Both Virginia Woolf's critical essay A Room of One's Own (1929) and her polemic Three Guineas (1938) explore the issues feminists of freedom and influence. Despite being written almost a decade later, Three Guineas further explores the ideas and values of A Room of One's Own, thus highlighting how, despite their different contexts, there have been few changes. While A Room of One's Own focuses on the financial and intellectual freedom of women, Three Guineas explores notions of educational freedom for women. Comparing the contexts of the two texts also gives us insights into the influence of social opinions and the power that educational opportunities can offer women. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Both A Room of One's Own (A Room) and Three Guineas explore the theme of freedom through a call for the advancement of women's intellectual and financial rights. In A Room, the financial restrictions on a woman's literary potential are expressed in Woolf's general argument that "A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction." The room serves as a symbol of financial and intellectual independence, while the frequent repetition of the words “a room” throughout the essay highlights how women lack the necessary freedom to write. A woman's intellectual restrictions are illustrated when Woolf's narrative character is refused entry into the Oxbridge library by a man who looked "like a guardian angel barring the way with a fluttering black gown instead of white wings". The man serves as a metaphor for the blocked opportunities and social barriers that have been imposed on women by men, the images highlight the role of men in limiting a woman's intellectual freedom. Woolf evokes the fictional character of “Judith Shakespeare”, to further demonstrate the inequality of women. This literary allusion and the allegory of Judith demonstrate how women's talents are being lost because they are not allowed to be creative. Although Judith shares the same genetic makeup, and therefore the same potential, she has achieved nothing due to a lack of education and freedom. The three centuries between Shakespeare's and Woolf's contexts highlight the almost non-existent change in women's intellectual freedom. Thus A Room explores the restrictions that gender places on a woman's intellectual, creative and financial freedom. In the context of the troubled Europe of 1938, the subsequent essay Three Guineas similarly explores the theme of freedom, focusing on educational freedom and the role that educated women can play in preventing war. Three Guineas also explores the role of men in preventing women's educational freedom. The freedom from male financial dependence that education can provide women is highlighted through the metaphor of the woman enslaved by her fathers: "depending on a profession is a less hateful form of slavery than depending on a father." Having a career and an income, she argues, is more rewarding than being financially and intellectually dependent on the men in one's life. This idea is further emphasized metaphorically by the truncated phrase: “You [men] are fighting with us, not against us.” The 'war' represents the 'war' between women and men in literature and the professions. Three Guineas thus highlights the limits of women's right to education. Both essays also discuss more broadly the effects of society's attitudes toward women. A Room explores.
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