Woolf, Virginia (Stephen) - 1882–1941,
English novelist and essayist; daughter of Sir Leslie Stephen.
A successful innovator in the form of the novel, she is considered a
significant force in 20th-century fiction. She was educated at home from the
resources of her father's huge library. In 1912 she married Leonard Woolf, a
critic and writer on economics, with whom she set up the Hogarth Press in 1917.
Their home became a gathering place for a circle of artists, critics, and
writers known as the Bloomsbury group. As a novelist Woolf's
primary concern was to represent the flow of ordinary experience. Her emphasis
was not on plot or characterization but on a character's consciousness, his
thoughts and feelings, which she brilliantly illuminated by the stream
of consciousness technique. She did not limit herself to one
consciousness, however, but slipped from mind to mind, particularly in The
Waves, probably her most experimental novel. Her prose style is poetic,
heavily symbolic, and filled with superb visual images. Woolf's early works, The
Voyage Out (1915) and Night and Day (1919), were traditional in
method, but she became increasingly innovative in Jacob's Room (1922), Mrs.
Dalloway (1925), To the Lighthouse (1927), and The Waves
(1931). Other experimental novels are Orlando (1928), The Years
(1937), and Between the Acts (1941). She was a master of the critical
essay, and some of her finest pieces are included in The Common Reader
(1925), The Second Common Reader (1933), The Death of the Moth and
Other Essays (1942), and The Moment and Other Essays (1948). A
Room of One's Own (1929) and Three Guineas (1938) are feminist
tracts. Her biography of Roger Fry (1940) is a careful study of a friend.
Some of her short stories from Monday or Tuesday (1921) appear with
others in A Haunted House (1944). Virginia Woolf suffered mental
breakdowns in 1895 and 1915; she drowned herself in 1941 because she feared
another breakdown from which she might not recover. Most of her posthumously
published works were edited by her husband.
15 of the Best Books and Articles on: Virginia Woolf
as selected by Questia librarians
Virginia Woolf: The Intellectual and the Public Sphere
» Read Now
by Melba Cuddy-Keane. 237 pgs.
Collections:
Literature, Entire Library Melba Cuddy-Keane relates
Woolf's literary reviews and essays to early twentieth-century debates about
the value of "highbrow" culture; the methods of instruction in
universities and adult education; and the importance of an educated public for
the realization of democratic goals. Combining a wealth... Read MorepastedGraphic.pdf
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The Moth and the Star: A Biography of Virginia Woolf
» Read Now
by Aileen Pippett. 374 pgs.
Collections: Literature, Entire Library ...THE MOTH AND THE STAR A
Biography of Virginia Woolf The British Council Virginia Woolf
THE MOTH AND THE STAR A Biography of Virginia Woolf by AILEEN
PIPPETT LITTLE, BROWN...
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Outsiders Together: Virginia and Leonard Woolf
» Read Now
by Natania Rosenfeld. 212 pgs.
Collections:
Literature, Entire Library The marriage of Virginia and
Leonard Woolf is best understood as a dialogue of two outsiders about ideas of
social and political belonging and exclusion. These ideas infused the written
work of both partners and carried over into literary modernism itself, in part
through the influence of the... Read More2__#$!@%!#__pastedGraphic.pdf
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¬Virginia Woolf:
Centennial Essays
» Read Now
by Elaine K. Ginsberg, Laura Moss Gottlieb. 352
pgs.
Collections: Literature, Entire Library This book includes many of the
best papers presented at the celebration of Virginia Woolf's hundredth birthday
at the West Virginia University in 1982.
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Virginia Woolf: The Critical Heritage
» Read Now
by Robin Majumdar, Allen McLaurin. 468 pgs.
Collections:
Literature, Entire Library This set comprises of 40
volumes covering nineteenth and twentieth century European and American
authors. These volumes will be available as a complete set, mini boxed sets (by
theme) or as individual volumes. This second set compliments the first 68
volume set of Critical Heritage published by Routledge in October 1995.
To the Lighthouse
» Read Now
by Virginia Woolf. 314 pgs.
Collections: Literature, Entire Library ...To the Lighthouse BY VIRGINIA
WOOLF Fiction THE VOYAGE...ESSAYS To THE LIGHTHOUSE by VIRGINIA WOOLF
HBMC New York HARCOURT, BRACE...INC. RENEWED, 1955, BY LEONARD WOOLF
All...
The Voyage Out
» Read Now
by Virginia Woolf. 378 pgs.
Collections: Literature, Entire Library ...THE VOYAGE OUT -2- THE
VOYAGE OUT VIRGINIA WOOLF BLUE RIBBON BOOKS, Inc. NEW YORK
COPYRIGHT, 1920, BY GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY PRINTED AND BOUND BY THE CORNWALL
PRESS...
Glass Roof: Virginia Woolf as Novelist
» Read Now
by James Hafley. 195 pgs.
