Virginia Woolf Summary

Virginia Woolf (1882 - 1941) English novelist, critic, essayist, short story writer, diarist, autobiographer, and biographer. Virginia Woolf: Introduction Virginia Woolf: Principal Works Virginia Wool... Read more

Biography EssayThe writings of Virginia Woolf have always been admired by discriminating readers, but her work has suffered, as has that of many other major authors, periods of neglect by the literary... Read more

English writer Virginia Woolf was one of the most innovative and influential literary figures of the twentieth century. A prolific author of essays, journals, letters, and long and short fiction, she ... Read more

Virginia Woolf is known primarily as a novelist rather than as an essayist, although she was a prolific writer of essays. Indeed, one of her advocates has gone so far as to say that her reputation as ... Read more

In the following essay, Woolf reflects on the ways in which being ill altered her perspective on life as well as her approach to reading works of literature. Considering how common illness is, how tre... Read more

In the following excerpt, Kurtz considers the symbolism of windows and mirrors in Woolf's later short fiction. Windows and mirrors play as compelling a part in the later fiction of Virginia Woo... Read more

In the following essay, Tremper investigates the influence of William Wordsworth's Guide to the Lakes on Woolf's “The Journal of Mistress Joan Martyn.” Here are the poets f... Read more

In the following essay, Benzel speculates about the origin, creation, and revision of “Kew Gardens.” In Michael Cunningham's novel The Hours, he describes a park that his characte... Read more

In the following essay, Westman maintains that “Friendships Gallery” best represents Woolf's development of a “new ‘art’ of biography that could negotiate the... Read more

In the following essay, Schröder explores elements of anti-Semitism in Woolf's short story “The Duchess and the Jeweller” and Leonard Woolf's “Three Jews.... Read more

In the following essay, Levy argues that “The Watering Place,” “The Ladies Lavatory,” and “The Cook” reveal Woolf's exploration of the “fricativ... Read more

In the following essay, Clements regards “Slater's Pins Have No Points” as an “emblematic representation” of difficulties faced by lesbian writers and focuses ȁ... Read more

In the following essay, Newman assesses Woolf's success as a storyteller, concluding that her stories “fail to satisfy the reader's desire for certainty.” But what are stor... Read more

In the following essay, Séllei finds thematic and stylistic similarities in “The Mark on the Wall,” “Kew Gardens,” and “An Unwritten Novel.” “[Y... Read more

In the following essay, Lackey perceives “A Simple Melody” to be a transitional work in Woolf's short fiction oeuvre and examines her portrayal of male atheism in the story. 1 Pos... Read more

"Often one has to make do with seeds; the germs of what might have been, had one's life been different. I pigeonhole `fishing' thus with other momentary glimpses; like those rapid glances, for exampl... Read more

Throughout time, the treatment of women has varied tremendously. In some of history's greatest civilizations, women were seen as equal to men. However, as centuries passed, their rights began to slowl... Read more

According to Viktors Ivbulis (1995: 23 - 29) in Modernist fiction a special attention is paid to an individual who degrades because of the pressure from the society and is therefore shown as a small p... Read more