Introduction
Virginia Woolf wrote the essay A room of Ones own after delivering lectures at NewnhamCollege and Girton College. These were the only female colleges at Cambridge as women were not able to access education like men. Men and women had dissimilar educational experiences during this time as men were able to get education, but women did not. This is evidenced by the narrator as she narrates her experience at Oxbridge college. Woolf talked about women and fiction at the two colleges.
Woolf believed that women should have finances and freedom if they are to write literature work. This topic formed the basis of her essay A room of ones own. The book examines the historical and contextual contingencies of literary achievement. Woolf has examined various themes in her essay including importance of finances and subjectivity of truth. Woolf uses different styles to convey the message to the reader. The focus of this paper is on style and subject in A room of ones own. The paper examines the style Woolf has used to convey the main idea in the essay to the reader.
Discussion
When Woolf wrote the essay A room of ones own, there were limited women presence in literature especially writing. Women were not able to write literature work because of lack of money and independence. Women were not financially independence and did not have autonomy as they relied on men and were affected by the cultural norms and traditions. Woolf critiques this by taking the audience on a journey through her experience in a fictional university to show that though women were capable of writing great literature works, they were unable to due to lack of means (Black 214). The way Woolf comes to make this conclusion by writing a fiction work is interesting and unusual. Woolf has used various styles to communicate the message to the reader.
Woolf uses a semi fictional style to convey the message. Woolf has a fictional narrator who communicates the subject to the reader (Rosenman p1-133). Using a semi fictional style has a negative impact on the reader as it confuses the reader. The reader gets confused because the approach the author uses is not used in academic work and also because fiction is almost close to the fact. However, Woolf has the ability and knowledge to use a semi fictionalized style in her work and not confuse the reader. Woolf uses the terms “I” and “you” when delivering the content to the reader. This is evidenced in different sections of the essay (Rich p7-11). Throughout the essay, Woolf utilizes “I” and various personal to show his experience at Oxbridge university.
However, Woolf is not referring to herself when she says “I” as she includes a disclaimer at the beginning of her work. She asks the reader to call her Mary Beton, Mary Charmichael , Mary Seton, or use another name. Thus, she is not the narrator, but “I” is the narrator. Woolf prefers not to talk about women and fiction by using information from famous female writers, but he does not. She prefers to analyze the problem in deeper ways. This makes it easy for the reader to know what is true and what is not true. Woolf selected fiction as a medium for her essay as it has more truth than facts.
Woolf creates a fictional university known as Oxbridge to use when addressing the thesis of the essay. Oxbridge university represents Oxford and Cambridge universities. Woolf sits on the river banks in her imaginary university and thinks about her topic women and fiction. Woolf examines her experience in the university and challenges women face using an imaginary narrator or character. She uses various names like Mary Beton, Mary Carmichael and Mary Seton to explore the topic. She tells the audience or the reader to call her Mary Carmichael, Mary Beton and Mary Seton, or another name they like as shown by her comments below;
“…call me Mary Beton, Mary Seton, Mary Carmichael or by any name you please—it is not a matter of any importance…” (Woolf p7).
Women are not allowed in the university as the society does not encourage women to access education (Rosenman p1-133).Only men are allowed to get education and they account for a large section of the population in the university. This is depicted by her experience at the university. Woolf tries to reflect on her topic, but she is disturbed by the guard in the university. The guard claims that women are not allowed in the university.
Further women have no freedom when studying in the institution and they are not allowed to use facilities in the institution. Women find it hard to use the library. Woolf tries to look at the manuscript in the library, but she is interrupted. She is told that women are not allowed in the library unless they are accompanied by a Fellow of the university nor have an introduction letter. This is exemplified by the quotation below;
“…ladies are only admitted to the library if accompanied by a Fellow of the College or furnished with a letter of introduction…” (Woolf p10).
Lack of money has made it hard for women in the society to get education. Most parents do not provide money for their daughter’s education and hence are unable to attend school. Woolf tries to figure out why women in the society are so poor and how things would be if they had inheritance or money for their education. In this case, Woolf uses Mrs. Seton to show how lack of finances and inheritance has hindered women from accessing education (Rich p7-11). She claims that Mrs. Seton Daughters could have accessed education if she, her mother and great grand mother had left inheritance for their children.
According to Woolf the situation would have been different if Mrs. Seton, her mother and great grandmother had left some money for their daughter’s education (Rosenman p1-133). Mrs. Seton is a fictional character created by Woolf to show the reader how women were treated in the society (Black 214). Women did not get any inheritance according to her comments and example of Mrs. Seton and thus were unable to get educated.
The customs and laws in the society prevented women from inheriting property (DeShazer p1-1465). Women had no legal rights to property as they were viewed as property by men. There was no equality in the society as it was dominated by men and women had limited rights and no freedom. According to Woolf poverty and traditions have made it difficulty for women to write literature work as they have affected the mind as shown by the quotation below:
“…the effect of poverty on the mind, and particularly” “the effect of tradition and of the lack of tradition upon the mind of a writer…” (Woolf p29).
