A Room of One's Own

Rating:
Summary: Still a masterpiece
Review: Written in the late 1920's this long essay/book continues to be fresh and pertinent. The cause of feminist equality has improved somewhat in the intervening years but is still falls shamefully short of full emancipation.

As Woolf so eloquently puts it, a woman needs money and a room of one's own. And it is still a rare woman who has both. Her use of the imaginary tale of Shakespeare's sister and her "feminine" fate still has weight and packs a significant punch of truth.

The other significant factor that Woolf does not touch on in this essay is time. The weight of child rearing, housework and domesticity still falls heavily on women. There has been some movement with men being involved in that area but the movement is very, very slow. Added to that, it is a rare woman who does not have to work and bring income into the household.

Woolf continues to speak with honesty to the issues of feminism and women over the intervening bridge of years. This book still resonates. Highly recommended.