A Room of One's Own
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- Category: English
- Date Submitted: 06/09/2011 03:04 AM
- Pages: 4
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Katherine Walters
15 Furley Ave
LONDON SOUTH
The Editor,
London Times
LONDON EAST
Dear Sir,
I am a young and privileged woman in her 20s attending University in the south of London, and I have just read “A Room of One’s Own” by Virginia Woolf. I am overwhelmed and exhilarated that I feel I must express my views. Woolf has also brought to light and proposed relevant arguments on the lack of gender equality that exists today.
Is it true that my wealth will ultimately determine my success in a society so judged by the thickness of one’s wallet? Do I truly need a room of my own and money in order to succeed? Woolf explores the ‘equality/difference debate’ between men and woman, and publicises what truth is hidden by conforming to society. To be a woman today is to be considered second class, deprived of education and mere ego boosters for men, feeding their sense of self-worth and fuelling their power status.
The text is written as a lecture to the women at Cambridge University. In effect, as a reader, I feel I am being spoken to directly and motivated and challenged to make the most of my education. Her rhetorical questions are also direct, “What have our mothers been doing then that they had no wealth to leave us?”-stirring thought and proposing action. The title “A Room of One’s Own” is used as a metaphor to express that freedom, financial independence and opportunity are essential for women to exceed in any part of life.
The importance of money is an influential factor of the text. It is a powerful force behind the inequitable treatment of women. Without financial independence, women are powerless; they have no authority and no title to their own names. It is this powerlessness that widens the segregation and inequality-“He was the beadle, I was a woman. This was the turf; there was the path. Only the fellows and scholars are allowed here; the gravel is the path for me.” The metaphor of the gravel path reflects that women are shadows, following by...
15 Furley Ave
LONDON SOUTH
The Editor,
London Times
LONDON EAST
Dear Sir,
I am a young and privileged woman in her 20s attending University in the south of London, and I have just read “A Room of One’s Own” by Virginia Woolf. I am overwhelmed and exhilarated that I feel I must express my views. Woolf has also brought to light and proposed relevant arguments on the lack of gender equality that exists today.
Is it true that my wealth will ultimately determine my success in a society so judged by the thickness of one’s wallet? Do I truly need a room of my own and money in order to succeed? Woolf explores the ‘equality/difference debate’ between men and woman, and publicises what truth is hidden by conforming to society. To be a woman today is to be considered second class, deprived of education and mere ego boosters for men, feeding their sense of self-worth and fuelling their power status.
The text is written as a lecture to the women at Cambridge University. In effect, as a reader, I feel I am being spoken to directly and motivated and challenged to make the most of my education. Her rhetorical questions are also direct, “What have our mothers been doing then that they had no wealth to leave us?”-stirring thought and proposing action. The title “A Room of One’s Own” is used as a metaphor to express that freedom, financial independence and opportunity are essential for women to exceed in any part of life.
The importance of money is an influential factor of the text. It is a powerful force behind the inequitable treatment of women. Without financial independence, women are powerless; they have no authority and no title to their own names. It is this powerlessness that widens the segregation and inequality-“He was the beadle, I was a woman. This was the turf; there was the path. Only the fellows and scholars are allowed here; the gravel is the path for me.” The metaphor of the gravel path reflects that women are shadows, following by...