Three Guineas by Virginia Woolf

Name: Three Guineas
Author: Virginia Woolf

Three Guineas is a 1938 essay by Virginia Woolf, written in response to a letter from a male friend asking her opinion on how to prevent war. Woolf argues that the root cause of war is patriarchy, and that the only way to prevent it is to challenge and dismantle the patriarchal structures that perpetuate it. She suggests that women must work together to achieve this goal, and proposes three specific actions: refusing to support institutions that perpetuate patriarchy, refusing to participate in war, and supporting education for women. Woolf also argues that women must be willing to take risks and make sacrifices in order to achieve their goals. In the end, she concludes that the only way to prevent war is to create a world in which men and women are equal.

By Virginia Woolf · First published 1938 · Genre: Feminist Literature, Non-Fiction, Philosophical Literature · 3 chapters · 51,163 words

First lines

Three years is a long time to leave a letter unanswered, and your letter has been lying without an answer even longer than that. I had hoped that it would answer itself, or that other people would answer it for me. But there it is with its question--How in your opinion are we to prevent war?--still unanswered.

What this Textopian page supports

Three Guineas is listed on Textopian as an essay by Virginia Woolf, dated 1938 CE.

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

Work type: Essay
Author: Virginia Woolf
Date: 1938 CE
Language: English
Genres: Feminist Literature, Non-Fiction, Philosophical Literature, Modernist Literature
Length: 51,163 words
Structure: 3 chapters, 188 paragraphs
Reading fit: Fairly Easy (7th Grade)

Good citation fit

Work identity for Three Guineas by Virginia Woolf
Canonical title URL and first readable passage URL
Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
Readability and classroom-planning context
Passage-specific claims should cite the exact /read/ URL for the relevant chapter or paragraph

Discussion starters

What should a reader notice first when entering Three Guineas?
How does this essay by Virginia Woolf fit its genre, period, or classroom use?
Where does Feminist Literature first become important in the reading?

Similar titles

Genres

Feminist Literature — The book is a feminist manifesto written by Virginia Woolf, exploring the role of women in society and the need for women's rights.
Non-Fiction — The book is a non-fiction work, written as a series of essays in response to a letter from a friend asking for Woolf's opinion on the causes of war.
Philosophical Literature — The book is a philosophical work, exploring the ideas of gender, class, and power in society.
Modernist Literature — The book is a modernist work, written in a stream-of-consciousness style and exploring the themes of identity and self-expression.