Virginia Woolf 1882 1941 Born in 1882 Daughter

Virginia Woolf (1882 -1941) • Born in 1882 • Daughter of Sir Leslie Stephen, an eminent man of letters • Adeline Virginia Stephen • married Leonard Woolf, a politician and writer, in 1912 • starting Hogarth Press in 1917 • Committing suicide in March 1941

by Virginia Woolf • • Jacob’s Room (1922) Mrs. Dalloway (1925) To the Lighthouse (1927) Orlando (1928) A Room of One’s Own (1929) The Waves (1931) Three Guineas (1938)

Mrs. Dalloway (1925) • the first of Virginia Woolf’s successful, mature, experimental novels • interior monologue • psychological realism • a major influence on twentieth century feminist philosophy • the power of situating the action of a novel in the mental life of the characters

Modernism • dominant artistic movement from about 1900 to 1940 • reforming the traditions of nineteenthcentury literature --in terms of form, content, and expression • Frequent themes --loneliness --isolation

Stream-of-Consciousness • Modernists engage in stream-ofconsciousness writing. • also called “interior monologue” • capturing the thought process of a single character as it happens without interruption

An example of stream-of-consciousness She [Mrs. Dalloway] felt somehow very like him—the young man who had killed himself. She felt glad that he had done it; thrown it away. The clock was striking. The leaden circles dissolved in the air. He made her feel the beauty; made her feel the fun. But she must go back. She must assemble. --from Mrs. Dalloway

The events of a day in London (I) • Out for flowers --Hugh Whitbread --Peter Walsh --Richard Dalloway --Elizabeth Dalloway --Miss Kilman • Steptimus Smith --Lucrezia

The events of a day in London (II) • Home again --Lady Bruton --Sally Seton • Peter Walsh’s visit • The Doctors --Dr. Holmes --Dr. William Bradshaw

The events of a day in London (III) • • • At Lady Bruton’s Richard and Clarissa Elizabeth and Miss Kilman The Suicide Before the party The Party

The Hours (1998) • Michael Cunningham (1952 - ) • the Pulitzer Prize and the PEN/Faulkner Award in 1999 • made into a major motion picture in 2002. • prologue focusing on Virginia Woolf in 1941 • 3 stories --Virginia Woolf (Nicole Kidman) --Clarissa Vaughan (Meryl Streep) --Laura Brown (Julianne Moore)

The Hours (1998) Part I-1 • • • in New York City at the end of the twentieth century fifty-two-year-old Clarissa buying flowers for the party for Clarissa’s best friend and former lover Richard • in honor of his winning the prestigious Carrouthers Prize for poetry

The Hours (1998) Part I-2 • In Richmond, England in 1923 • Virginia Woolf begins the novel, which will become Mrs. Dalloway.

The Hours (1998) Part I-3 • • In Los Angeles in 1949 Laura reads the beginning of Mrs. Dalloway. On her husband Dan's birthday Laura’s son Richie and Dan are happy to see her.

The Hours (1998) Part II-1 • As Virginia walks in Richmond, she plans what will happen to Clarissa and thinks that perhaps she will love a woman but will eventually "come to her senses, as young women do, and marry a suitable man. " • Virginia's sister, Vanessa, and her children arrive for a visit.

The Hours (1998) Part II-2 • In the apartment, Clarissa thinks about her relationship with Sally (Clarissa’s lover). • Clarissa plans to give Richard "the best party she can manage. " • Julia, Clarissa's teenaged daughter, arrives and soon after, Louis (Richard’s lover) leaves, promising to come to the party.

The Hours (1998) Part II-3 • Laura is disappointed with the cake she has made, which is less than the perfect vision she had of it. Notes: --Virginia Woolf, A Room of One’s Own (1929) --Doris Lessing, “To Room Nineteen” (1963)

The Hours (1998) Part III-1 • Laura drops her son off at a babysitter and drives to a hotel where she can be alone. • Laura admits that at times "she loves life … hopelessly. " • Laura envisions Woolf's suicide and how easy it would be for her as well.

The Hours (1998) Part III-2 • Virginia drinks tea with Vanessa, experiencing a perfect moment of happiness. • Behind her cook's back, she kisses Vanessa, which "feels like the most delicious and forbidden of pleasures. "

The Hours (1998) Part III-3 • Laura picks up Richie who bursts out in tears when he sees her. • On the way home, Richie expresses his love for her in a frantic tone, seemingly knowing what Laura has been thinking. • Laura tells Richie that she loves him, which eases him.

The Hours (1998) Part IV-1 • Clarissa arrives at Richard's apartment to help him get ready for the party. • Richard, looking "insane and exalted" perched on the window sill. • Richard admits that he feels like a failure, tells Clarissa he loves her, leans further out the window, and falls five stories to the pavement.

The Hours (1998) Part IV-2 • Virginia again determines that Clarissa will not die because she will be too in love with life. • Another person, "a deranged poet, a visionary will be the one to die. "

The Hours (1998) Part IV-3 • Laura prepares for bed where her husband is waiting for her. • She goes to bed, feeling detached and far away. • --------- • An elderly Laura arrives at Clarissa's apartment and the two discuss Richard, Laura's son. • Clarissa has mixed feelings about Laura who eventually abandoned her family.

Virginia’s letter to Leonard Dearest, I feel certain, that I'm going mad again. I think we can't go through another of these terrible times, and I shan't recover this time. I begin to hear voices and can't concentrate. So I'm doing what seems the best thing to do. You have given me the greatest possible happiness. You have been in every way all that anyone could be. I know that I'm spoiling your life and without me you could work and you will.

I know. You see I can't even write this properly. What I want to say is that I owe all the happiness of my life to you. You have been entirely patient with me and incredibly good. Everything is gone for me, but the certainty of your goodness. I can't go on spoiling your life any longer. I don't think two people could have been happier than we have been.

Leonard vs. Virginia Leonard: If you were clear. . . If you were thinking clear, you would remember: it was London which brought you low. …… We brought you to Richmond to give you peace.

Leonard vs. Virginia: This is my right. This is the right of every human being. . That is my choice. The meanest patient, yes even the very lowest, is allowed some say in the matter of her own prescription. Thereby she defines her humanity. …… I would tell you that I wrestle alone in the dark, in the deep dark, and that only I can know, only I can understand my own condition.

• I wish for your sake, Leonard, that I could be happy in this quietness. But if it is a choice between Richmond and death, I choose death. • …… • You must be hungry. I am a little hungry myself.

Questions for Assignment 4 1. Compare Clarissa Dalloway in Mrs. Dalloway with Clarissa Vaughan in The Hours. 2. Quote a passage from Mrs. Dalloway first and explain how it demonstrates the writing technique of stream-ofconsciousness.