A Room of One's Own

"Women have served all these centuries as looking glasses possessing the magic and delicious power of reflecting the figure of man at twice its natural size."

 

Based on two talks given by the author, and first published in September 1929, Virginia Woolf's seminal essay revolves around the central claim that a woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction. Outlining the importance of education and financial independence, Woolf draws up a history of women writers and demonstrates how they had to operate as outsiders in a society that sought to exclude them.