HW 24: A "Room" of solitude

Woolf believes that a woman should have a room of her own and money to write fiction and I believe that I have a room of my own. I have my dorm room and my bedroom at home. But when Woolf says that a woman should have a room of her own, I don’t think that it necessarily has to be a room, but a place where you can be by yourself and think in solitude. I am from a big family and usually there are six other people in the house, so it is hard to think in my room when there is chose going on. I found this spot in the woods by a pond, that I would often go to. There I would take in the atmosphere and reflect on the thoughts I had gathered there. Then I was able to have a clear mind to write on my xanga or poetry. According to Woolf, woman must also have money to write fiction. Woolf writes, “…give her a room of her own and five hundred a year…and she will write a better book one of these days.” Woolf is saying that if Mary Carmichael has her own space to write and is given five hundred a year, she will be a better writer. I am fortunate enough that my parents can afford to put me through college, which is where the whole money issue ties in. I am able to write because I was taught how too and I perfected by writing in my “room.” Woolf states, “…there have been at least two colleges for women in existence in England since the year 1866; that after the year 1880 a married woman was allowed by law to possess her own property; and that in 1919-which is a whole nine years ago-she was given a vote?” (Woolf 112). I think that society also impacted woman’s inability to publish writing because they had no rights and no education. Just think Almost 90 years ago woman just received the right to vote. In my opinion education is like having a room of your own and without education you are unable to write adequately.