A Room of One's Own is an essay based on a Conference that Virginia Woolf held at a women's college at Oxford University on the topic "Women and Literature".
In a clever, at times ironical way, she states that there are very few women writers and poets because traditionally women have not been given the opportunity to study or dedicate themselves to anything other than taking care of their families and their homes.
She states that, if we want more women to become involved in producing literature, women must have financial independence and "a room of their own" - that is, private space and time to concentrate on intellectual work. Financial independence would be important for women who don't want to get married or simply want to enjoy the freedom of withdrawing to their private space in order to study, read or write.
Virginia Woolf is aware that a lot of progress has been made (right to vote, access to higher education in some women's colleges, etc.), and the very fact that she is speaking to an audience of women students in Oxford is proof of that. However, there is still a lot to do and the fight for equal rights must continue.
