Virginia Woolf
Conditions of the Physical
Conditions of the mind/heart
systemic issues
race
feminism
war
class
passage of time
clothing
survival
nature
privacy
queerness
liminality
mental health
THE HOURS: In the beginning of the film, we can view Richard as an enduring survivor of AIDs; he is still living, fighting, and trying to keep the spark for his life. However, in a manner similar to that of Septimus Smith, he ultimately does not want to lose himself to the disease he suffers from and ultimately, kills himself.
TO THE LIGHTHOUSE: In To the Lighthouse, ten years pass throughout the novel, but we are only deeply concerned with snapshots from a couple of them. The passage of time is deeply concerned with the decay of the natural world. This decay is representative of the characters ultimate acceptance with being secondary or at mercy to the natural force of time and the desire to simply enjoy the ephemeral. This is best represented in Lily Briscoe, who makes peace with the fact that the painting she has worked so long to create might simply end up in some storage place, as she realizes the value within it was the joy she found in making the creation itself.
THE HOURS: The Hours takes us into the lives who three women, one being Virginia Woolf herself, whose experiences parallel each others in certain manners, such as the contemplation of suicide seen in all three, over the course of roughly 60 years. There is a sort of interconnectedness demonstrated about this passage of time, demonstrated through the novel Mrs. Dalloway and the overlap of characters between two of the women’s lives.
MRS DALLOWAY: Though Mrs. Dalloway takes course over a single day, it is particularly concerned with the past. We are taken into the lives of characters who are filled with regret, longing, and an ache for the past. Particularly stuck in the past is the character of Peter Walsh. He longs for both the vigor he felt within his youth and regrets not being able to marry Clarissa. He seems to be the character most plagued by his regrets in a bitterly nostalgic manner, while Septimus Smith is equally plagued by his but in a forceful, haunting manner through his PTSD.
PASSAGE OF TIME & WAR IN: MRS. DALLOWAY'S SOCIAL SYSTEM: The passage of time in Mrs. Dalloway is deeply intertwined with a desire of the upper class to return to the status quo that has been disturbed through certain forces, one particularly strong one being the war. The lower classes are growingly disturbed by the forces of major events, such as war, and are growing in their inherent existences pointing out the flaws of the ruling class. This can be seen in Septimus Smith, whose experiences with war point out the inherent flaws of the ruling classes.
click to edit
VIRGINIA WOOLF AND THE FLESH OF THE WORLD: This piece discusses Woolf’s relationship with portraying the subservient relationship between the natural world and conditions of the mind, in which humans are ultimately at mercy to and are simply another piece of the larger natural order and are thus, subject to its whims. She explores this particularly in To the Lighthouse, when the images of rational philosopher Mr. Ramsay and other familial musings are secondary to the natural order of the decay of the house. Nature is portrayed as a powerful force that one must ultimately make peace with.
WAR & SURVIVAL IN: MRS. DALLOWAY :Septimus Smith is a survivor of World War One. He fought and lived but the tragedies he witnessed left him with PTSD. This diagnosis is a direct reflection of the nature of consequences of war; even after the battles are fought and life returns to a sense of normalcy, the aftershocks and consequences forever continue. Septimus is quite literally haunted by images of dead comrades through his hallucinations, and ultimately, becomes a sort of casualty of war regardless of his survival due to his PTSD ultimately being what leads to his death.
ON SEEING ILLNESS: WOOLF"S MRS. DALLOWAY: Clarissa Dalloway is a pandemic survivor; she contracted influenza during the influenza pandemic. She represents life for a fully post-pandemic survivor, as she is not so much concerned with the illness affecting her or how it is still affecting anyone else, but is dealing with the aftermath. After contracting the illness, her physical health was never the same and she suffered from chronic pain and weakness the rest of her life.
click to edit
THREE GUINEAS: Three Guineas is concerned with how we as a society are expected to stop war. Woolf ultimately comes to the conclusion that the key to this is the female perspective and ideals, as war is concept crafted and acted out by men and a purely male perspective. In order to achieve this, she believes the daughters of educated men are key; their liberation through education and the ability to think for themselves will ultimately aid in the dismantling of patriarchy, and subsequently, war.
ORLANDO: The depiction of others of different races in Orlando is something to be questioned. The implications of the brutal imagery within “slicing at the head of a moor,” the casual usage of the N word, and the depiction of the Romani people as too simple minded in comparison to the English are all places in which criticism of and a further examination of the implications behind the usage is required. Especially when coupling these instances with activities Woolf was known to partake in, such as black face, it is evident why they could be problematic
IN SEARCH OF OUR MOTHERS GARDEN: In this section of the piece, Walker comments on the remarkability of Black women throughout history being able to exist as creative individuals, and how their creativity is unique in its generational fortitude. Walker considers Woolf’s idea of women needing both money and a room of their own in order to be creative in relation to women who at certain points in time were denied their bodily autonomy completely.
A ROOM OF ONES OWN: Woolf claims that one of the necessities for women to write fiction is to have money. This financial freedom allows them not to rely on others or have someone to answer to in pursuit of their intellectual endeavors.
MRS. DALLOWAYS SOCIAL SYSTEM: Mrs. Dalloway is particularly concerned with what is referred to by Peter Walsh as the “governing class” of England. It criticizes the nature of upper class life in a uniquely nuanced manner however, as it deeply delves into the inner consciousness of the people it critiques. Woolf offers us with a well rounded look of this society; we see their ignorance, frivolousness, and disconnect with reality as well as their humanity, passions, and longings.
