Women's Independence

One of the things that I’ve liked best about reading A Room of One’s Own is the personality Virginia Woolf exudes when she writes. She’s feisty, independent and strong, and any women reading this book can learn a lot from her. This book was written in a time when women were oppressed. Virginia makes it her duty throughout the book to prove that women are mistreated and deserve respect.

Perhaps what I have liked best, is how Virginia has inspired me. I don’t know if my attitude has changed since I’ve been attending Saint Mary’s, but I find myself really in sync with Virginia. Not that I’ve ever hated men, but I couldn’t agree with her more when reading her book. “I need not flatter any man; he has nothing to give me” (38). I feel empowered by Woolf’s words. She stresses independence from men, and after reading this, I strive for that independence. According to her research, “wise men never think the same thing about women” so we’re wasting our time if we think we’ll ever please all of them.

Woolf also discusses the superiority of men. “Possibly when the professor insisted a little too emphatically upon the inferiority of women, he was concerned not with their inferiority, but his own superiority” (34). Woolf suggests that possibly it could be the ignorance of men that women are made to look inferior. Men are too focused on themselves so women are seen as unimportant. Woolf comes back to say, “More than anything, perhaps, creatures of illusion as we are, it calls for confidence in oneself. Without self-confidence we are as babies in the cradle” (35). She observes the inequality of women, but says how women can face this oppression.

I can only appreciate the words Virginia shares with her audience. Woolf’s book is not just a list of complaints about men. She goes to the facts at the Oxbridge library and uses them for evidence. This makes her argument even stronger in addition to her strong voice used throughout the book.