Feelings and impressions about Virginia Woolf's A Room of One's Own

[Mary Westmacott]

Hello! I am new to this forum and I thought the best way to start would be by talking about something great, as I think Virginia Woolf's A Room of One's Own is.

I am currently reading it for university and never has a book awakened such passionate and strong feelings in me.

I would like other people's opinion on the matter, so please tell me what you think :)

[kev67]

I have not read it but I hear it is a feminist book.

[Lykren]

I've only read the often-excerpted chapter "Shakespeare's Sister," which I didn't think was very interesting. The presentation of it seemed bland, and the basic premise not well thought out. I've always thought that some of the greatest writers in the English language were women whose lives were notoriously unadventurous, e.g. Dickinson and Austen; obviously having an equal shot in any aspect of life is a benefit in terms of helping people live happier lives, but it doesn't seem to affect literary ability, so long as (and I realize these requirements have often not been met for women in history!) one knows how to read, write, and has access to literature. So I think Woolf's idea that being kept at home constantly is a detriment to the development of talent is not accurate. I would say that it is more important that one have wealth and therefore leisure time.

However, I did love Woolf's novels To the Lighthouse and Mrs. Dalloway. She just didn't seem at her best in Shakespeare's Sister.

[Marbles]

Not sure about A Room of One's Own, but does anyone think there are better examples of stream of consciousness mode than To The Lighthouse, which is often vague with too many parenthesis and flitting arbitrarily from a good sentence to bad and back to good?

Perhaps it being the one or one of the pioneering stream of consciousness works gives it a special place in the history of English literature?

[Lykren]

Marbles, yes there are problems with To the Lighthouse, it is clearly an imperfect work, but it's definitely one of the purest examples of a stream-of-consciousness style. I don't recall that many bad sentences, but it's been a while since I read it and I read it a little too quickly. In any case I look forward to revisiting it.

[omferas]

Hi all
plz
can you give me URL for download few of the books of v w?
thanks

[108 fountains]

The author's listing on LitNet includes three VW novels: Voyage Out, Night and Day, and Jacob's Room, her first three novels, but I'm not familiar with any of them. I did read Mrs. Dalloway, which is said to be a good example of stream-of-consciousness writing, but I have to say I had to force myself to keep reading it. I guess I'm just not that much of a fan of that style of writing.

[omferas]

plz
Why do many of the creators end up a tragic end? Virginia has admitted that it was happy with her husband, but her depression chronic ruled on the remaining of her life
What does this mean?

[Poetaster]

plz
Why do many of the creators end up a tragic end? Virginia has admitted that it was happy with her husband, but her depression chronic ruled on the remaining of her life
What does this mean?

Nothing. Depression has been linked to creativity, but that's it.

I don't remember this book well, but I wouldn't call it 'feminist' per-say.

[Lykren]

I don't remember this book well, but I wouldn't call it 'feminist' per-say.

Really? Why not?

[Poetaster]

Really? Why not?

Was it really concerned with women as a political unit, or as an individual writer who happens to be a woman? I might be using a very selected definition of the word 'feminist'.

[Lykren]

Yeah, I think your definition is far too selective. In the individual is found the whole of society, and vice versa, no?

[ballihaluk]

Virginia Woolf's ''A Room of One's Own'' is really a good work and to some extent yes, I would call it a feminist text.

As for Mrs. Dalloway, it is really a hard book to read but a perfect example of stream of consciousness.

[omferas]

Poetaster
Nothing. Depression has been linked to creativity, but that's it.

I don't remember this book well, but I wouldn't call it 'feminist' per-s



Mm possible

There is a good book, tells about her life and her novels, and imagined dialogue with her after her death, as if they are speaking, really fun and useful.

[omferas]

plz
where must put my text in this forum?
In any department?
Short Story Sharing؟؟؟

[Poetaster]

Yeah, I think your definition is far too selective. In the individual is found the whole of society, and vice versa, no?

Then how would you define feminist? There seems to be as many feminists as there are definitions of it. Was Sylvia Plath really a feminist poet? Is calling any writer who is a women a feminist not in a way demeaning the meaning of Feminism as a political force?

[Lykren]

Well, I don't think feminism is just something that regards women as a 'political unit,' rather, it includes social aspects, economic aspects, artistic and spiritual aspects and so on in its examination of the challenges women face.

But back to A Room of One's Own, I think Woolf meant to use one example of a fictional writer as a hypothetical demonstration of how women were (and are) treated unfairly. Besides that, if you don't mind me quoting Wikipedia:

"The essay is generally seen as a feminist text, and is noted in its argument for both a literal and figural space for women writers within a literary tradition dominated by patriarchy."

[Poetaster]

Well, I don't think feminism is just something that regards women as a 'political unit,' rather, it includes social aspects, economic aspects, artistic and spiritual aspects and so on in its examination of the challenges women face.

But back to A Room of One's Own, I think Woolf meant to use one example of a fictional writer as a hypothetical demonstration of how women were (and are) treated unfairly. Besides that, if you don't mind me quoting Wikipedia:

"The essay is generally seen as a feminist text, and is noted in its argument for both a literal and figural space for women writers within a literary tradition dominated by patriarchy."

Then, yeah, you are right. I take back my statement - I guess I was thinking of Feminism in a very 2D and silly way. Still, it is a fine book in it's own right, and for feelings and impressions of it I really enjoyed it.

[AuntShecky]

but I wouldn't call it 'feminist' per-say.

"per se" you mean.

