‘A Room of One’s Own’ by Virginia Woolf is one of the most-read books even though it was written over ninety years ago. At the same time, this same book continues to gain more popularity and recognition in different spheres of life. The justification for its continued prominence and success is the fact that it addresses a societal issue that is yet to be harmonized. The main theme of this book in on empowering women financially for them to become intellectual successes. The following paper aims to explain what the room in the book represents and why it was outstanding as well.
In straightforward terms, the room is used to represent the financial margin, and freedom women need to have to give themselves space to thrive from an intellectual front. To be precise, by becoming financially stable and free, it then becomes more comfortable and possible for women to engage in constructive intellectual activities like being greatest of writers. In the book, she goes ahead to mention that 'Lock up your libraries if you like; but there is no gate, no lock, no bolt that you can set upon the freedom of my mind' (Woolf 2010). Through this quote, it is easier to understand what she meant by a room of one’s own.
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It is important to also highlight that the interpretations of the room in her book, are built around the idea of both financial freedom and financial stability. Throughout the book, there are even more citations that go all the way to emphasize how important it is for one to have a room of their own, to work towards the roof. What this means is simply that whenever an individual, who in this case is a woman affords a margin of financial stability and some degree of peace, then their intellectual capabilities are given convenient breeding grounds. In the long run, this process to be beneficial as they can indulge in writing all desirable pieces of literature and, therefore a reciprocation of how the room is crucial. Through these two interpretations of the room by Virginia Woolf in her book, then it becomes easier to analyze how important it is in the long run for any person who needs a room of their own.
While also trying to interpret what the author meant by a room of one’s own, there are secondary sources that have since been written. Through these sources, a more in-depth interpretation of the original book is given, and it is only rational to acknowledge the fact that it makes the book even more understandable. Taking the quote, 'One cannot think well, love well, sleep well if one has not dined well' (Woolf 1996), it is clear that secondary sources written to help in illuminating the contents of the original book are doing their fair share of making it more digestible. In such secondary sources, a reader is able to put the room being spoken about in the original book, into perspective and by so doing, understand how important the room is for any individual an to be precise, to any woman who has intellectual aspirations. As it was said earlier on, the central theme and aim of this book are to shed light on how the financial stability of an individual, gives them a peace of mind to pursue other intellectual goals and aspirations.
One would wonder, how is the room being talked about in the book, important at all? The answer to this is pretty simple, and that is the fact that it champions for financial empowerment of women. It goes further to build on the idea that, when a person is empowered financially and therefore has a room of their own, then it is from there that the most exceptional products from their minds can be cultivated. In other words, through having a room of your own’ which means affording a place of your own, then you wouldn’t need to focus any more energy on financial obligations. On the contrary, all the power will be directed towards the intellectual side of things and it is from this that every great piece of literature is realized. A quote from the attachment says, “A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction” (Christiane 2002). This, therefore, goes all the way to underwrite how important it is for a woman to have a room of their own if they are to take advantage of their intellectual capabilities, which in this case are equated to writing fiction pieces.
The book, ‘A Room of One’s Own’ by Virginia Woolf has earned all the rights to be accessible and to be relevant throughout the years it has been in existence. This is justified by how it delivers its content and the influence it has on the reader. In a nutshell, this paper has managed to paint a clear picture of what the book meat by a room of one’s own and, while at it, also explained how important it is.
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