HW 21: Chapter 1, A Room of One's Own (Woolf)

Dear younger brother,
After reading chapter one in, "A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf it is very clear the importance of the chapter and how Woolf tries to explore the idea of women and fiction. In this chapter, Woolf was asked to speak on the topic of Women and Fiction. This is the beginning of the chapter where she suggests her thesis that, "A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction." She says, she must take a detour through fiction: "I propose making use of all the liberties and licenses of a novelist, to tell you the story of the two days that preceded my coming here—how, bowed down by the weight of the subject which you have laid upon my shoulders, I pondered it, and made it work in and out of my daily life." After this, the essay is written in narrative. The narrator in the story sits on the banks of a river at Oxbridge pondering the question of women and fiction. She compares it to a metaphor by comparing her ideas to fishing. As soon as she gets a "bite" a university security guard enforces the rule that women are not allowed to walk onto the grass. She hurries back to her place on the gravel path and says that her "little fish" of an idea was lost. From there, she views the univeristy and surrounding buildings. She describes the wealthy, "And thus by degrees was lit, half-way down the spine, which is the seat of the soul, ...the profound, subtle, and subterranean glow which is the rich yellow flame of rational conversation." Her attention is then distracted by the sight of "a cat without a tail, something very unusual to see to the common eye. However, it triggers her brain to a time before a war. She also, describes a meal at a place called Fernham. She continues to jump from one place to another. However, i really enjoyed the end of the chapter because it is when the narrator ponders why whether or not women have always been poor. She then thinks how different things would be, "If only Mrs. Seton and her mother and her mother before her had learnt the great art of making money and had left their money" for the education of their daughters. The importance of this quote is that it emphasizes the transformation of our social classes, especially women, over time. I believe that this chapter was extremely informational for people to read because it entitles them to ponder the same questions and ideas that the narrator possesses. It also would be influential for someone who is interested in English and writing because she references many different authors and books in her examples. Many people could relate to these and be able to make their own opinions about her thesis.