. Walker believes that a woman who doesn’t even own herself, let alone the right to a room of their own is highly disregarded in Woolf’s essay. However, she does admit to understanding the time change in which the essay was written, but doesn’t like how woman of color are somewhat “placed outside of this room” and not considered (Walker).

She believed that since this essay is considered a big part of feminist writing of the 20th century, than it should be considering all women. In all perspectives of Virginia Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own, one can gather their own point of view on the influential piece of literature. The variety of critics and literary professionals that react to this essay all bring a different take on Woolf’s essay that can make it unique to those who read it.

Readers can agree that the essay advocates for the freedom and right to create literature, however, when looking at the essay in its entirety and intertwining the criticism tied to it, the readers can fully grasp the themes and theories that are suggested. As a writer, Woolf spoke and wrote about what she expected to be suggested in her essay without hiding the meanings metaphorically. Such open writing allows the readers to dive into the essay and take what they want from it and make observations the same way the critics did.



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