1. Woolf has strong beliefs of the role of women in her society. Why did she believe that “…woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction..” and what were the differences between women of her time and women of the past?

From the start of the chapter, the narrator keeps describing scenarios where women are mistreated and not given the same privileges as men. The narrator is asked to leave the grass field where she is thinking to herself. Then, she isn’t allowed in the library without being accompanied by someone. Clearly, it would be hard for women to do the same things men do with these hardships. Later, when the narrator visits the new women’s college, ‘Fernham’, she sees how poorly the school is supported and maintained compared to Oxbridge, the men’s college. She first described the poor lunch she witnessed compared to the extravagant luncheon at the men’s school. then explained how women have much less opportunity for success. Even if  a woman was successful, she is still treated as property so it wouldn’t be possible for her to be treated like a man is treated in society.  At the women’s lunch, she also noticed how people were just gossiping rather than having sophisticated profound conversations. Even though the school wasn’t looking so great, this is a big jump for women to be starting to get real education and potentially be making money on their own.

Mourning the loss of a child- Israel’s Memorial Day 2015

                        Without a doubt, one of the most recurring themes in this chapter is ‘the feeling of home’. Throughout the excerpt, the narrator is moving from place to place and gets invited to people’s houses but still manages to find a place that she feels comfortable enough to call ‘home’. She moves from home in London to a new life in Paris. Although she is new to Paris and isn’t very used to life there, she has a good time and enjoys herself enough to call the place ‘home’. One reason why she may have not felt much comfort and the sense of ‘home’ in London was due to the war. I’ve experienced myself that comfort, home, togetherness and family are very important in times of war. Two summers ago during the war in Israel, when people had to take cover from rockets in the streets, they’d have to sometimes run into someone’s home that they didn’t know and may have felt uncomfortable in. Nonetheless, everyone at this time was welcoming and took anyone in that needed help at the time. The feeling of home could be felt anywhere thanks to the generousness of the warm people. 

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