Also, Woolf invents a fictional character and names her Judith Shakespeare to show that a woman with a talent like Shakespeare would have been refused the same chance to build herself due to lack of opportunity or traditions (Black 214). Judith did not get a chance to go to school like Woolf and they were both left at home as their brothers went to school. Judith is beaten by his father after she refuses to marry and humiliated by her father by marrying her off (Rich p7-11).
Women did not have any freedom or independence during the reissanance period and were not allowed to make decisions. They depended on men to make decisions for them as evidenced by Judith. Judith is not able to decide whether to get married or not, but her father forces her. Shakespeare manages to establish himself and become successful in life, but Judith does not. Judith kills herself and her genius is not expressed. Judith shows the risks and wastes in denying women a chance to get education and determine the course of their lives.
In addition, Woolf uses the term “ I” to analyze women and fiction. The way Woolf manages to use the term “I” and switch abruptly makes her work more unique from other works that have been written before. It also enables her to illustrate her point that women need money and independence so as to be able to write fiction. Woolf uses his experience and thoughts to support her thesis(Rosenman p1-133). For example, Woolf uses “I” to show that the literature work that is written by women will not be successful if she allows the position of women in the society to affect her work. The female literature work will not be successful if she allows her self to be affected by lack of education. Woolf claims that a woman can be successful in this field like men. A woman can be successful in writing literature work by being her own unique, female way.
Woolf also uses the term “I” to show her feelings when she is annoyed by the work written by men. Women were not able to write literature work during her time and most of the work was written by men (Rich p7-11). Woolf tries to search for books about by women and she is surprised by how many books have been written about women. She checks ay the “M” listing, but finds there are no books that have been written about men. Woolf does not appreciate the books written by men as she claims that the authors were influenced by emotions when writing the books and were not able to tell the truth.
Woolf explores a wide range of topics and opinions and concludes that the books show the inferiority of women in the society (Rosenman p1-133). Woolf is annoyed by the topics analyzed in the book and remembers her instructor’s statement “the mental, moral, and physical inferiority of women.” Woolf argues that she would not have become angry if the authors of the books had argued unemotionally about women inferiority and she uses “I” to show her resentment as shown by the quotation below:
“…I had been angry because he was angry…” (Woolf p42).
Woolf claims that male writers have not been interested in examining the inferiority of women in the society, but promoting male superiority. In addition to that, she states that women have acted as mirror to the males for many centuries. This has in turn affected women education and writings as they do not have the means to do so. Woolf is not pleased by the dry literature authored by men at the British museum as shown by her remarks below;
“…I could not possibly go home, I reflected and add as a serious contribution to the study of women and fiction … that the age of puberty amongst the South Sea Islanders is nine – or is it ninety?…” (Woolf p37).
Moreover, Woolf uses the term “You” to interact with the readers. Woolf knows that how a person delivers his or her lecture is crucial like the content being delivered and hence she uses the word “you” to deliver the lecture (Black 214). Woolf addresses the readers using the word “you” in different parts of the essay. For example, Woolf uses “You” when delivering a lecture at the universities. This is evidenced by her first sentence when addressing the audience. Woolf pretends that the audience might not like what she is going to tell them at the beginning of her lecture as shown by her comments;
‘‘…But, you may say, we asked you to speak about women and fiction—what has that got to do with a room of one’s own?…” (Woolf p5).
Further, Woolf uses “You” to inform the audience about lesbianism when examining the work written by Mary Carmichael as shown by her remarks;
“…Then may I tell you that the very next words I read were these – ‘Chloe liked Olivia…’ Do not start. Do not blush. Let us admit in the privacy of our own society that these things sometimes happen. Sometimes women do like women…” (Woolf, p97).
The word “you” allows her to interact with the audience and also make them understand the content or topic. She only delivers the content after agreeing with the audience. She also criticizes the Radclyffe Hall’s novel about lesbian and Sir charters Biron. She ensures that Sir Chartres Biron is not in the audience by asking the audience if there are men present. She asks the audience if Biron is in the audience as evidenced by her comments;
“…Do you promise the figure of Sir Chartres Biron is not concealed?” “We are all women, you assure me? Then I may tell you…” (Woolf p97).
Conclusion
In conclusion, Virginia Woolf essay A room of her own is unique from other works that have been written before as she uses a different style to convey the message to the reader and audience. Woolf uses a semi fictional style to analyze how women have not been able to write fiction. She develops fictional characters like Judith Shakespeare, Mary Beaton, Mary Carmichael, Mary Seton to analyze the topic. She uses her own experience and other people’s experiences to support her thesis. In addition, she uses the words “I” and “You” to present her argument and interact with the audience. The style she has used has proved effective as she has managed to show the inequality that was evident in the society during the reissanance period and how it affected women education and writing.
Reference
Black,J.The Broadview Anthology of British Literature.Volume 6a. The Twentieth Century and Beyond. From 1900 to Mid Century, Volume 6.2008. Broadview Press, p214
Rosenman,E.B.A room of one’s own: women writers and the politics of creativity. 1995.Twayne Publishers,p1-133
Rich,J.Modern Feminist Theory. Humanities-Ebooks,p7-11
Woolf,V.A Room of One’s Own. 2001.Broadview Press,p1-134
Woolf,V.A Room of One’s Own. 2004.Broadview Press,p1-131
DeShazer,M.The Longman anthology of women’s literature. 2000.Longman,p1-1465
