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Final Concept Map - Coggle Diagram
Final Concept Map
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Then who am I?
Sexuality
"Orlando" While Orlando transitioned from male to female the reader sees how her sexuality is affected from this transition. It was interesting to see how during Orlando's time as a man he chose to date woman and when he transitioned to female he choose to date men. It brings up the question to whether gender identity has anything to do with someone's sexuality. Even more important, if it even matters.
"Mrs. Dalloway" During the novel Clarissa questioned her sexuality. She experienced a sexual awakening with Sally. Their relationship started as simply friends but soon turned into something romantic. Clarissa describe the kiss they shared as the best moment of her life. Sally showed Clarissa the sexual freedom and liberty in general she was lacking in her everyday life. Clarissa longed to live such a carefree lifestyle Sally lived, maybe that was what attracted her to Sally. Despite this happening, Clarissa still married a man. This shows how taboo a topic sexuality was and how shunned upon homosexuality was.
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Gender
"Orlando" The main premise of Orlando revolves around gender. Orlando transitioned from man to woman throughout the novel. Her story showed the reader how fluid non binary can be. It also showed how different Orlando was treated and perceived as both a man and woman. For instance, once Orlando was woman whether she would keep certain rights she had as a man was put up for debate.
“Sense of Unending” This article points out Woolf’s purpose for creating Orlando. Micir states that Woolf wanted to shine a light on those that are often looked over in history. Homosexuals, as well as women, often fall into this category. Micir also points out that the way these marginalized people are perceived has changed over the times. This is shown through the way Woolf jumps from century to century and how Orlando is treated within those specific years.
"Mrs. Dalloway" Unlike Orlando, Mrs. Dalloway's focus was not gender. However, it did showcase the differences in everyday life for men and women. It showed the reader the different societal standards held for both women and men.
Feminism
"Mrs. Dalloway" Mrs. Dalloway although not a direct call for change or blatantly making a statement, it still carries a lot of feminist ideals. It brings light to the way a woman is supposed to act and behave in a patriarchal society.
"A Room of One's Own" A Room of One's Own showed the reader the discrepancies within society. It pointed out the gender inequalities. Although it didn't directly call for action, it still showed how different a woman's role in society is as to a man.
"Three Guineas" Three Guineas advocated for gender equality. It focused a lot more on systemic sexism and how to go about deconstructing it. It called to tear down the systems that perpetuate these patriarchal tropes. The urgency in which Woolf called for this gave the book a much harsher tone that put off many readers in it's time.
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We live in a society
Social norms
"A Room of One's Own" Virginia Woolf relies on fictional narrative to make her commentary on social injustices. The fictional character she creates goes about a normal day in her life and is reminiscent of a lot of woman of her time. Due to social norms surrounding woman, she finds it almost impossible to successfully develop her ideas. It shows how woman have been conditioned to follow the norms that have historically been set for woman in society and the damaging effects they can have.
"Mrs. Dalloway" Mrs. Dalloway follows multiple narratives for one full day. Through Septimus and his wife's narrative we see the stigma around mental illness. Septimus suffers with PTSD and depression from the war. We see how this effects his marriage and other relationships. His marriage is failing, which makes his wife feel inadequate as a woman. We also get to see how he is viewed from an outside perspective. Sometimes he is perceived as crazy and most people simply pity him. Mental illness is so stigmatized that even the "doctor" doesn't take him seriously.
”On Seeing Illness” This essay focused on the way Mrs. Dalloway presented illness. Outka writes about how Woolf presents both mental and physical illness. They use Septimus as an example for this. They focus on how war has impacted Septimus’ life in all aspects. This reinforces the notion that mental health is just as or even more important that physical health.
"To the Lighthouse" In to the lighthouse Mrs. and Mr. Ramsay are very stereotypical in the way they parent. Mr. Ramsay is very harsh and cold while Mrs. Ramsay is nurturing and warm. We get to see how their different ways of parenting effect the way their children grow up and the relationship between them. For instance, James Ramsay's difficult relationship with his father that later on eases and Lily's relationship with her mother. They both show how social norms can force both woman and men to act a certain way. It's a never ending cycle that we see as the Ramsay children grow up.
