Virginia Woolf was a central figure in the Bloomsbury Group and one of the most important modernist writers of the 20th century. She pioneered the 'stream of consciousness' narrative technique, which sought to capture the inner thoughts and perceptions of characters in real-time. Her novels, such as 'Mrs. Dalloway' and 'To the Lighthouse,' moved away from traditional plot structures to focus on the psychological depth of her subjects. In her non-fiction essay 'A Room of One's Own,' Woolf explored the social and economic barriers faced by women writers, arguing that 'a woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction.' Her work remains a cornerstone of feminist literary criticism and modernist literature.