Gender in Orlando: In this novel, gender is portrayed as a social construct. Further, it is depicted as something fluid, as evidenced by how Woolf uses clothing as a way to blur such lines. When Orlando first meets Sasha, for instance, her ambiguous fashion leads him to approach her as a man, since he believes strength and endurance are qualities associated with men. Moreover, time and again, Woolf assigns different characteristics to the opposite sex to assault traditional gender roles and hierarchies. She further accomplishes this by having Orlando transform into a woman. As a woman, Orlando is no longer allowed to keep her title; and whereas before, she pursued sexual relationships freely, she now worries about her chastity. It is interesting to note, however, that this transformation gifts Orlando with a deeper empathy for the opposite sex.
Orlando's Relationship to Art as a Woman: Orlando's transformation into a woman illustrates Woolf's point about women needing a room of their own. As a man, he wrote confidently and without shame; however, as a woman, she feels the need to hide her manuscripts which, as Woolf argues, distracts women from fully developing their art.
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