is one of the most significant feminist texts of the twentieth century. Published in 1929, Woolf's essay was the first literary history of women writers and its radical nature is evidenced by its anticipation of many of the concerns of Second Wave feminists some forty years later. Woolf initially gave a version of the essay as two talks at the women's colleges of Cambridge University, Newnham and Girton. Denied a formal education herself, self-educated as a young woman in her father's library, she entered the university in 1928 to speak to women who had gained access to higher education. She was then a successful, published writer, entering the university on her own terms. Her aversion to the male-dominated institution, so familiar to her brothers, her husband and many…
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Citation: Snaith, Anna. "A Room of One's Own". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 30 March 2001 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=7038, accessed 26 November 2024.]
