Virginia Woolf

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 537.

· “Novel of sensibility” (mainly female) – interested in the sensibility and exploration of mind, thoughts of protagonist

· Elitist writer

· Her father: editor, journalist, he knew everybody in literary circles

· Privately thought at home

· Her mother died early

· “Bloomsbury Group”

o A group of writers and friends who shared a lot, conversations about everything,

o Graduates from Cambridge

o They shared common ethics (self-knowledge, looking for truth, rejecting prejudices, brought on the samples of O. Wilde and aestheticism)

o Members:

§ E.M. Foster

§ L. Strachey – historical novelist

§ J. M. Keynes

o But after II WW the group started to be perceived as upper-class snobs who didn't know real life (no financial problems etc)

· V. Woolf and her husband found printing house – Hogarth Press (quality, good published books, no mistakes, beautiful covers, layouts etc)

· She suffered from depression, publishing was to be a therapy for her

· She committed suicide drowning in the Thames

· She wrote novels and essays

· Novels:

o 1915 – “The Voyage Out” –a story of a trip of a young lady, convention like Victorian, narrowed time of action, limited place (the ship), limited number of characters, deep exploration of characters, relationship, story of life/voyage – metaphorical 2 levels

o 1922 “Jacob's Room”

§ Monologues of the protagonist, stream of consciousness, Jacob was a soldier (1WW), he died, he's being described by the people who knew him, his family; unknown narrator describes his room, what remained after him, emotions of his friend

§ Moving picture of him

§ A series of episodes

o 1923 “Mrs. Dalloway”

§ A story of 1 day of Mrs. Dalloway

§ 2 plots:

· One connected with Mrs. Dalloway – a lady; she's to organize a party that evening

· W. Smith – veteran of IWW, unfortunate, vet. Trauma, he cannot live, suicide

§ A the 1^st sight these 2 novels are separate, one common element – a doctor

§ But both are about life, living next to other people (for Mrs. D – essence of life, parties, meetings)

§ 2 levels – action realistic plot <> what's inside characters mind

o “To the Lighthouse” (3 parts)

§ Trip to a family summer house for a holidays, they plan to go to a lighthouse

§ What happened later, the war

§ Those who remained from the family try to go to the lighthouse

o “To the waves”

o “Orlando”

· Essays – her ideas of literature, theory of fiction

o “A room of ones own” – about female writers at the beginning of 20^th century

§ Material situation of female writers

§ No female tradition in literature, drama, poetry

§ No luxury of free time

§ No predecessors to follow

§ Novel – less ambitious genre

· Typical features of V. Woolf connecting her with modernists

o Relative unimportance of the plot, reduction of events, little actions

o Structure of novel – episodic, seemingly chaotic, but very deep

o Concentration on the mind of the character, interior monologue, limiting omniscience of the narrator

o Distraction of time (?)

o Her prose is described as poetic prose (typical elements of poetic language, metaphors, rhetorical figures, expressing feelings, emotions, exploring personality of characters)

o Limited number of characters, time, place (like Jane Austen)

o She's re-read by feminists, lesbians and gays

o Film adaptations “Orlando”; “Mrs. Dalloway”; “The Hours”

WYKŁAD 19