woolf
Virginia Woolf's "A Room of One's Own" broke new territory in suggesting that the reason there were very few acknowledged women's writers at this time was because women lead hard lives in comparison to men and that the conditions needed to produce women writers was not conducive for them at this time. Her response was that for women to write literature they must have a room of their own, both literaraly and symbolically. This entailed real space and privacy for women to write in, the financial freedom to write without enduring unwanted jobs, women role models and the freedom and power to choose their own career path. Throughout this course the majority of women we have studied have had the privilege of fulfilling these requirements and thus had 'a room of one's own.' Therefore, to be a successful female writer it is essential to have a room of one's own, although I believe that the above requirements are not all necessary and that today's room has changed. Women's lives were made less accessible to writing because of the requirements on women. Women were the wives, cooks, cleaners and employees. Women were responsible for bearing and raising the children and because of this they were at a disadvantag
e to the opportunities afforded to men. Women simply did not have the time to sit down in a quite room and write and moreover, she argues that women were not allowed until very recently to gain an education parable to men's, and even this is debatable. Throughout time, Woolf argues, women have been slaves, often locked up, not free to choose their partner and frequently beaten by their husbands. Women were shut up in unwanted families that force them to become economically, psychologically and physically dependent on men. How can women write quality literature amid these conditions? Woolf writes, "Making a fortune and bearing thirteen children- no human being could stand it. Consider the facts, we said. First there are nine! Woolf argued that women did not write great literature (plays and poetry not novels) because they had been subjected to make domination, which had denied them any access to personal space, money and education. "To earn money was impossible for them, and in the second, had it been possible, the law denied them the right to posses what money they earned." (Woolf, 22) Women were not encouraged and supported to write, Woolf supports these arguments with the use of historical, political and literal figures. Nellie McClung did not see it necessary to have a room of her own. She was an adamant fighter of women's issues, "increased mother's pensions, more help for unemployed women, prison reforms and home for delinquent girls." (Hallett and Davis 307) McClung was successful in changing legislature that affected women and saw motherhood as a sacred trust and the highest achievement of being a woman. McClung is an example of one women writer who encouraged women's roles as mothers, herself included, but to also have accessibility to other opportunities such as politics. There are critiques of de Beauvoir that her, "analysis of the Other has come under intense scrutiny from 'difference' feminists who want to endors
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1318
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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