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A LIFE VIRGINIA WOOLF SHARED In her writings, Virginia Woolf wanted to
capture the realness of life, as one would live it. In turn, Woolf’s shared the
significant elements of her life in her poetic prose novels, Mrs. Dalloway and
To the Lighthouse, as a relative self-portrayal. In these books Woolf captured
the life as she had lived it, performing this task in three different layers of
depth. For a general sense, by allowing the characters to live in a similar
society as her own, Woolf depicted her society in her writing. In a deeper
sense, many of Woolf’s family members, relationships, and characteristics were
symbolically illustrated through the minor literary characters on a more
personal level. Moreover, Woolf displayed her views, beliefs, and personal
events through the conscience of the main characters. Commonly, people believe
that Woolf had an ideal family. Born into an aristocratic family, her father,
Sir Leslie Stephen, was an eminent editor, journalist, and a biographer; her
husband, Leonard Woolf, also was an aristocrat writer, who had a membership in
an intellectual circle, Bloomsbury Group, along with Virginia Woolf. Similarly,
Woolf planned both Mrs. Dalloway and To the Lighthouse to be the stories of two
aristocratic families.
Virginia Woolf lived from the late Victorian Era until
the beginning of King George VI’s reign, through both the climax of Britain’s
prosperity and political supremacy and the decline of such political power which
was due to the First World War. Yet, in these transitions of Britain’s political
status, new ideologies, such as feminism, were developing. From the late
Victorian Era to the end of First World War marked a period in which the people
attempted to accomplish the new beliefs and ideologies, usually resulting in
effective movements. Most of these ideas were an antithesis of prewar traditions
that were led by Modernist, the questioners of tradition, in literary movements.
Feminism was one of the popular new ideologies, which generally began through
writers, artists, and women of the aristocracy, for they were the ones who were
politically aware of what was going on in Britain and on Continent. Furthermore,
people, especially the middle and the upper classes, enjoyed enormous prosperity
that was brought in by imperialism and the Industrial Revolution. Prosperity
drew people to capitalism and investments in foreign countries, for people loved
money and were very avaricious. In her writing, Woolf addressed these Victorian
political characteristics through the meeting of Richard Dalloway, Hugh
Whitbread, and Lady Bruton in Mrs. Dalloway, where Lady Bruton proposes “a
project for emigrating young people of both sexes born of respectable parents
and setting them up with a fair prospect of doing well in Canada.” Lady Bruton’s
strong independence as a leader shows the movement towards tolerance of women
being in power.
This scene also portrays people’s cupidity, since this project
was designed to bring in a substantial amount of profit. In addition, the
Victorian Era was an age of doubt, question, and skepticism towards God, mostly
due to Darwinism. Friction was created between morality and newly developing
ideologies and beliefs. Although a majority of people still attended church,
many writers and artists, especially Modernists, tended to be more agnostic.
Likewise Woolf showed the opposing sides, believers and idealists, through the
repulsion of Mrs. Dalloway against Miss Kilman, as Mrs. Dalloway has noted, “Had
she [Miss Kilman] even tried to convert any one herself? Did she not wish
everybody merely to be themselves? Let her… if she wanted to; let her stop; then
let her…There was something solemn in it—but love and religion would destroy
that, whatever it was, the privacy of the soul. The odious Kilman would destroy
it.” Britain faced a phase of decline due to the First World War which brought
many changes to people’s lives, although the aristocrats were not as affected by
the war. Some post war effects were loneliness, mental and emotional disorders,
and disintegration usually suffered by middle and lower classes. In Mrs.
Dalloway, the Dalloway family is planning a party while Septimus Smith, a middle
class veteran, is suffering from mental and emotional disorders. Mrs. Dalloway
is suffering from loneliness. However, in To the Lighthouse, the Ramsay family,
also aristocrats, are suffering from the war due to the death of their veteran
son, Anthony Ramsay. Mrs. Dalloway and To the Lighthouse are filled with
symbols, notably those that represent or suggest vital people in Woolf’s life.
For example, from her childhood, her father had great influence in Woolf’s life,
for it was because of him that Woolf began to write. Woolf exemplified her
father through Mr. Ramsay in To the Lighthouse. Like Leslie Stephen, Mr. Ramsay
was portrayed as an aristocratic intellectual. Furthermore, Woolf went to the
extreme of details to share the possessions of her father that were significant
to her such as her father’s library, the place where she received education, and
his summerhouse on the Hebrides Islands, the place where her family had
fellowship. Likewise, Mr. Ramsay possessed an excellent library, a place that
symbolically has a different atmosphere from rest of his summerhouse on the Isle
of Skye. If there was one other person who made difference in Woolf’ life, then
Leonard Woolf cannot be excluded. He was part of the left wing in the Parliament
and known for his male chauvinistic characteristics; however, with no doubt, he
was noted as a husband who loved his wife very much to take care of her, even
through her mental breakdowns.
Woolf portrayed her husband’s role in her life
through both Mr. Richard Dalloway and Mr. Ramsay. Mr. Dalloway represents the
political aspect of Leonard, considering that he was part of the left wing in
the Parliament. In the other aspect, Mr. Ramsay portrays the side of Leonard
that was very dominating and male chauvinistic. Nonetheless, both Mr. Dalloway
and Mr. Ramsay play the role of husbands who love their wife yet have much
difficulty expressing that love. As for Richard Dalloway, he feels that “the
time comes when it can’t be said; one’s too shy to say it, he thought…to say
straight out in so many words (whatever she might think of him), holding out his
flowers, ‘I love you.’ Why not?…Here he was walking…to say to Clarissa in so
many words that he loved her.” Bloomsbury Group was not only an intellectual
circle, but also a second family for Woolf because it was composed of some of
her family members and close friends.
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