Virginia Woolf

Virginia Woolf was an English novelist, essayist, and critic who is regarded as one of the most important modernist writers of the twentieth century. She pioneered the use of the stream of consciousness and wrote on the position of women in literature and in society.

Early Life

Woolf was born in 1882 in London, the daughter of the critic Leslie Stephen. She was educated at home and had access to her father's extensive library.

She suffered from mental illness throughout her life, and she experienced several breakdowns. The death of her mother, of her half-sister, and of her father affected her deeply.

She was a member of the Bloomsbury Group, a circle of writers, artists, and intellectuals. She married Leonard Woolf in 1912, and they founded the Hogarth Press.

The Modernist Novels

Jacob's Room, published in 1922, was her first experimental novel. It presents the life of a young man through the impressions of those who knew him.

Mrs Dalloway, published in 1925, describes a single day in the life of a society hostess. The novel uses the stream of consciousness to move between the minds of the characters.

To the Lighthouse, published in 1927, is a family drama that explores the themes of time, memory, and art. It is often regarded as her finest work.

Later Novels

Orlando, published in 1928, is a fantasy about a character who changes sex and lives for centuries. The novel was inspired by Vita Sackville-West, with whom Woolf had a love affair.

The Waves, published in 1931, is a highly experimental work composed of the soliloquies of six characters. Between the Acts, published posthumously, treats the theme of history and of art.

She also wrote short stories, including the collection Monday or Tuesday. Her style is characterised by lyricism and by the interior monologue.

Essays and Feminist Criticism

A Room of One's Own, published in 1929, is a landmark of feminist criticism. It argues that women need money and a room of their own in order to write fiction.

The essay examines the exclusion of women from education and from literature. The figure of Shakespeare's sister illustrates the lost talent of women.

Three Guineas, published in 1938, connects patriarchy with militarism and with fascism. The essays are among the founding texts of feminist literary criticism.

Later Life and Death

Woolf's mental health deteriorated during the Second World War, and her London home was damaged in the bombing. She completed her last novel, Between the Acts, in 1941.

She drowned herself in the River Ouse in March 1941. Her suicide note to her husband expressed her fear that she was going mad again.

Her ashes were scattered at her home, Monk's House, in Sussex. The house is now a museum.

Legacy

Woolf is regarded as one of the greatest novelists of the twentieth century. Her experimentation with form influenced the development of modern fiction.

Her essays on women and on literature remain central to feminist criticism. Her life and her work have been the subject of many biographies and of the film The Hours.

She is remembered for her intelligence and for her sensitivity. Her novels continue to be read and to be studied.

The Hogarth Press

Woolf and her husband founded the Hogarth Press in 1917. The press published their own work and the work of modern writers, including T. S. Eliot and Katherine Mansfield.

The press was run from their home and was operated by hand. It gave Woolf control over the publication of her books and protected her from the interference of publishers.

The press published the first edition of Eliot's The Waste Land in Britain. It also published translations of Freud and of other foreign writers.

The Essays and Criticism

Woolf was a prolific essayist and a perceptive critic. Her collections include The Common Reader and The Second Common Reader.

She wrote on the novel, on modern fiction, and on the art of biography. She argued for the freedom of the writer and for the importance of the inner life.

Her essays on women and on literature are central to feminist criticism. A Room of One's Own and Three Guineas are her most famous works of non-fiction.

The Mental Illness

Woolf suffered from periods of mental illness throughout her life. She experienced voices and headaches and was treated with rest cures.

The illness affected her ability to work and her relations with her family and friends. The death of her nephew in the war and the bombing of London contributed to her final breakdown.

Her illness has been the subject of medical and biographical study. The diagnosis has been debated by the scholars.

The Legacy

Woolf's novels are central to the modernist canon. Her experimentation with form influenced the development of the novel.

Her essays on women and on literature shaped the development of feminist criticism. Her life and her work have been studied by many biographers.

The Woolf Society and the National Trust preserve her memory. Monk's House and the house in Tavistock Square are associated with her.

See also

• Modernism
• Feminist literature