Virginia Woolf
One of the greatest female authors of all time, , produced a body of writing respected worldwide. Driven by uncontrollable circumstances and internal conflict, her life was cut short by suicide. Her role in feminism, along with the personal relationships in her life, influenced her literary works.
Virginia's relationships throughout her life contributed, not only to her literature, but the quality of her life as well. Perhaps the greatest influence in Virginia's life is her mother, Julia Stephen. "Julia Stephen was the most arresting figure which her daughter [] tried to resurrect and preserve" (Gordon 4). Woolf, a manic-depressive, found herself constantly searching for approval. ...
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her own standards" (Bond 39). With the death of her mother Woolf used her novel, To the Lighthouse to "reconstruct and preserve" the memories that still remained. According to Woolf, "the character of Mrs. Ramsey in To the Lighthouse was modeled entirely upon that of her mother" (Bond 27). This helped Virginia in her closure when dealing with the loss and obsession with her mother.
Although Virginia clung to the relationship with her mother, she favored her father, Leslie Stephen. Virginia resembled her father uncannily in character traits, in her writing and self-doubts, in her great and malicious sense of humor, in her marriage, in her frugality, in her fear of aging, and in her social consciousness. (Bond 59) They were both extremely outspoken while sparing no one's feelings with their comments. Virginia and Leslie both had strong personalities and rapid mood changes. Woolf portrayed her father, like her mother, through characterization in To the Lighthouse. Mr. Ramsey ...
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out, and wants to die… I shall do my best to ruin my constitution before I get to this age, so as to die quicker… I can not bear to become the wretch my father became when he reached my stage of life. (Bond 62).
Virginia had great difficulties writing towards that end, and she feared her work would only continue to worsen with age. At the age of fifty-nine on the eve of her birthday, Virginia drowned herself. Her father's death did not solely influence her suicide, but her identification with him was so strong that he was "instrumental in her choice of death" (Bond 62).
While Virginia Woolf's parents contributed greatly to her unstable life, her husband, Leonard, took ...
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Virginia Woolf. (2006, October 18). Retrieved November 23, 2024, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Virginia-Woolf/54147
"Virginia Woolf." Essayworld.com. Essayworld.com, 18 Oct. 2006. Web. 23 Nov. 2024. <http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Virginia-Woolf/54147>
"Virginia Woolf." Essayworld.com. October 18, 2006. Accessed November 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Virginia-Woolf/54147.
"Virginia Woolf." Essayworld.com. October 18, 2006. Accessed November 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Virginia-Woolf/54147.
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