NOTE: Free essay sample provided on this page should be used for references or sample purposes only. The sample essay is available to anyone, so any direct quoting without mentioning the source will be considered plagiarism by schools, colleges and universities that use plagiarism detection software. To get a completely brand-new, plagiarism-free essay, please use our essay writing service.
One click instant price quote
A Room of Ones Own, by Virginia Woolf was written in a pistol point in womens history. Shortly after the First World War, the womens movement saw reduced energy. In the US, suffrage began and the right to vote was achieved. This work of Virginia Wolf is a manifesto of the feeling of the time for the womens movement. The book is an argument as well as an exposition. One point sums up the argument of the book.
One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well. (P. 18). This comes out of the first chapter of A room of Ones Own. Here the author is making a point about the differences between the mens colleges and the womens colleges. She first describes the lavish meal at the mens college.
The partridges, many and various, came with all their retinue of sauce and salads, the sharp and the sweet, each in its order, their potatoes, thin as coins but not so hard; their sprouts, foliated as rosebuds but more succulent. (P 10 - 11) She goes on to describe the merriment of the men as they eat end how the food and drink bring on the rich yellow flame of rational intercourse. (P. 11). She observes the overall contention of the crowd and how the conversation went on swimmingly, it went on agreeably, freely, amusingly. (P. 12). She leaves the luncheon light on her feet, reciting poetry to herself. Virginia then describes the meal at the womens college. The drab meal is a stark contrast to the lavish luncheon at the mens college. The meal is plain, served in plain dishes.
In disdain, she describes the prunes served for desert as stringy as a misers heart and exuding a liquid such that might run in a misers veins, (P. 17 - 18). There was no wine served with their dinner, only water to quell the dryness of the biscuits. She leaves this meal in a considerably worse mood than the previous meal. She finds her solace in sharing a drink with a friend and lamenting to her. She comes to the conclusion that One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well, meaning that the lavish meal of the mens colleges leaves them in the frame of mind to think, philosophize, and recite poetry, whereas at the womens college, the bland unsatisfactory meal does not leave them in the mood to think, philosophize and recite poetry.
Her point being that the men have an advantage. They are satisfied by their meal. They are in the mindset to be scholars. Whereas the womens low class meal does not inspire them to think well, love well or sleep well. This contributes greatly to the overall argument of A Room of Ones Own.
A Room of Ones Own is exposition of the mistreatment and oppression of women as well as an argument. The basis of the argument (at least as best as this author can interpret) is that in order for women to be equal citizens, the must be equally funded. They need money to properly think, love, and sleep, as well as live. They need a room of their own and an income to be equal to me. They need not be burdened with child rearing or house keeping or other traditional female roles. This all takes money.
The meal at each college is an example of unfair treatment. It is good evidence for her argument. She gives us a concrete example of the difference in a womans and mans life in early 20 th century England. Her statement that One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well, is the argument for why it is unfair. She claims that men do better in school because they are fueled by such good food. The poor food at the womens school puts them in a disadvantage.
She says, a good dinner is of great importance to good talk. (P. 18) She mentions nothing of any conversation at the womens table, only alludes to the foul mood everyone is in. This theme of discrimination through the denial of wealth to women is reinforced throughout the book. Shortly after she exposes the difference in the mens and womens colleges meals, she goes on to describe the larger difference in funding of both schools. She describes the mens college as having a foundation of gold and silver and the long history of one college in particular.
She tells of all the gold and silver that flowed into the college from royalty and rich merchants not only to make it run, but to make it beautiful. She then contrasts the womens college. She describes the decades hard work that went into funding the womens college. They had to hold fund raisers and beg for support. Compared to the mens college, the womens college is poor. The amenities will have to wait. (P. 20).
This leads her to scorn the reprehensible poverty of our sex. (P. 21). This Parallels her argument that One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well. Much like good food fuels the mind a well endowed college fuels the mind. She reasons that if women had the same schools available to them they would not be second class citizens. There would be many more female writers and scholars. To further her argument she describes the day she received her inheritance and how it changed her life.
Instead of a life of the few odd jobs that were available to women at the time or being a housewife, she is free to pursue the life she wants. This separates her from most women who at that time, were busy with either a low paying job or a family. She now has time to think. One cannot think well or dine well without money.
The money also changes her view on life. I need not hate any man; he cannot hurt me. I need not flatter any man; he has nothing to give me. (P. 38). Here we see she has achieved an independence not common to women of the time. She achieved it through money. The title of the book A Room of Ones Own is the crux of her argument.
In order for women to be first class citizens they must have a room of their own. This symbolizes independence as well as freedom to think. In order to have a room of ones own, one must have money, which is the main point to her argument. She sees financial equality as the road to social equality.
Free research essays on topics related to: gold and silver, class citizens, good food, p 18, womens movement
Research essay sample on Gold And Silver Womens Movement
