monica l asked: Adeline Virginia Stephen was born on January 25, 1882 in London, England and the daughter of Julia Jackson Ducksworth and Sir Leslie Stephen. Julia, her mother, was a member of Ducksworth publishing family and the descendant of Marie Antoinette. She was first married to Herbert Ducksworth with whom she had three children: George, Stella and Gerald. Sir Leslie Stephen, her father, was a literary critic and an English author. He was first married to Hariet Marion and had a daughter, Laura Makepeace Stephen. Julia and Leslie married in 1875 and had Thoby, Adrian, Virginia and Vanessa. (Young 23)
Virginia was educated at home by her father at Hyde Park Gate in London where she had full access to her father’s large library. She didn’t enjoy her childhood as much as she would like, and Woolf described her experience as,”No school; mooning about alone among my father’s books; never any chance to pick up all that goes on in schools—throwing balls; ragging; slang; vulgarities; scenes; jealousies!” She would spend long hours at her father’s library reading books, because she was determined to become a writer like her father. (Caws 46)
Her most fondest childhood memory was at the Talland House in St. Ives, Cornwall where the setting of most of her novels occured such as one of her famous books, To the Lighthouse. She spent most of her childhood summer vacations, holidays and family gatherings there. She remembers it as a “fun and festive place to stay.” It looked over the Porthminister Bay and the Godrevy Lighthouse. (Rich)
Virginia lived a very troubled life. Her half-brother, Gerald Ducksworth, sexually abused her and Vannesa in their early teens after their father’s death. “I can remember the feel of his hands going under my clothes; going firmly and steadily lower and lower, I remember how I hoped that he would stop; how I stiffened and wriggled as his hand approached my private parts. But he did not stop” (Woolf ). This caused her major psychological damage throughout her life and sexual fears.
Virginia suffered numerous nervous breakdowns. Deaths in her family was the major cause of her nervous breakdowns. She had her first major nervous breakdown when her mother died in 1895 when she was only thirteen years old. After her mother’s death, her half-sister, Stella, stood as their mother and took care of her siblings. Sadly two years later after Julia’s death, Stella died. Her second major breakdown occurred when her father died of cancer in 1904. This was the most dangerous and alarming breakdown, because she tried to commit suicide by jumping out of the window. Her family decided to institutionalized her to help her get better. (Roy)
Roughly after her father’s death, Virginia and her three other siblings moved to Bloomsbury to avoid George, who’ve sexually abused and bullied both Virginia and Vanessa. Virginia and her siblings began The Bloomsbury Group in their new house. They held meetings and talked about literature, criticism, economics, feminism, sexuality etc. Members were mainly upper middle class families and were mostly the Stephen’s family, relatives and close friends. It was called The Bloomsbury Group, because most of the members lived in Bloomsbury which is located in the West Central district in London, England.
While she was busy with The Bloomsbury Group, Woolf then started tutoring at the Morley College, an evening school for working men and women, once a week. In 1905, she began writing for the Times Literary Supplement for many years while working on her first novel, The Voyage Out. The book was already done in 1907 and was originally called The Melymbrosia, but Woolf was not emotionally stable. (Brackett 86)
Woolf finally published her first book called The Voyage Out was published in 1915 by Ducksworth. It was a “strange, tragic, inspired book whose scene is a South americanca not found on any map and reached by a boat which would not float on any sea, an americanca whose spiritual boundaries touch Xanadu and Atlantis… It is absolutely unafraid… Here at last is a book which attains unity as surely as Wuthering Heights, though by a different path” (Merriman).
Virginia married Leonard Woolf, a political theorist, on August 10, 1912 and went to Spain and Italy for their honeymoon. On October 1914, they both decided to move in Richmond. Virginia at that time was recovering from a nervous breakdown. Leonard devoted his life to Virginia and was determined to help her get better. In 1917, he then decided to purchase Hogarth Press in 1917 for Virginia to have something to do. The aim was to publish their works and their friends’ works. After her first novel, Virginia published most of her books there. The Hogarth Press became a successful publishing house printing the early works of Forster, Katherine Mansfield, and T. S. Eliot, Sigmund Freud.
