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Essay / Book Report: A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf . author. This anonymous lady narrates her thoughts as she tries to resolve the same dilemma that Woolf faced, which decides the thesis of her essay on women and fiction. The narrator is first encountered as she gazes at a stream and contemplates the subject of her composition. Suddenly, the woman thinks of an idea and in her enthusiasm crosses an area reserved for women. A security guard then reprimands her, which makes the woman forget her idea. Subsequently, when the narrator ventures to research a poem found in the Oxbridge college library, she is informed that women are not allowed entry without meeting certain conditions. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay She then attempts to shake off her feelings of repudiation by observing the magnificent lunch and intelligent conversation of the male Oxbridge members. After that, she returns to her women's college and notices that the discussion seems less imploring than that at other universities, probably because of the uninspiring food her institute offers. Later, the anonymous woman discusses this observation with a friend, in which her classmate points out that their school does not have the funds to provide such equipment. The narrator then deduces that discriminatory laws and specific gender roles are responsible, since they prevent women from leaving a legacy for their university. After once again failing to choose the premise for her essay, the anonymous woman decides to conduct research at the British Museum. As she does so, she finds shelves full of compositions written by men on the subject of women, but virtually none composed by women in the same field. Not only that, but most of the material seems to focus on women's flaws and why men are better than women. Over lunch, the narrator notes that most of these male authors seem to write about women's failures out of anger. The anonymous woman questions their motives and decides that they are seeking to assert their male superiority over women. As she pays her lunch bill, she reflects on the freedom her large inheritance of five hundred pounds a year gives her. This income allows her to understand both gender struggles and her inner thoughts, since her emotions are not influenced by any discriminatory work policies. The narrator then returns home, where she wonders if gender-specific boundaries will disappear with time. She later resorts to historical facts to better understand women, but finds that very little information is available about women in the Elizabethan era. She observes that in Shakespeare's plays, women seem to play incredibly important roles. However, in reality, matrons seem to be analogous to uneducated working women. It seems unlikely, then, that a woman of Shakespeare's talent would have contributed to literature as he did in this era, which the narrator illustrates through the imaginative stories of Judith Shakespeare. The narrator assumes that Judith would have experienced extreme difficulties while trying to contribute to the world of theater and that she would ultimately have committed suicide. The anonymous woman decides that such a gifted woman would not have existed during this time period, due to herpoor education, his lack of space to write and his acceptance of the inferiority of women. According to this thinking, the first women novelists were likely aristocrats who had the space and education to pursue their work. What followed was an open rebellion against norms by middle-class women like Aphra Behn, paving the way for other brilliant female novelists. The narrator also argues that all of these women were driven to write novels because they had been educated by similar literary works. Additionally, the narrator posits that female authors do not have a female literary tradition that men have already built for themselves, which increases a woman's task in producing a novel compared to a man's . The narrator then analyzes a young author's first book and decides that, on the surface, this writer is an amateur at best. However, the anonymous woman concludes that the constructed plot is ingenious, mainly because the author created relationships between the female characters instead of just between the male characters. The narrator hypothesizes that an exceptional author could be born in a few generations depending on the progress she observes, if the person has financial freedom and a room of their own. As the anonymous woman contemplates the interactions between the two sexes the next day, she notes that the perfect author would display both feminine and masculine qualities. She notes that self-consciousness regarding gender increased over the course of her life, causing both sexes to fight back. This self-consciousness is what drives men to create novels that denigrate women, although in general the author should never think about their own gender while writing. After this last thought from the narrator, Woolf communicates through her own voice, where she ventures to counter any objections she foresees to her thesis. She says that despite the belief that an author must rise above her circumstances, having her own room and financial freedom are necessities for women authors. Without these elements, women will not have the ability to separate unnecessary emotions from their compositions, diminishing the overall integrity of the work. As a final thought, Woolf urges female authors to understand their current advantages and disadvantages and to write books of all genres. In doing so, their publications will influence themselves and future women writers as well.ThemeWhen analyzing Virginia Woolf's A Room of One's Own, the demands of an exemplary author seem to be the major theme present. Woolf asserts that the distinguishing factor of exemplary authors like Jane Austen is that their books contain integrity, since they are able to separate their personal grievances from their masterpieces. To have this ability, these writers need the financial freedom that five hundred pounds a year gives them. So, instead of constantly facing discriminatory workplace policies, women authors are able to avoid the negative emotional experiences that cloud a person's literary works. As the title suggests, Woolf also states that a gifted writer needs a room of her own, since this privacy allows her to direct her attention to the task at hand. Another main idea present throughout Woolf's composition is society's discriminatory policy towards her. female authors of this era. This is particularly evident when the narrator fabricates the existence of Judith Shakespeare. Although Judith has the same potential as her brother, she fails to contribute to the arts due to standardssocietal and discriminatory laws. Additionally, while writing her essay, the fictional narrator is repeatedly embarrassed by society. As soon as the anonymous woman gets an idea, a security guard confronts her for trespassing on the grass, causing her to forget. The narrator's memory fades once again as she is refused access to the Oxbridge library because of her gender. These are just a few examples that show society's oppression of women, as both Judith and the narrator are hindered by society when attempting to contribute to the arts. Overall, when examining A Room of One's Own, major themes about the demands of a great female author and societal oppression become evident.CharactersThe Narrator - The narrator is the sole speaker throughout most of the essay, although she is never officially given a name. Despite this, she continually questions society as well as gender norms, and strives to use logic in her analysis of both. She also relentlessly seeks to develop a thesis for her essay. Although her thoughts usually begin as simple observations, the anonymous woman develops these ideas into imploring and controversial statements, which place society in a harsh light. The narrator seems persistent in her quest to write meaningful composition, even though she is often distracted by discriminatory gender policies and a general sense of anger that men feel toward women. She seems extremely intelligent and outraged by the way women are treated. The anonymous woman assumes that her financial security allows her to impartially analyze society from the perspectives of both sexes, but she seems to focus primarily on men's flaws. StructureWoolf adopts a very unique plot structure in his essay, A Room of One's Own. In order for the audience to understand her point of view, she creates an anonymous woman who justifies Woolf's thesis with her own experiences. This anonymous lady faces various discriminatory gender policies and in doing so answers the various questions it raises in order to write a meaningful essay on women authors and fiction. The imaginary character appears to be extremely thoughtful and educated, such that he is able to reinforce Wolf's thesis with his own credible argument. Additionally, this character communicates as if she has experienced every situation related to being a woman, which gives her the ability to speak for all women. Woolf also seems to limit the development of the narrator, so that her sole purpose is to support the thesis statement. This could be because Woolf saw no need for the character to display any relationships or characteristics other than those that would make the task at hand easier. Despite this, she sacrifices some of the depth of the character, such as the narrator's name and family life. Overall, Woolf creates an educated but static character to prove her thesis, which heavily influences the structure of her argument. Keep in mind: this is just a sample. Get a personalized article from our expert writers now. Get a Custom EssayAfter reading A Room of One's Own, a person can certainly appreciate the author's aim and admire the progress made in gender equality. Despite these attributes, the text seems outdated and lacks a universal theme. Although a pressing issue at the time, gender discrimination appears to have almost disappeared from society, thanks to the hard work of women, like Virginia Woolf. Since the topic of the essay is not about today's events, this..
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