Special thanks to nostalchic for the recommendation.
“As long as she thinks of a man, nobody objects to a woman thinking.”
~Virginia Woolf
Adeline Virginia Woolf (25 January 1882 – 28 March 1941) was an English writer, regarded as one of the foremost modernist literary figures of the twentieth century and a pioneer in the use of stream of consciousness as a narrative device.
While she is best known for her novels, especially Mrs. Dalloway (1925) and To the Lighthouse (1927), Woolf also wrote pioneering essays on artistic theory, literary history, women’s writing, and the politics of power. A fine stylist, she experimented with several forms of biographical writing, composed painterly short fictions, and sent to her friends and family a lifetime of brilliant letters.
Both in style and subject matter, Woolf’s work captures the fast-changing world in which she was working, from transformations in gender roles, sexuality and class to technologies.
Woolf’s work explores the key motifs of modernism, including the subconscious, time, perception, the city and the impact of war. Her ‘stream of consciousness’ technique enabled her to portray the interior lives of her characters and to depict the montage-like imprint of memory.
Woolf was born into an affluent household in South Kensington, London, the seventh child in a blended family of eight. Her mother was Julia Prinsep Jackson and her father Leslie Stephen. While the boys in the family received college educations, the girls were home-schooled in English classics and Victorian literature.
From 1897 to 1901, she attended the Ladies' Department of King's College London, where she studied classics and history and came into contact with early reformers of women's higher education and the women's rights movement. Her Cambridge-educated brothers and unfettered access to her father's vast library, were other important influences.
Encouraged by her father, Woolf began writing professionally in 1900.
In 1915 she published her first novel, The Voyage Out. Her best-known works include the novels Mrs Dalloway (1925), To the Lighthouse (1927), and Orlando (1928). She is also known for her essays, including A Room of One's Own (1929), in which she wrote the much-quoted dictum, "A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction."
During the interwar period, Woolf was a significant figure in London literary and artistic society and a member of the Bloomsbury Group. Woolf's reputation was at its greatest during the 1930s, but declined considerably following World War II.
The growth of feminist criticism in the 1970s helped re-establish her reputation.
Woolf became one of the central subjects of the 1970s movement of feminist criticism and her works have since garnered much attention and widespread commentary for "inspiring feminism".
Her works have been translated into more than 50 languages. A large body of literature is dedicated to her life and work, and she has been the subject of plays, novels, and films. Woolf is commemorated today by statues, societies dedicated to her work and a building at the University of London.
In her personal life, she suffered bouts of deep depression and eventually committed suicide in 1941, at the age of 59.
Discussion Questions :
From, “Mrs Dalloway” where Woolf addresses the moral dilemma of war and its effects, to “A Room of One's Own” in which Woolf equates historical accusations of witchcraft with creativity and genius among women, to “Orlando: A Biography”, A parodic biography of a young nobleman who lives for three centuries without ageing much past thirty (but who does abruptly turn into a woman), Virginia Woolf shows a spectrum of different plots, settings, characters, themes and writing style in her works.
What are your thoughts on her literary masterpieces?
Has any of her works made an impact on you?
Writing techniques used by the author to bring the story to life is what makes a story captivating. Mastering these and other storytelling methods is the key to writing our own engaging tales.
What are your favourite writing techniques / storytelling methods? What all techniques do you incorporate in your works?
Always open to additional comments and discussions on Virginia Woolf and her works.
If there is another author you would like to see a discussion on, please post your suggestion in the comments below for a chance to be featured in a future chapter!
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