VIRGINIA WOOLFEarly and Late Years

EARLY CHILDHOOD Born on January 25, 1882 as Adeline Virginia

Stephen She was born in London to Sir Leslie Stephen and

Julia Jackson Duckworth Her parents were 14 years apart in age and their

marriage was not the first for either of them Woolf grew up with three siblings and four other

stepsiblings conceived from her parents’ previous marriages

Woolf, who was educated at home, grew up at the family home at Hyde Park Gate

She never had a formal education but had unlimited access to her father's very extensive library

She decided at an early age that she would be a writer

EARLY CHILDHOOD (cont.)

From her early ages, she was extremely close to her family especially her father and older sister, Vanessa

The death of family members typically preceded Virginia’s episodes of severe anxiety and depression

When she was 13 years old, her mother died from influenza, leading to the first of Virginia’s several nervous breakdowns

LATER LIFE

The death of her father in 1904 provoked her most alarming collapse and she was briefly institutionalized

She lost her mental stability and suffered from her second nervous breakdown during this period

Her depressive breakdowns were also a result of the sexual abuse that she was subjected to by her half brothers George and Gerald

When Virginia's brother Thoby died in 1906, she had a prolonged mental breakdown

Following the death of her father, Woolf moved with her sister and two brothers to the house in Bloomsbury district

She joined the Bloomsbury Group, a group of talented writers, artists, and intellectuals, whose members provided one another with feedback and support

MARRIAGE LIFE It was in the Bloomsbury Group where Virginia Woolf

met her future husband, the writer Leonard Woolf, who was of a Jewish descent

Woolf had anti-Jewish attitudes, although she loved her husband

The couple had an interesting marriage in which their partnership was more literary and intellectual relationship rather than a romantic and sexual one

In fact, there is evidence that Virginia Woolf sought romantic and sexual companionship through female partners rather than her husband

They both supported one another’s writing and worked together to establish the Hogarth Press in 1917 which published most of Virginia’s work.

More importantly, Leonard cared for Virginia through various bouts of mental illness

Virginia’s husband was a “person who mothered Virginia Woolf's body and directed her daily life and watched over her illnesses”

Because Virginia’s health illness was increasing, Leonard advises that they should not have children

WOOLF’S WORKS Virginia first started writing in 1905 for Times Literary Supplement as an

anonymous author Her first individual work, a novel, The Voyage Out, was published in 1915

by her half-brother’s imprint Much of Woolf’s work was self-published through the Hogarth Press Her works are often closely linked to the development of feminist

criticism Woolf was concerned with the position of women in society; she was even

more concerned with their interior lives, the roles that they occupied, and the opportunities that were available to them

In all of her works, the readers observed similar themes She used a technique known as stream of consciousness, portraying the

lives of her characters by revealing their thoughts and associations One of her writings, A Room of One’s Own, expresses the frustration

women writers in the past have felt Woolf's attention and compassion towards women allowed her to be one

of the most important writers of the 20th century. To this day she remains one of the most famous feminist writers in the

world.

WOOLF’S TRAGIC DEATH

At the end of 1940, Woolf suffered another severe bout of mental illness and once again she began to experience fear and fright

During her mental illness, she was writing what was her last publication, Between the Acts, published in 1941

After her severe mental illness, she felt as if she was unable to recover her health issues, so she decided to suicide

On March 28, 1941, at the age of 59, Woolf filled her pockets with stones and drowned herself in the River Ouse, near her home in Rodmell

Her body was discovered three weeks later after her death She left two suicide notes; one for her sister, Vanessa, and the other for

her husband In her notes, she wrote “I feel certain that I am going mad again: I feel

we can’t go through another of these terrible times. And I can’t recover this time. I begin to hear voices, and can’t concentrate. So I am doing what seems the best to do. You have given me the greatest possible happiness….I can’t fight it any longer, I know that I am spoiling your life, that without me you could work”

WOLF’S NOVELS

The Voyage Out (1915) Night and Day (1919) Mrs. Dalloway (1925) To the Lighthouse (1927) Orlando (1928) The Waves (1931) The Years (1937) Between the Acts (1941)

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Norman, Prinsky. “Virginia Woolf.” Critical Survey of Short Fiction , Second Revised Edition (2001): 1-4. MagilOnLiterature Plus. Web. 16, Apr. 2011.

Jessica Bomarito and Jeffery W. Hunter. “Woolf, Virginia: Introduction.” Feminism in Literature: A Gale Critical Companion 6 (2005): 535-53. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 16, Apr. 2011.

Acosta’s , Dr. Fidel. “Virginia Woolf”. World Literature Website. 2001. Web. 16, Apr. 2011

Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Web. 16, Apr. 2011

Liukkonen, Petri. “Virginia Woolf (1882-1941).” Kuusankosken kaupunginkirjasto 2008. Web. 16, Apr. 2011