Women and Writing

By Virginia Woolf

Book Overview

Known for her novels, and for the dubious fame of being a doyenne of the 'Bloomsbury Set', in her time Virginia Woolf was highly respected as a major essayist and critic with a special interest and... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0156936585
• ISBN13: 9780156936583
• Release Date: April 1980
• Publisher: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich
• Length: 198 Pages
• Weight: 0.56 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.0" x 5.3" x 0.5"

Customer Reviews

The woolf at the door

Wow, I'm really surprised that there aren't more reviews of this wonderful book. "A Room of One's Own" was the first book that turned me onto Virginia Woolf (and I highly recommend that book, too). However, I love "Women and Writing" for a wholly different reason. It's in this book that Woolf's essay on "the angel in the house" is included. Are you a woman who's dreamt of becoming a writer? Go no further until you read Woolf's comments about the angel in the house. That phrase came from a Victorian-era poem by 19th Century poet Coventry Patmore. It's a sugary-sweet (and quite sickening) poem about the self-effacing woman who gives her whole being to her husband; so much so that there's nothing left of her own soul. Ick. Woolf writes, "It was she [the angel in the house] who bothered me and wasted my time and so tormented me that at last I killed her...She was intensely sympathetic. She was utterly unselfish. She sacrificed herself daily...The shadow of her wings fell on my page; I heard the rustling of her skirts in the room. I took my pen in my hand...she slipped behind me and whispered [to me], 'My dear, you are a young woman...Never let anybody guess that you have a mind of your own. Above all, be pure.' "And she made as if to guide my pen... "I turned upon her and caught her by the throat. I did my best to kill her... Had I not killed her she would have killed me. She would have plucked the heart out of my writing..." Powerful stuff. I'm a full time writer who doesn't think too highly of wanna-be writers who spend all their time learning to write and reading about writing and thinking about writing. However, if you're only going to read a handful of books about the craft, I recommend "A Room of One's Own" and this book, "Women and Writing." Rose author, The Houses That Sears Built