'A Room of One's Own' & Femininity

"The title women and fiction might mean, and you may have it to mean, women and what they are like, or it might mean women and the fiction that they write; or it might mean women and the fiction that is written about them or it might mean that somehow all three are inextricably mixed together and you want me to consider them in the light" (para. 1).

From Virginia Woolf's 'A Room of One's Own', Woolf writes about her experiences while studying in Oxbridge during a time where it is made obvious that women partaking of such an elite education is not common or accepted. Throughout the story, Woolf depicts many encounters and situations she has faced while stuyding at Oxbridge where she was extremely limited to what she could or could not do. In the quote taken from this story, Woolf attempts to look at two controversial terms such as 'women' and 'fiction' in three points of view. All the readings that we were assigned to read somehow fit into this one statement made by Woolf. For example, in 'The New Dress', we read about Mabel who is a young female clothed in a dress she does not feel comfortable in; according to her she feels 'hideous' and most definitely out of place. We see the metaphor of 'flies trying to crawl out of a milk saucer' appear several times throughout, this being a comparison of Mabel in her dress. I believe that in this story, the first part of Woolf's quote taken from 'A Room...' ties in: "women and what they are like"; Mabel's sentiments, discomfort and lack of confidence throughout the party make her the person she is, without her ever really having to say so.

In 'Introduction' (not sure to what), we read about Lily Everit who appears to be a student who wrote an impacting essay worthy of recognition. She too is at a party (possibly) where she encounters many people that know of her and all in all, make her feel out of place, not just for being a woman with an education and the skill to write essays (and not poems as assumed by many), but also because of her location (a big city she does not seem to be familiar with). Here is where two parts of Woolf's quote tie in: "women and the fiction that they write; or it might mean women and the fiction that is written about them". The first part needs no explanation; Lily's essay about a male character (Dean Swift) is what gave her recognition in the first place. The second portion of the quote however, can be interpreted in a different way; although no one has written anything about Lily in this story, one could say that the judgements and stereotypes created about her during the party is indeed the "fiction written about her".