Woolf's "A Room of One's Own"--Is There Semblance of Abuse?

Abuse shows up in funny ways. Many artists may use it as their muse, or others don't even know if it's showing up. Musical artists have used it throughout time, painters have represented trauma in their works, and writers, well, write about it.

Woolf came forward about the abuse she suffered--did she realize it was showing up in her writing? Was it just to fight the public's apprehension to her freak outs?

For the sake of length and my sanity, we will look at one popular Woolf work today, "A Room of One's Own" a nonfiction creative work sparked by the idea of women writers. The idea was that women need a room of their own to write fiction and why.

With context, it may be easy to wonder if Woolf meant she needed her own room to escape what was happening to her and to use writing as a tool, especially writing fiction, to avoid reality. However, that's a large stretch if you don't have context reading Woolf's work.

On page 6, Woolf describes how she was walking on the wrong path back from the river where she was trying to think of answers to how women write fiction, she crossed paths with a Beadle (basically, a police-figure from the church or university; in this case, from a university grounds Woolf was walking on) and Woolf makes the observation, "Instinct rather than reason came to my help, he was a Beadle; I was a woman." (Woolf, pp 6) where Woolf says nothing to the Beadle but quickly switches to the "correct" path a woman should walk on--gravel rather than turf. She makes a quick excuse for it. Essentially, there was no harm done by making her switch paths other than it was less comfortable.

As a once-abused individual, I also avoid men at every chance I get and don't speak to them. Woolf made an easy mistake, not realizing she was on turf on a path specifically meant for men. She could have said so to the Beadle, apologized, or even just acknowledged him as he was looking at her completely confused and appalled.

Aside from the misogyny there, the avoidance is something to look at. Why did Woolf avoid him if it was just a simple mistake? Why even include the interaction at all when the essay is about how she tries to convey how women write fiction? Why include that there was instinct in her reaction rather than "reason"?

There is so much more I want to write on this but it's a 96-page essay and I feel like my head is going to explode. I will delve more into this in my next workshop, but I needed to jot this idea down. References: Woolf, Virginia. "A Room of One's Own." Feedbooks. 1929. http://seas3.elte.hu/coursematerial/PikliNatalia/Virginia_Woolf_-_A_Room_of_Ones_Own.pdf