Trinity Rea is a third-year journalism major and writes “Bury the Hatchet” for the Daily News. Their views do not necessarily reflect those of the newspaper.
Growing up, there was nothing I wanted to do more than read.
I would spend hours sitting alone in my room, immersed in worlds far from my own. The bookshelf in my family living room, consisting of novels catered toward my parents and a handful of picture books, acted as my personal library for a long time.
In fifth grade, while my younger brother would tear up that lower row of books for kids his age, I was deemed just old enough to read most of the stuff on the top shelves.
I felt so special.
I took pride in my ability to read those books, and even more in the fact that they gave me a place to escape while I dealt with internal and outward struggles in my own life.
Floating between friend groups, hobbies and spaces was just natural to me. As I felt a familiar feeling of disconnect within myself rise, I would project the reality of that feeling outward.
I began to understand why I felt so disconnected when I first read Virginia Woolf’s, “A Room of One’s Own.”
The book is an extended essay based on a series of lectures delivered by Woolf in 1928. The lectures focused on social injustice and the lack of free expression women were allowed.
By no means is the direct purpose and theme of the book intended to shape one's worldview — I’d argue the essays intended to “fix” it — but it changed mine for the better.
“A Room of One’s Own” is what I consider to be my first introduction to classic literature, something that allowed me to change my perspective of the world. By putting myself in the shoes of a writer a century or two ago, I was able to further my knowledge and understanding of the world around me.
Understanding what I felt through classic literature made me feel less alone in my emotions.
Woolf’s writing pulled me in and provided me with something I had yet to experience in my life: A true understanding of myself and my relation to everything around me. While I did not identify directly with the proposed fictional characters in Woolf’s work, I found comfort in her writing and her approach to the world in her lifetime.
According to a study published in the Journal of Research in Applied Linguistics, the importance of literary classics lies primarily in the fact that “it asserts values that are independent of the preferences and whims of the individual.” Classics hold continued significance because they are said to contain a “great experience of mankind.”
My first experience with a classic did exactly that — showing me the importance of literary classics as a whole. This importance goes beyond my personal taste and individual preference. To me, classics assert and embody universal ideas that are relevant to all of humanity.
After this first experience with Woolf, I immediately began to explore more of her work, like “To the Lighthouse” and “Orlando.” I began to live and breathe classical literature.
During a hard time in my life, I read “Pride and Prejudice” by Jane Austen, then “Tess of the D’Ubervilles” by Thomas Hardy. Austen and Hardy showed me the power of self-reflection and growth. Within each book, the main characters struggle to confront their own biases but later learn the reality of their pride.
As someone who was just about to graduate high school, the message of each novel resonated with me immensely. I was experiencing large waves of regret, remorse and fear as I stepped into the next chapter of my life. It led to outward frustration and struggles in my relationships.
Reading this allowed me to better recognize the root of my emotions. And like the main character of “Pride and Prejudice,” Elizabeth Bennet, I recognized my integrity and remained true to it. While this did not result in an immediate reward, I have experienced fulfillment in the long term.
I took away a lesson and understanding I otherwise would not have found.
I fell in love with Charlotte Brontë’s “Jane Eyre” and its lessons of resilience and emotional strength some years later.
As I struggled to confront issues within my identity and self-autonomy, I read about Jane Eyre’s similar journey — one that ended with a message of the importance of self-empowerment and honesty. I gained the strength to love myself authentically and felt okay to confront the somewhat painful emotions inside of myself.
I no longer questioned my desires. Instead, I embraced them and made peace with myself.
I’ve learned an immense amount through classics. They opened my eyes to the idea of human connection throughout the centuries, and this has helped me feel less alone in my struggles.
I have read “A Room of One’s Own” an additional five times since I first picked the book up just over four years ago. Underneath my copy's bent and worn front cover, its pages reflect a mess of scribbled handwriting, tape and sticky notes — each full of lessons and reminders taught to me by words written a century ago.
One annotation in particular, located on page 105 in my personal copy, is something I always find myself looking back on.
A sticky note I wrote in 2020 holds the words, “External validation is futile, writing and creating is all that truly matters. Focus on authenticity and fulfillment.”
This annotation is based on the quote from the book, “Praise and blame alike mean nothing. No, delightful as the pastime of measuring may be, it is the most futile of all occupations, and to submit to the decrees of the measurers the most servile of attitudes. So long as you write what you wish to write, that is all that matters; and whether it matters for ages or only for hours, nobody can say.”
During days when I feel I am not enough, I hold myself to what I’ve since learned is concrete in my life: the ability to stay true to myself. Without classic literature, I would not have reached this feeling of fulfillment and understanding.
Contact Trinity Rea via email at trinity.rea@bsu.edu or on X @thetrinityrea.
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