Transcript VIRGINIA WOLF

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Born on January 25, 1882 as Adeline Virginia Stephen
She was born in London to Sir Leslie Stephen and Julia
Jackson Duckworth
Her parents were 14 years apart in age and their
marriage was not the first for either of them
Woolf grew up with three siblings and four other
stepsiblings conceived from her parents’ previous
marriages
Woolf, who was educated at home, grew up at the
family home at Hyde Park Gate
She never had a formal education but had unlimited
access to her father's very extensive library
She decided at an early age that she would be a writer
From her early ages, she was extremely
close to her family especially her father
and older sister, Vanessa
 The death of family members typically
preceded Virginia’s episodes of severe
anxiety and depression
 When she was 13 years old, her mother
died from influenza, leading to the first of
Virginia’s several nervous breakdowns
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The death of her father in 1904 provoked her most alarming
collapse and she was briefly institutionalized
She lost her mental stability and suffered from her second
nervous breakdown during this period
Her depressive breakdowns were also a result of the sexual
abuse that she was subjected to by her half brothers George
and Gerald
When Virginia's brother Thoby died in 1906, she had a
prolonged mental breakdown
Following the death of her father, Woolf moved with her sister
and two brothers to the house in Bloomsbury district
She joined the Bloomsbury Group, a group of talented writers,
artists, and intellectuals, whose members provided one
another with feedback and support
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It was in the Bloomsbury Group where Virginia Woolf
met her future husband, the writer Leonard Woolf, who
was of a Jewish descent
Woolf had anti-Jewish attitudes, although she loved her
husband
The couple had an interesting marriage in which their
partnership was more literary and intellectual
relationship rather than a romantic and sexual one
In fact, there is evidence that Virginia Woolf sought
romantic and sexual companionship through female
partners rather than her husband
They both supported one another’s writing and worked
together to establish the Hogarth Press in 1917 which
published most of Virginia’s work.
More importantly, Leonard cared for Virginia through
various bouts of mental illness
Virginia’s husband was a “person who mothered
Virginia Woolf's body and directed her daily life and
watched over her illnesses”
Because Virginia’s health illness was increasing, Leonard
advises that they should not have children
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Virginia first started writing in 1905 for Times Literary Supplement as an
anonymous author
Her first individual work, a novel, The Voyage Out, was published in 1915 by
her half-brother’s imprint
Much of Woolf’s work was self-published through the Hogarth Press
Her works are often closely linked to the development of feminist criticism
Woolf was concerned with the position of women in society; she was even
more concerned with their interior lives, the roles that they occupied, and
the opportunities that were available to them
In all of her works, the readers observed similar themes
She used a technique known as stream of consciousness, portraying 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 in the past have felt
Woolf's attention and compassion 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.
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At the end of 1940, Woolf suffered another severe bout of mental
illness and once again she began to experience fear and fright
During her mental illness, she was writing what was her last
publication, Between the Acts, published in 1941
After her severe mental illness, she felt as if she was unable to
recover her health issues, so she decided to suicide
On March 28, 1941, at the age of 59, Woolf filled her pockets with
stones and drowned herself in the River Ouse, near her home in
Rodmell
Her body was discovered three weeks later after her death
She left two suicide notes; one for her sister, Vanessa, and the other
for her husband
In her notes, she wrote “I feel certain that I am going mad again: I
feel we can’t go through another of these terrible times. And I can’t
recover this time. I begin to hear voices, and can’t concentrate. So I
am doing what seems the best to do. You have given me the
greatest possible happiness….I can’t fight it any longer, I know that I
am spoiling your life, that without me you could work”
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The Voyage Out (1915)
Night and Day (1919)
Mrs. Dalloway (1925)
To the Lighthouse (1927)
Orlando (1928)
The Waves (1931)
The Years (1937)
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Between the Acts (1941)
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Norman, Prinsky. “Virginia Woolf.” Critical Survey of Short Fiction , Second
Revised Edition (2001): 1-4. MagilOnLiterature Plus. Web. 16, Apr. 2011.
Jessica Bomarito and Jeffery W. Hunter. “Woolf, Virginia: Introduction.”
Feminism in Literature: A Gale Critical Companion 6 (2005): 535-53. Gale
Virtual Reference Library. Web. 16, Apr. 2011.
Acosta’s , Dr. Fidel. “Virginia Woolf”. World Literature Website. 2001. Web.
16, Apr. 2011
Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Web. 16, Apr.
2011
Liukkonen, Petri. “Virginia Woolf (1882-1941).” Kuusankosken
kaupunginkirjasto 2008. Web. 16, Apr. 2011