A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf: Literature Past Exam Paper Questions VCE

My aunt, Mary Beton, I must tell you [...] They are driven by instincts which are not within their control. Virginia Woolf, A Room of One’s Own (1929), Vintage, 2001 pp. 30 and 31

As we study "A Room of One's Own" by Virginia Woolf, we explore the challenges women face in pursuing artistic and intellectual endeavours. Let us delve into two key passages from the text and their implications for understanding Woolf's ideas. In this passage, Woolf introduces her aunt, Mary Beton, and reflects on the constraints women have historically faced. Here, we learn that Woolf highlights the societal expectations and limitations placed on women, suggesting that they are often denied agency and autonomy in pursuing their ambitions. By invoking her aunt's experiences, Woolf underscores the pervasive nature of gender inequality and the struggle for self-expression faced by women throughout history.

I told you in the course of this paper that Shakespeare had a sister; but do not look for her in Sir Sidney Lee’s life of the poet. She died young – alas, she never wrote a word. She lies buried where the omnibuses now stop, opposite the Elephant and Castle. Now my belief is that this poet who never wrote a word and was buried at the cross-roads still lives. She lives in you and in me, and in many other women who are not here to-night, for they are washing up the dishes and putting the children to bed. But she lives; for great poets do not die; they are continuing presences; they need only the opportunity to walk among us in the flesh. This opportunity, as I think, it is now coming within your power to give her. For my belief is that if we live another century or so – I am talking of the common life which is the real life and not of the little separate lives which we live as individuals – and have five hundred a year

As readers, we discern that this passage encapsulates Woolf's vision for the future of women's creativity and literary expression. She imagines a world where women have economic independence, freedom of thought, and the courage to write without constraint. Woolf invokes the metaphor of Shakespeare's hypothetical sister, symbolising the countless talented women throughout history whose voices have been silenced or ignored. We assert that by advocating for women's access to education, financial stability, and creative autonomy, Woolf envisions a future where female writers can flourish and contribute to the literary canon on equal footing with men. Her call to action emphasises the transformative potential of empowering women to reclaim their narratives and assert their intellectual agency.

At this moment, as so often happens in London, there was a complete lull and suspension of traffic. Nothing came down the street; nobody passed. A single leaf detached itself from the plane tree at the end of the street, and in that pause and suspension fell. Somehow it was like a signal falling, a signal pointing to a force in things which one had overlooked. It seemed to point to a river, which flowed past, invisibly, round the corner, down the street, and took people and eddied them along, as the stream at Oxbridge had taken the undergraduate in his boat and the dead leaves. Now it was bringing from one side of the street to the other diagonally a girl in patent leather boots, and then a young man in a maroon overcoat; it was also bringing a taxi-cab; and it brought all three together at a point directly beneath my window; where the taxi stopped; and the girl and the young man stopped; and they got into the taxi;

In this passage, Woolf experiences a moment of revelation while observing two people getting into a taxi-cab. She contemplates the unity of the mind and the fluidity of consciousness, exploring the interconnectedness of individual experiences and perceptions. We learn that Woolf suggests that the mind can oscillate between different states, shifting its focus and perspective in response to external stimuli. The sight of two individuals coming together prompts Woolf to ponder whether there are corresponding "sexes" in the mind that require unity for complete satisfaction and happiness. Through this introspective exploration, we infer that Woolf challenges traditional binary notions of gender and identity, emphasising the complexity and fluidity of human consciousness.

Mrs. Behn was a middle-class woman [...] in the fourpenny boxes in the Charing Cross Road. Virginia Woolf, A Room of One’s Own (1929), Vintage, 2001 pp. 54 and 55

The second passage discusses the plight of Mrs Behn, a middle-class woman who aspired to become a professional writer. We assert that Woolf uses Mrs Behn's story to illustrate the challenges women encountered in gaining access to education, resources, and opportunities for creative expression. Mrs Behn's relegation to the cheap bookstore seats symbolises the marginalisation of women's voices in the literary world and their limited visibility within intellectual circles.

But when I look back through these notes [...] whether one can impart it or not. Virginia Woolf, A Room of One’s Own (1929), Vintage, 2001 pp. 94 and 95

This passage discusses Woolf's contemplation on the historical lack of recognition and resources for women writers. We observe that Woolf questions whether women can impart the full extent of their creative potential without the necessary financial independence and personal space, symbolised by "a room of one's own." We conclude that this passage reinforces Woolf's argument that financial stability and personal freedom are essential for women to produce meaningful and influential art.

Have you any notion of how many books are written about women in the course of one year? Have you any notion how many are written by men?Are you aware that you are, perhaps, the most discussed animal in the universe? Here had I come with a notebook and a pencil proposing to spend a morning reading,supposing that at the end of the morning Ishould have transferred the truth to my notebook. But I should need to be a herd of elephants, I thought, and a wilderness of spiders, desperately referring to the animals that are reputed longest lived and most multitudinously eyed, to cope with all this. I should need claws of steel and beak of brass even to penetrate the husk. How shall I ever find the grains of truth embedded in all this mass of paper? I asked myself, and in despair began running my eye up and down the long list of titles. Even the names of the books gave me food for thought. Sex and its nature might well attrac

This passage highlights the disparity between the number of books written about women by men and vice versa. Woolf reflects on the overwhelming presence of male-authored literature about women, ranging from frivolous to serious works. She observes the prevalence of male voices dominating the discourse on femininity, with women's perspectives marginalised or excluded. We discern that this imbalance in representation underscores broader societal attitudes towards gender and power dynamics in literature. Woolf's frustration with the sheer volume of male-authored narratives about women reflects her critique of patriarchal structures that limit women's agency and visibility in intellectual spaces.