shanananah 's review for:

A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf

4.0

informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

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"Imaginatively she is of the highest importance; practically she is completely insignificant. She pervades poetry from cover to cover; she is all but absent from history."

Woah woah woah, am I a feminist now?
I know—crazy to think that if women had the same opportunities as men, they might have been capable of producing similar works of genius.

I picked this up randomly, but I ended up finding it really enjoyable. It’s a fascinating read. I would’ve loved to hear the original lectures in person—how groundbreaking they must have felt at the time. It was eye-opening to get a glimpse into that history and the logic behind Woolf’s arguments.

I especially enjoyed her commentary on Austen—it gave me a deeper appreciation for those works, too. And I liked that Woolf didn’t frame it as an attack on men, but as a reasoned call for equality, independence, and creative space.

Honestly, if someone disagrees with her core argument, there’s probably something wrong.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Favourite Quotes ~ 

"I would venture to guess that Anon, who wrote so many poems without signing them, was often a woman."

"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."

"The history of men's opposition to women's emancipation is more interesting perhaps than the story of that emancipation itself."

"who shall measure the heat and violence of a poet's heart when caught and tangled in a woman's body?"

"Literature is strewn with the wreckage of those who have minded beyond reason the opinion of others."