I think we're doing VW a misservice by labeling her "feminist." Her significance is far broader than that.She has been often described as a "writer's writer," for good reason. For instance, it is absolutely true that she was incapable of writing a bad sentence. Her virtuousity with language, form, and nuances of meaning are exemplary. For that reason, Virginia Woolf ranks right up there with Henry James.

My favorite Virginia Woolf novel (so far) is Orlando, richly textured fantasy loaded with wit and wisdom. Because Virginia dedicated the book to her friend, Vita Sackville-West, Nigel Nicholson called the book a "the longest and most charming love letter in literature." By doing so, that critic opened the floodgates of prurient speculation, resulting in the labeling of the book as "illuminaing the gay and lesbian experience," which appears in the blurb for the paperback edition I own. Talk about pigeon holes or ghettoizing an author!

Even though the title character, like the mythological Tiresias, transforms from one sex to another, the novel is much more than an account of a transgender person. Living and thriving for three centuries, Orlando pops up in widely-diverse time settings, like a prototype of Zelig. Aside from a tour de force, Orlando is a picturesque and psychologically acute examination of the role of the individual's place through history. The humanity shines through the writing like sunlight glimmering off the frozen Thames.

[Poetaster]

"per se" you mean.

Yes. I'm sorry. :cryin:

[AuntShecky]

Don't be sorry! Yours fooly has made goofs that are far, far worse!

[Lykren]

"per se" you mean.

I think we're doing VW a misservice by labeling her "feminist." Her significance is far broader than that.She has been often described as a "writer's writer," for good reason. For instance, it is absolutely true that she was incapable of writing a bad sentence. Her virtuousity with language, form, and nuances of meaning are exemplary. For that reason, Virginia Woolf ranks right up there with Henry James.

My favorite Virginia Woolf novel (so far) is Orlando, richly textured fantasy loaded with wit and wisdom. Because Virginia dedicated the book to her friend, Vita Sackville-West, Nigel Nicholson called the book a "the longest and most charming love letter in literature." By doing so, that critic opened the floodgates of prurient speculation, resulting in the labeling of the book as "illuminaing the gay and lesbian experience," which appears in the blurb for the paperback edition I own. Talk about pigeon holes or ghettoizing an author!

Even though the title character, like the mythological Tiresias, transforms from one sex to another, the novel is much more than an account of a transgender person. Living and thriving for three centuries, Orlando pops up in widely-diverse time settings, like a prototype of Zelig. Aside from a tour de force, Orlando is a picturesque and psychologically acute examination of the role of the individual's place through history. The humanity shines through the writing like sunlight glimmering off the frozen Thames.

I don't think we're doing Woolf a disservice by calling her a feminist. For one, as I stated above, a 'feminist' necessarily takes into account many aspects of life; and furthermore, calling her a feminist does not preclude her being other things! It is true though that a writer who closely examines the human experience (as Woolf certainly did), and who therefore steps into waters that can be deemed 'political' can easily be hijacked by overzealous proselytizers for the purpose of giving a sort of artistic credence to one argument or another.

It is my belief however that great writing deals rather with uncertainty than certainty. In that regard, I think, calling Virginia Woolf a feminist does more credit to the term 'feminism' than it does harm to Woolf.

[Buh4Bee]

Hello! I am new to this forum and I thought the best way to start would be by talking about something great, as I think Virginia Woolf's A Room of One's Own is.

I am currently reading it for university and never has a book awakened such passionate and strong feelings in me.

I would like other people's opinion on the matter, so please tell me what you think :)

I read this about ten years ago and I was very enthusiastic about it!It fundamentally can be construed or understood as a feminist book, but it also speaks to all writers in general. A woman should have a place of her own, other than the kitchen.

[Marwood]

I'm a little confused at the potentially pejorative undertones being applied to 'feminist' here. Feminism is as necessary now as it ever has been.

A Room of One's Own can certainly be read as a feminist text. Whether Woolf intended it that way, or whether she wrote something which ended up being feminist by expression rather than intent, I'm not sure, but the fact is, it gives a good understanding of the way women's lives are affected by the patriarchal society in which we live, and the quelling of the literature of women as a result.

Some of her 'scientific' postulation is a little questionable, and she's a little binarist (though for her time, how could I ask for anything else? She even goes so far as to declare the possibility of there being more than two genders in some far-off land - perhaps we could regard the gradual acceptance of other genders in the present as being the temporal variant of a far-off land), but it's a wonderfully clear, expressive piece, which really hits home the ideas she's trying to put across. It's still very relevant today.

[Marbles]

Marbles, yes there are problems with To the Lighthouse, it is clearly an imperfect work, but it's definitely one of the purest examples of a stream-of-consciousness style. I don't recall that many bad sentences, but it's been a while since I read it and I read it a little too quickly. In any case I look forward to revisiting it.

So it isn't just me who thinks To The Lighthouse is an imperfect work. Thankyou. I tried hard to like it but it leaves much to be desired. Being the earliest example of stream of consciousness that work has a lot of merit, sure, but it requires a lot of justification to rank it high up among the Great List. Perhaps other Woolf novels are much better as noted by some in the thread. To The Lighthouse, however, does not deter me; I look forward to reading her other works.

[Lykren]

So it isn't just me who thinks To The Lighthouse is an imperfect work. Thankyou. I tried hard to like it but it leaves much to be desired. Being the earliest example of stream of consciousness that work has a lot of merit, sure, but it requires a lot of justification to rank it high up among the Great List. Perhaps other Woolf novels are much better as noted by some in the thread. To The Lighthouse, however, does not deter me; I look forward to reading her other works.

Try Mrs. Dalloway.

[Marbles]

Try Mrs. Dalloway.

That's next.