Is a Room of One's Own Necessary?

In class we were asked if we thought women need money and a room of one's own in order to write. For many writers, a setting that isn't ideal or comfortable provides much inspiration for writing. The struggles women may go through without a room of one's own or without money may bring out emotions in them that inspires them to write and write well. Woolf shows some of these emotions-such as anger and frustration-when she is discriminated against because she is a woman. The struggle has obviously provided for her an inspiration to write a six chapter piece that we now analyze in class.

In chapter 3, Woolf describes a description by a man named Dr. Johnson who felt that women's composing was "like a dog walking on hind legs" (54). He continues to state that he believes women cannot compose well. As we, women at a women's college, know, we are not dogs. This Dr. Johnson now angers me and I find myself in the same boat of frustration as Woolf. I believe that women can easily write better than dogs, even without their own room or money.