R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Earlier this week, we were asked the question "does the key for women's writers lie in money and a room of one's own?" I watched my fellow classmates furiously scribble their intelligent answers onto paper as I frantically scrambled for my own. In the past, I have often been drawn to symbolism in novels so it was no surprise to me that my mind sought after an answer there.

The women of Virginia Woolf's time may not have been seeking out funds and a place to write, but rather they sought after the respect and opportunity to do so. Woolf used the tangible items of money and a room to symbolize the intangible concepts of opportunity and respect.

The money symbolizes 'opportunity' because, in those days, (especially for women), quality opportunities only came to those who could afford it. Nowadays, however, (especially in the United States), a lack of money is not as big of a detterance from good opportunities. Billions of dollars of scholarships are awarded to underprivlaged children every year -- giving the gift of education to people who may not have had the chance. 'The American Dream' is all about relying on your skill and determination to bring you success, not money,

The room symbolizes "respect." Woolf describes several times throughout the novel how a female writer needs to be undisturbed in her own room if she is to write well. Thus, she needs to be respected. Women of the time were so highly oppressed and in need of acknowledgment beyond the kitchen and bedroom. Women were "not only seen by the other sex, but seen only in relation to the other sex" (86). These women's lives revolved around their husbands, children, and chores -- and earned no respect in any department.

It wasn't until Chapter 6 of the novel that I realized that Virginia Woolf's intention was most likely not to create symbolism. "Next I think that you may object that in all this I have made too much of the importance of material things. Even allowing a generous margin for symbolism, that five hundred a year stands for the power to contemplate, that lock on the door means the power to think for oneself, still you may say that the mind should rise above such things" (110). But does it?