The extract is taken from The Common Reader, one of most significant critical essays written by Virginia Woolf. The writer wants to inform the reader of her idea of life, also expressed in her novels. The reader can distinguish two sequences. The first one deals with her opinion about traditional novels. According to her, traditional novels can't comunicate the real sense of life because the writer follows the conventions, that is he builds up situations, settings and characters that seem to be perfect and very realistic. Nevertheless, in this way he is like a slave controlled by a tyrant.
In the second sequence, Virginia Woolf explains her ideas about the way the writer should work. A real writer doesn't follow convention, he is free and he is aware of the limits of traditional novels. Furthermore he tries to convey his feelings and his everyday impressions. The result of the writer's labour is something closer to reality and to the real sense of life.