“Virgina and the Flesh of the World” This except focuses on the philosophy of human existence and the way human fit into the natural world. It’s concluded that humans simply don’t fit into the natural world. Humans are naturally complex with their behaviors and psyche. It focuses on the belief that humans are superior to other life forms and our alleged right to govern over them. This type of philosophy can be found within Woolf’s writing. Like a lot of things, it is not explicitly stated but rather shown through the narrative of her work. In To the Lighthouse it can be seen through the Ramsay’s families deep rooted complicated relationships
”In Search of Our Mothers’ Garden” One things that Woolf often lacked was the perspective of other woman. Woolf could only really offer what she possessed herself; the perspective of a white woman. The expiernces of woman of color are vastly different to those of white women. Due to this, Woolf’s writing often seemed a bit deaf tone and insensitive. Although Woolf was very progressive for her time, she still lacked a few things in her criticism.
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Economic classes
"Three Guineas" and "A Room of One's Own" Woolf's main argument in A Room of One's Own suggests that a "woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction", this notion is backed up in Three Guineas. Through this importance on wealth and economic class we see how prevalent class is to our society. We also see how intricate systemic oppression can be. Even within oppressed groups, privilege still exists. In this case, although woman are oppressed, the fact that they are wealthy grants them some sort of privilege lower class woman do not have.
”Mrs. Dalloway’s Social System”Zwerdling focused on many sociatal issues Mrs. Dalloway’s showcased. One of them was the way Poe Poe become accustomed to whatever life they are born into. Those born into privilege expierence life vastly different than those who aren’t. This essay pointed out Woolf’s fascination with this point in a persons life. It bring up a lot of questions of human behavior and psyche.
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Education
"Three Guineas" Virginia Woolf really called for action against patriarchal systems. Education systems were one of the many systems Woolf barked down on. Woolf believed that by deconstructing our education systems we could finally dive into the issue of gender inequality. This puts into perspective just how sexist our institutions are. From such a young age young woman are thought their "place" in society and how being a woman changes that. In Woolf's case, it taught the public that only woman with rich fathers can be educated. It placed the worth of a woman on a man. It also shows, how although a lot has changed, we can still use Woolf's argument present day.
One of a kind
Stream of consciousness
"Mrs. Dalloway”, “Orlando”, “A Room of One’s Own”, “Three Guineas” Most of Woolf’s works are written with a stream of consciousness taken into account. The narrator of each book often interrupts themselves to insert their own opinion of what is going on in the storyline. The way the narrator thinks will often push the reader to think about a certain topic the same way. This is one of Woolf’s signature writing styles.
Comparative
”The Hours” The Hours presents Mrs. Dalloway’s story in a different light. The hours only has three storylines of three women in different time periods. They all show different life struggles and the way they go about overcoming them. It shows how versatile Mrs. Dalloway actually is and how it can still apply in present day life. Woolf was, in many ways, ahead of her time with the taboo societal critiques she had.
"Orlando" (Film) Like any movie adaptation of a novel, there are bound to de some differences. Although the film oversimplified Orlando’s story it still held the core spirit of the novel. One of the most intriguing things of the movie was when Orlando broke the fourth wall. This is reminiscent of the wa Woolf had the narrator interrupt the storyline and interest their own commentary within it.
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Fluid time
"Mrs. Dalloway" Mrs. Dalloway takes place throughout the span of a single day. This gives for a really interesting way of writing the story for multiple characters. Everyone’s narrative is happening simultaneously but linear at the same time. This gives what some readers may find difficult to follow. Even the books structure is fluid. The book doesn’t really have any pauses or chapters, it’s a continuous stream of writing. This gives the reader the effect of actually living through a day as do the characters. This kind of writing can be found in a lot of other Woolf work.
"To the Lighthouse" To the lighthouse is written a bit differently than Mrs. Dalloway. This book is written in 3 section. Each section is supposed to signify a different point in time. The second part, The Window, is more focused on time. Time passes very fast and ubruptly in this section. This signifies how fast and upruptly time passes for the Ramsay family.
"Orlando" Orlando’s story is told via biography. Time is very relative in Orlando. The story takes place throughout the centuries and Orlando is basically immortal.
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