Virginia Woolf, Room of One's Own- Chapter 4

    Throughout chapter four of Virginia Woolf's, Room Of One's Own, Woolf takes us throughout her journey of discovering women writers dating back to the 16th century. What I found most interesting reading this chapter was her intention not to criticize these females for what their writing was or wasn't, but rather to depict them as heros of their time. While she does mention some of these ladys having negative connotations throughout their writing, their minds tainted from their past oppressions and their anger- Virginia mentions something good about each and every one, highlighting their strengths. 

    Woolf's description of Mrs. Behn is one that I found most inspiring. Compared to the other female writers that Woolf mentioned previously, Mrs. Behn had to write for a job rather than doing it as a hobby. Woolf describes her as a woman with, “humor, vitality, and courage” being, “forced by the death of her husband… to work on equal terms with men”. Mrs. Behn to me, represents the turning page in history- the change from women writing in secret to women being able to write things with pride. Putting on a brave face and deciding to make money from her writing for her family, set an example for girls everywhere. From that point on, women could share their work and be celebrated for their minds. Without Aphra Behn, women of this time would not have been able to, “rescue their families by making translations or writing innumerable bad novels”. Women turned away from seeing writing as a distraction, but instead, as a job they could enjoy doing. Woolf describes the end of the eighteenth century as an important turning point in history and after reading the story of Aphra Behn, I couldn't agree more.