A Society by Virginia Woolf (1921)

Name: A Society
Author: Virginia Woolf

Virginia Woolf's A Room of One's Own is a groundbreaking essay that explores the importance of women's rights and the need for women to have a space of their own in order to create and express themselves. Woolf argues that without a room of one's own, women are unable to achieve their full potential as writers and thinkers. She examines the history of women's education and the lack of opportunities available to them, and she argues that women must have access to education and resources in order to be able to create and express themselves. Woolf also examines the role of gender in literature and the ways in which women are often portrayed as inferior to men. She argues that women must be given the same opportunities as men in order to be able to create and express themselves. A Room of One's Own is an important work of feminist literature that has had a lasting impact on the way we think about gender and literature.

By Virginia Woolf · First published 1921 · Genre: Modernist Literature, Feminist Literature, Psychological Fiction · 5,376 words

First lines

This is how it all came about. Six or seven of us were sitting one day after tea. Some were gazing across the street into the windows of a milliner's shop where the light still shone brightly upon scarlet feathers and golden slippers. Others were idly occupied in building little towers of sugar upon the edge of the tea tray. After a time, so far as I can remember, we drew round the fire and began as usual to praise men--how strong, how noble, how brilliant, how courageous, how beautiful they were--how we envied those who by hook or by crook managed to get attached to one for life--when Poll, who had said nothing, burst into tears. Poll, I must tell you, has always been queer. For one thing her father was a strange man. He left her a fortune in his will, but on condition that she read all the books in the London Library. We comforted her as best we could; but we knew in our hearts how vain it was. For though we like her, Poll is no beauty; leaves her shoe laces untied; and must have been thinking, while we praised men, that not one of them would ever wish to marry her. At last she dried her tears. For some time we could make nothing of what she said. Strange enough it was in all conscience. She told us that, as we knew, she spent most of her time in the London Library, reading. She had begun, she said, with English literature on the top floor; and was steadily working her way down to the Times on the bottom. And now half, or perhaps only a quarter, way through a terrible thing had happened. She could read no more. Books were not what we thought them. "Books," she cried, rising to her feet and speaking with an intensity of desolation which I shall never forget, "are for the most part unutterably bad!"

What this Textopian page supports

A Society is listed on Textopian as a novel by Virginia Woolf, dated 1921 CE.

This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.

Work type: Novel
Author: Virginia Woolf
Date: 1921 CE
Language: English
Genres: Modernist Literature, Feminist Literature, Psychological Fiction, Social Commentary
Length: 5,376 words
Structure: 1 section, 104 paragraphs
Reading fit: Easy (6th Grade)

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Discussion starters

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Similar titles

Genres

Modernist Literature — A Society by Virginia Woolf is a modernist novel, which is characterized by its experimental style and its exploration of the inner consciousness of its characters.
Feminist Literature — A Society by Virginia Woolf is a feminist novel, which explores the struggles of women in a patriarchal society and examines the power dynamics between men and women.
Psychological Fiction — A Society by Virginia Woolf is a psychological novel, which delves into the inner workings of the characters' minds and examines their motivations and emotions.
Social Commentary — A Society by Virginia Woolf is a social commentary, which critiques the social conventions of the time and examines the effects of class and gender on society.