Woolf had an affair with Vita Sackvillewest for a short period of time. Vita Sacksvillewest was an English poet and novelist. She was Harold Nicholson’s wife and both had several same-sex relationships outside their marriage. Leonard did not mind her having an affair with another women and so did Harold. Woolf wrote Orlando as a result of this affair. (Bloom 75)
After her first book, Woolf wrote several other books and published it in Hogarth Press. Virginia Woolf’s works are linked to development of feminist criticism and an important writer in te modernist movement. She changed writing novels that allowed to depict inner lives of the characters in a very deep and intimate detail. In 1922, Virginia published Jacob’s Room, and it was based on his brother’s life and death, Thoby. To the Lighthouse and The Waves were the novels that helped her establish her name and became known as “one of the leading writers of modernism” The Waves is considered as her most difficult novel, because it tracks the lives of six different people from their school days to the death of the main character. Her most famous statement was in A Room of One’s Own published in 1929. “A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction.” (Woolf)
Virginia Woolf had her last mental breakdown and feared that it would be permanent. She filled her pockets with stones and decided to drown herself in the River Ouse. Virginia left a note for her husband that says, “I feel certain that I am going mad again. I feel we can’t go through mother of those terrible times. And I shan’t recover this time.” (Brackett 94)
Mrs Dalloway was published in 1925. This book was about Clarissa Dalloway hosting an extravagant party that evening in London. Peter Walsh, her old friend and suitor, drops by her house unexpectedly and Clarissa was shocked. She recalls her life before World War I when she had a relationship with Peter Walsh before she married Richard Dalloway. Peter never really got over the fact that Clarissa refused her marriage proposal. He was about to ask her if she loves her husband but Clarissa’s daughter came in. He then went to Regent’s Park to pass time.
After Peter left, the author changed her point of view to Septimus who was at Regent’s Park. He was a veteran of World War I who suffers from shell shock. Lucrezia, his wife, and Septimus were waiting for his appointment with the psychiatrist at the park. He used to be a young poet and a fan of Shakespeare but became numb after the war. Septimus feels worthless and lost the desire to live. His experienced in the war have scarred him permanently, but the psychiatrist would not listen to him. He wants to send Septimus to a mental institution away from Lucrezia, because he believes that it would help him get better. (Roy)
Clarissa’s husband, Richard Dalloway, returned home from lunch with Whitbread and Bruton with a large bouqet of roses. He wants to tell her how much he loves her but could not, because it has been a very long time since he last did. On the other hand, Clarissa feels a little disturbed that Richard doesn’t know everything about her life. She is happy though that they are able to maintain privacy because she believes that it is the key to a successful marriage.
Meanwhile, Septimus and Lucrezia are in the apartment enjoying their happiness together before he leaves Lucrezia. When Dr. Holmes arrives, Septimus feels that the doctor will destroy his soul. In order to avoid Dr. Holmes, he jumped off his apartment window and killed himself. The story shifts back to Clarissa’s party. She heard about Septimus’ death at the party and admired him for having the courage to not compromise his soul. She feels responsible for his death, because she was the society hostess. (Roy)
Clarissa Dalloway struggles to balance her internal life with the external world. She lives off her external world that consists of fashion, parties, and appearance but beneath wants a deeper meaning of life. Septimus on the hand, removed himself from the external world and lives in an internal world. Peter Walsh, Clarissa’s old suitor and friend, fears that he wated his life. He is confused with how he feels and tries to talk himself into feeling or not feeling things. Richard Dalloway, Clarissa’s husband, considers tradition as the primary importance in life than open communication or passion. (Roy)
The themes of the novel were communication vs. privacy and fear of death. Clarissa, Septimus, Peter and Richard finds privacy and communication difficult to both attain. Clarissa throws parties to help draw people together. The novel took place in London, England and the entire novel happened in less than twenty-four hours.
Bloom, Harold. Virginia Woolf. Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishers, 2005.
Brackett, Virginia. The Story of Virginia Woolf. Greenshow: Morgan Reynolds Publisher, 2004.
Caws, Mary Ann. Virginia Woolf. Woodstock: Overlook Press, 2002.
Fukashima, H. “Society of Great Britain.” Virginia Woolf. 2000. . 1 November 2007.
Johnson, Roy. “Virginia Woolf.” Writer’s in Context. 2004. . 1 November 2007.
Merriman, C. D. “Virginia Woolf.” Biography. 2004. Jalin Inc. . 1 November 2007.
Rich, Joel. “Virginia Woolf.” Women and Fiction. 2003. . 1 November 2007.
Young, Tory. The Hours. New York: Continuum, 2003.