Collections: Literature, Entire Library ...GLASS ROOF THE GLASS ROOF Virginia
Woolf as Novelist By James Hafley...essays concerning the novels of Virginia
Woolf increases, so also does the number...5 Winifred Holtby...
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Wild Outbursts of Freedom: Reading Virginia Woolf's Short
Fiction
» Read Now
by Nena Skrbic. 194 pgs.
Collections: Literature, Entire Library
Feminist Destinations and Further Essays on Virginia
Woolf
» Read Now
by Rachel Bowlby. 278 pgs.
Collections: Literature, Entire Library Rachel Bowlby's classic
Feminist Destinations now appears in an updated edition with five new chapters.
The additional material looks at Virginia Woolf in new frames -- as a woman
essayist; as a city writer and critic of modern culture; as a writer in love.
This new collection represents this noted... Read More6__#$!@%!#__pastedGraphic.pdf
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Virginia Woolf: Feminism, Creativity, and the Unconscious
» Read Now
by John R. Maze. 220 pgs.
Collections: Literature, Entire Library John R. Maze provides a radical
psychoanalytic reading of the life-historical and psychopathological themes
underlying the intellectual and emotional force of Virginia Woolf's novels. Her
repeated, progressive attempts at literary self-analysis yielded many years of
original, insightful, and... Read More7__#$!@%!#__pastedGraphic.pdf
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Reading Virginia Woolf's Essays and Journalism: Breaking
the Surface of Silence
» Read Now
by Leila Brosnan. 192 pgs.
Collections: Literature, Entire Library
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Reading Virginia Woolf's Essays and Journalism: Breaking
the Surface of Silence
» Read Now
by Leila Brosnan. 192 pgs.
Collections: Literature, Entire Library
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The Artist as Outsider in the Novels of Toni Morrison and
Virginia Woolf
» Read Now
by Lisa Williams. 198 pgs.
Collections: Literature, Entire Library On first consideration, Nobel
prize winning African-American author Toni Morrison might seem to have little
in common with Virginia Woolf, the British writer who challenged Victorian
concepts of womanhood. But interestingly enough, Morrison wrote her masters
thesis on Woolf and William Faulkner, and... Read More10__#$!@%!#__pastedGraphic.pdf
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Virginia Woolf and the Bloomsbury Avant-Garde: War,
Civilization, Modernity
» Read Now
by Christine Froula. 434 pgs.
Collections:
Literature, Entire Library
http://www.questia.com/library/virginia-woolf.jsp .
Articles
on Virginia Woolf
Woolf, Virginia: Virginia Woolf: An Inner Life.(Brief
article)(Book review)
http://www.online-literature.com/virginia_woolf/
▪ Michael
Cunningham's 1998 Pulitzer
Prize-winning novel The Hours uses some of Woolf's
characteristic stylistic tools to intertwine a story of the Virginia who is
writing Mrs Dalloway with stories of two other women decades apart, each
of whom is planning a party. The book was adapted into a 2002
film, which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. Nicole
Kidman won an Oscar for her portrayal of Woolf in the movie.
▪ Susan
Sellers' novel "Vanessa and Virginia"
explores the intense relation between Woolf and her sister Vanessa, the
painter. Two Ravens Press, 2008; Harcourt 2009.
▪ Playwright
Edward
Albee asked Woolf's widower Leonard Woolf for permission to use his
wife's name in the title of his play Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, which
concerns a clash between a university professor and his wife as they host a
younger faculty couple for evening cocktails. The film adaptation of the play is the only film
to be nominated in every eligible category at the Academy Awards.
▪ Indiana
band Murder by Death have a song entitled "I'm
Afraid of 'Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" on their first album, Like
the Exorcist, but More Breakdancing.
▪ American
folk
rock duo Indigo Girls wrote and recorded a song called
"Virginia Woolf" for their 1992 album Rites of Passage, and also included it on
their live recording 1200 Curfews in 1995.
▪ Sharon
Carpenter Rose portrays Woolf in the 2009 feature film Lives and Deaths of the Poets, written and
directed by Leland Steigs.
▪ British
indie
rock band Assembly Now reference Woolf by name in their
song "It's Magnetic".
▪ British
singer Steve Harley wrote and recorded a song
"Riding the Waves (for Virginia Woolf)" for his album Hobo with a
grin.
▪ American
folk singer Sara Hickman recorded a song "Room Of
One's Own" on her album "Necessary Angels."
▪ Laura
Veirs references Virginia Woolf in her song
"Rapture".
▪ In
The Reptile Room, the second novel in A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony
Snicket, there is mention of a snake called the Virginian Wolfsnake.
The only thing said about it is that it should never, ever be allowed near a
typewriter.
▪ In
The Hostile Hospital the eighth book in by
Lemony
Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events mentions a
woman named Clarissa who is looking sadly out of a window.
▪ Folk
group Two Nice Girls named their album Chloe
Liked Olivia after a key phrase in Woolf's A Room of One's Own.
▪ Patrick
Wolf's song "To the Lighthouse" was
inspired by Woolf's novel.
▪ The
character Virginia Wolfe in Rocko's Modern Life is named after Woolf.
