VIRGINIA WOOLF

1. VIRGINIA WOOLF Early and Late Years

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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.

7. 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”

8. 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)

9. 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).” Kuusankoskenkaupunginkirjasto 2008. Web. 16, Apr. 2011