Virginia Woolf
was an extremely talented English writer, famous for her feminist
novels and essays. She was born Adeline Virginia Stephen to a
high class British family in London. Her father was Sir Leslie
Stephen, the author of the Dictionary of English Biography, and
her mother was the daughter of William Thackery. Despite her
family's stature, she and her sister, Vanessa Bell, were sexually
abused by their stepbrothers from the time they were children
until they were well into adulthood.
In 1911, Virginia married Leonard Woolf, a respected left-wing
political journalist. Together, they began Hogarth Press, whose
publications included works from Freud and T.S. Eliot. Also, they
were famous additions to the group of writers and artists known
as the Bloomsbury Group. This group also included E.M. Forster,
Lytton Strachey, Clive and Vanessa Bell, Duncan Grant. This
collection of creative people was together until the 1930's.
Throughout her life, Virginia had several emotional breakdowns
and periods of extreme depression. She was treated for these
breakdowns, but the treatments did not seem to work. In 1941, she
placed a large stone in her pocket and drowned herself in the
river. Her body was found 18 days later by children playing on
the bank.
Woolf was one of the
leaders in the literary movement of modernism. In her works, she
used a technique known as stream of consciousness, showing the
lives of her characters by revealing their thoughts and
associations.
One of her writings, A Room of One's Own, expresses the
frustration women writers past and present have felt. In the past,
women were not allowed the schooling let alone the recognition of
the men of their eras. Woolf creates Shakespeare's sister, a
woman who would have the same creativity and ambition as good ol'
Will, but would lack the support he was given by the public. She
would not have the ability to write his works, for her family
would not allow her his schooling. She would run away from home
and attempt to find her creative outlet in the real world. In her
frustration, she would eventually kill herself.
Woolf's attention and sensitivity towards women allowed her to be
one of the most important writers of the 20th century. To this
day she remains one of the most famous feminist writers in the
world.
Between the Acts
the last novel, published posthumouslyJacob's Room
Virginia Woolf's first significant break with conventional novel formMrs Dalloway
a June day in the life of Clarissa Dalloway, et. al.Night and Day
the longest novel, a comic depiction of mannersOrlando: A Biography
a fanciful exploration of gender, art, etc.To the Lighthouse
widely read, critically appreciated focus on a Victorian familyThe Voyage Out
as the title suggests, VW's first novelThe Waves
poetic, experimental interplay of soliloquies by six charactersThe Years
a poetic, family chronicle
A Room of One's Own
a feminist classicThree Guineas
a pacifist "sequel" to A Room of One's Own
The Captain's Death Bed, and Other Essays
includes "Mr. Bennet and Mrs. Brown" and "Memories of a Working Women's Guild"The Common Reader
Virginia Woolf's first published collection, includes "Modern Fiction," "The Russian Point of View" and "On Not Knowing Greek".The Common Reader: Second Series
includes "I am Christina Rosetti" and "How Should One Read a Book?"Contemporary Writers
a collection of VW's reviews for the Times Literary SupplementThe Death of the Moth, and Other Essays
first posthumously published collection, includes "Street Haunting" and "A Letter to a Young Poet".
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