▪ Regina
Spektor references Virginia Woolf in her song
"Paris".
▪ In
Scrubs, Elliot cites Virginia Woolf as one
of her favourite authors, and mentions that once she considered suicide in the
same manner as Virginia Woolf.
▪ Javier Krahe,
Spanish songwriter, references Virginia Woolf in the song "Nembutal"
from his album Corral de Cuernos
▪ Profesora,
Swedish performance artist released a song called Virginia Woolf at her album.
▪ The Murder City Devils, a rock
and roll band, reference Virginia Woolf saying, "I think I'll call you
Virginia Woolf."
▪ In
Destroy All Humans!, when at the Santa
Monica level, if you scan a housewife's thought she says "I'm afraid of
Virginia Woolf."
▪ Ludovico
Einaudi wrote, probably his most famous solo piano
piece, "Le Onde" after reading an Italian translation of Woolf's The
Waves.
▪ The
name of the American band Modest
Mouse is derived from a passage from the story "The Mark on the
Wall" which reads "...and very frequent even in the minds of modest,
mouse-coloured people..."
▪ The
Celtic rock band GrooveLily mentions Virginia Woolf in a live version of their
song, "Screwed-Up People Make Great Art."
▪ The
feature film Notes on a Scandal (Cate
Blanchett, Judi Dench) mentions Woolf during a scene where
Blanchett screams, "It's a flat in the Archway Road and you think you're
Virginia friggin' Woolf!"
▪ On
her debut album Ballads of Living and Dying, Marissa
Nadler chronicles the death of Virginia Woolf in the song
"Virginia".
▪ The
song "Shakespeare's Sister" by The
Smiths is a reference to Virginia Woolf's concept in A Room of One's Own, where she argues that
if Shakespeare had a sister with similar talents she would have been denied his
opportunities.
▪ The
season 13 Simpsons episode "Homer
the Moe" has a reference to Virginia Woolf's drowning death
when Moe's old teacher at Swigmore University walks into a lake until it's too
deep to swim out.
▪ Composer
Dominick Argento received the 1975 Pulitzer Prize in Music for his song cycle,
"From the Diary of Virginia Woolf", settings for voice and piano of
entries from Woolf's personal diary from 1919 to 1941.
▪ American
Metalcore
band Starkweather reference Virginia Woolf's death
and suicide note in their song "Hushabye: Goodnight" with the lyrics,
"Find me the heaviest stones to fill my pockets / I thought it for the
best that I should drown..."
▪ Paul
Pennyfeather, protagonist of Evelyn Waugh's first novel Decline
and Fall, is asked by the prison's librarian whether he would like
the 'new Virginia Woolf book'.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_Woolf#Personal_life
This paper introduces a Literature
Compass cluster of articles which examines the current state of Virgina
Woolf Studies and aims to provide a snapshot of the field. These papers grew
out of the 15th Annual International Virginia
Woolf Conference (College of Lewis and Clark, Portland, OR, June 9–12, 2005).
The full cluster is made up of the
following articles:
"Introduction: Virginia Woolf and
The Art of Exploration," Urmila Seshagiri and Rishona Zimring, Literature
Compass 3 (2006), 10.1111/j.1741-4113.2006.00393.x
"Virginia Woolf's Sense of Adventure,"
Maria DiBattista, Literature Compass 3 (2006),
10.1111/j.1741-4113.2006.00394.x
"The Twentieth Part: Virginia Woolf
in the British Museum Reading Room," Benjamin Harvey, Literature
Compass 3 (2006), 10.1111/j.1741-4113.2006.00395.x
"'Street Haunting': Phantasmagorias
of the Modern Imperial Metropolis," Sara Gerend, Literature Compass
3 (2006), 10.1111/j.1741-4113.2006.00396.x
"Hyde Park Gate News," Gill
Lowe, Literature Compass 3 (2006), 10.1111/j.1741-4113.2006.00397.x
"The Art of 'Scene-Making' in the
Charleston Bulletin Supplements," Claudia Olk, Literature Compass 3
(2006), 10.1111/j.1741-4113.2006.00398.x
"A Camera of Her Own: Woolf and the
Legacy of the Indomitable Mrs. Cameron," Emily Setina, Literature
Compass 3 (2006), 10.1111/j.1741-4113.2006.00399.x
"Woolfian Resonances," Anne
Fernald, Literature Compass 3 (2006), 10.1111/j.1741-4113.2006.00400.x
"Early Twentieth-Century British
Women Travellers to Greece: Contextualizing the Example of Virginia
Woolf," Martha Klironomos, Literature Compass 3 (2006),
10.1111/j.1741-4113.2006.00401.x
"'Others Wanted to Travel': Woolf
and 'America Herself'," Thaine Stearns, Literature Compass 3
(2006), 10.1111/j.1741-4113.2006.00402.x
Literature Compass 4/2 (2007): 470–472,
10.1111/j.1741-4113.2006.00393.x
http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/117994407/abstract?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0