THREE GUINEAS: The liberation of women within Three Guineas is deeply concerned with the class of “daughters of educated men,” in short, daughters of the wealthy. This brings a potential criticism of this piece: where do working class women fit within this framework? Are they, in the eyes of Woolf, worthy of the same sort of liberation? One might begin to consider the unique intersection of women who face both oppression in class and within their gender and the unique means of liberation they require compared to their wealthy counterparts.
THREE GUINEAS:: A particular type of feminism is discussed in Three Guineas: a liberation of daughters of educated men. The piece ultimately urges them to not fall into the roles of wives who simply parrot the rhetoric their fathers and husbands imposed on them, but to think for themselves, get a well rounded education to be well versed in many subjects, and ultimately recognize the value within their intellectual contributions.
A ROOM OF ONES OWN: In this piece, Woolf examines the material conditions of women in relation to their ability to write fiction. She explains how being barred from the same quality of education as men are allowed has prohibited intelligent women from greatly succeeding within society. To demonstrate this, she creates the fictional Judith Shakespeare, sister of Shakespeare who is equal in his intelligence but not provided the same education. She is barred from pursuing her dreams of writing and education, and is, as a result, shunned from her family and eventually kills herself. Though an extreme example, Woolf demonstrates how women of this time were not thought to possess genius and were shunned for expressing such.
QUEERNESS & FEMINISM IN THE SENSE OF UNENDING: REVISITING VIRGINIA WOOLFS ORLANDO: By providing Orlando an ending beyond marriage or death, where stories typically end for women, Woolf allowed her to live the rest of her life beyond this. A queer woman, Orlando, was allowed to have her biography be told beyond a simple marriage plot, or other heteronormative markers for the passage of time.
:
ORLANDO: Contemporarily, Orlando could be read as a nonbinary character. Throughout the novel, as Orlando changes between sexes, they proclaim a sameness within their character. However, they enjoy both the feminine and masculine activities they partake in. In addition, they enjoy the affections of both genders. It is implied that the husband Orlando eventually takes, Shel, is also someone who has a relationship with both the feminine and masculine musings in life.
TO THE LIGHTHOUSE: The queerness is subtext in this novel between Lily and Mrs. Ramsay. Lily’s adoration for Mrs. Ramsay seems to go beyond friendly appreciation; it seems to be romantic in nature. Lily often criticizes Mr. Ramsay as a poor partner, perhaps out of jealousy. Lily also refuses to take on the traditional roles of wife to husband through both not marrying, and refusing to coddle Mr. Ramsay in the way a wife might be expected to.
THE HOURS: The Hours has many Queer characters throughout the film. Woolf herself was known to be bisexual. Laura, the main character of the second portion, seems to be attracted to women as seen through the kiss she shares with a woman. In the third portion Clarissa is a Lesbian in a relationship who is caring for her friend, Richard, who is dying of AIDs, a disease that greatly impacted the LGBT community.
MRS. DALLOWAY: Woolf explores queerness through the relationship of Sally and Clarissa. This relationship is tied greatly with nostalgia, as the romance between the two occurred when they were young. It had the hallmark of traditional young love: innocent passion. The two even share a kiss, an outward expression of queer love not traditionally acceptably depicted at this time.
ORLANDO (FILM): The film adaptation of Orlando remains true to the concepts of queerness and visible representation within the novel Orlando. Orlando switches between the sexes and enjoys different aspects of both of them.
A ROOM OF ONES OWN: Woolf claims the other condition needed for women to produce fiction is to have a room of their own, in other words, privacy. This privacy is integral in order to have their own personal freedom to create, and not be barred by the domestic, household tasks women are often forced to take on.
ORLANDO: Orlando vacillates between genders and enjoys both the female and male aspects of their existence so much, their own relationship with gender might be thought of as a liminal space; they are in a sense between the two in terms of their preference and expression.
TO THE LIGHTHOUSE:The second section of the novel, “Time Passes” can be thought of as a state of liminality. As the Ramsays leave their home, the house itself pivots to the main concern and seems to come alive with the nature surrounding it. This in between time of the Ramsays leaving and returning becomes very concerned with the force of nature, and the happenings of the main characters become an aside with large plot points, such as the death of Mrs. Ramsay simply occurring within brackets.
ORLANDO (FILM): True to the novel, Orlando's relationship with gender can be thought of as a liminal space
click to edit
ON SEEING ILLNESS: WOOLF'S MRS. DALLOWAY: Throughout Mrs. Dalloway, it is evident that Septimus Smith suffers from PTSD, and as a result, suffers from hallucinations. However, a lesser known, often ignored prolonging symptom from influenza is the ability of it to cause delusions, as well as prolonged depression. We might view the ailments of Septimus as both a combination of his mental illness and the long term effects of influenza, which many soldiers contracted and brought home.
ORLANDO: Clothing is a tool Orlando uses to either play up the gender they physically are in the moment, or to act as the other. For instance, when Orlando was a woman, she at a time dressed as a man in order to enjoy masculine outings and be perceived as a man. The role of clothing is one deeply intertwined with gender expression and the innermost feelings of Orlando concerning how they want to be perceived.
THREE GUINEAS: Clothing is discussed in Three Guineas as a condition of inequality. Woolf uses photographs of men in extravagant dress, particularly in decorated war uniforms and extravagant college ceremonies, to demonstrate how men use clothing to express decorative appeal and symbolize their accomplishments and overall, their own sense of superiority. Clothing for women however, is created in certain fashions in order to simply cover the body or appear attractive, not to show the accomplishments they make.