Virginia Woolf. Virginia Woolf Written by Virginia Woolf

Virginia Woolf(Eng. Virginia Woolf, 1882-1941) - British writer, literary critic. Leading figure in modernist literature in the first half of the 20th century. She was part of the Bloomsbury Group.

During the interwar period wolf was a significant figure in the London Literary Society and was a member of the Bloomsbury circle. Her most famous works include the novels: "" (1925), "" (1927), "Orlando" (1928) and the story "His own room", containing the well-known aphorism: "Every woman, if she is going to write, must have means and your own room. Her novels are considered classic "stream of consciousness" works.

Born in London in the family of the famous literary critic Sir Leslie Stephen and Julia Duckworth (Burne-Jones wrote her in 1866, her photo portrait by Julia Margaret Cameron, 1867 is known). Virginia was the third child of Leslie and Julia (the family had three children of Julia from her first marriage, Leslie's daughter from her marriage to Minnie Thackeray and four younger Stephens: Vanessa, Toby, Virginia and Adrian). When Virginia was 13 years old, she experienced the death of her mother, which caused the first nervous breakdown of the writer. After Julia's death, Sir Leslie revels in self-pity. Most of all, Virginia is experiencing the death of her mother.

The older sister Stella plays the role of mistress of the house for some time, but soon dies. Vanessa - the next in seniority - is forced to take care of the house, but unlike her older sister, she rebuffs her father, who gradually turns into a despot. After the death of their father, the young Stephens move to Bloomsbury, where their home becomes the stronghold of everything progressive, young minds gathering to discuss, often condemn, modern society. Sisters Virginia and Vanessa were very close, as children they vowed never to marry and live together. The news that Vanessa was accepting Clive Bell's proposal in 1907 offended Virginia greatly. This happened a few days after the death of her beloved brother Toby - he contracted typhus during a joint trip to Greece. She stayed with her brother. In 1909, he unexpectedly accepts the offer of Lytton Strachey, who openly declared his unconventional orientation. But the marriage did not take place. At this time, Virginia begins to publish her critical articles in magazines, continuing the work of her father. Work is underway on the first novel.

In 1912 she marries Leonard Woolf, a writer and journalist. Marriage has become a union of people who respect each other. In 1917, the couple founded the Hogarth Press publishing house, from where all the works of the writer were published. Virginia typed and edited the texts herself. The publishing house, which at first did not bring profit, became a reliable source of family income. wolf. Leonard created ideal working conditions for both of them, he strongly supported Virginia.

Headaches, voices, visions did not leave Virginia, she tried to kill herself several times. The writer was very demanding of herself and her work, she rewrote novels dozens of times. She stopped keeping a diary only during illnesses, the diaries were published as a separate edition in 4 volumes, and 5 volumes of Virginia's letters were also published, which she wrote to friends, sister, Leonard and, of course, Vita Sackville-West. They met in 1922, Virginia did not like Vita at first, it was Vita who was looking for a meeting with the writer. Subsequently, they are united by tender friendship, on the part of Virginia - love. This feeling, together with the insult caused by Vita's betrayals, became the basis of the novel "Orlando", in which the main character turns into a woman.

Virginia novels were published not only in England, but also in America. With the outbreak of World War II, fear for her husband, who was Jewish, caused the seizures and headaches to return. Their London home was destroyed in a bombing raid. After completing the manuscript of the last (posthumously published) short story Between the Acts, wolf fell into a deep depression. Considering that he could no longer torment Leonard and that without her it would be easier for him, Virginia Woolf, leaving a letter to her husband and sister, on March 28, 1941 - she put on a coat, filled her pockets with stones and drowned herself in the Ouse River, not far from their home in Sussex. The body was found by children two weeks after the tragedy on April 18, 1941. The writer's husband buried her cremated remains under an elm tree in the garden of a house in Sussex.

In her suicide note to her husband, Virginia wrote: "My dear, I am sure that I am going crazy again. I feel that we will not be able to relive this. And this time I will not get better. I am starting to hear voices. I cannot concentrate. Therefore "I made the only right decision and I'm doing what seems best to me. With you I was absolutely happy. You were everything for me that I could only dream of. I don't think that two people could be happier than we were, until this terrible disease came. I can't fight anymore. I know that I'm ruining your life, that without me you could work. And you can, I'm sure. See, I can't even find the right words. I can't read. I just want you to know that I owe you all the happiness in my life. You have been incredibly patient with me and incredibly kind. Everyone knows it. If anyone could save me, it would be you. Everyone gone. Everything has left me except the confidence in your kindness. I just can't ruin your life anymore. I don't think I think that in this world someone would be happier than we were."

Virginia Adeline Woolf (née Stephen) is a British writer (novels To the Lighthouse, Mrs. Deloway, The Waves, and others) and literary critic. She is also known as a translator, since she published Russian classics in Foggy Albion - Tolstoy,. She did a lot together with M. Proust and J. Joyce for the development of the modern novel. She tragically passed away in 1941.

Virginia Woolf is a mysterious woman and an amazing writer with an incredible destiny. Tragedy notes constantly lay in wait for her throughout her life, which seriously weakened her psyche. All this led, in the end, to a fatal outcome.

Childhood and youth overshadowed by great losses

Then the problems of her upbringing fell on the shoulders of her father. He had a huge library, and access to it was available to all children. There was never any censorship of books, and the girl spent a lot of time in the library. The love of reading far exceeded the craving for boring, according to her, pastime - embroidery or playing with dolls.

Virginia did not go to university like her brothers. And in 1904, his father passed away. She, along with her brothers Adrian, Toby and older sister Vanessa, had to change their registration. They changed London's wealthy Kensington to another metropolitan quarter of Bloomsbury, where the local bohemia indulged in the joys of life. A new nervous shock awaited Virginia in 1906, when another loss - the death of Toby, brought new pain into her life.

Irresistible urge to read

Its consequences were leveled precisely by books. She refused any communication, devoting all the time to reading and only reading. She starts writing and publishing. If 1904 was marked by the first literary review in the prestigious The Guardian, then hundreds of publications followed. For example, with The Times, her collaboration spanned more than three decades. That special style of writing, which later pleased the grateful readers of his novels, the girl honed over many years of publications in periodicals, the same Times, Literary Review and other publications.

Bloomsbury Circle

In 1907, the so-called "Bloomsbury Groups" formed. It was a team of like-minded people, ready for free association in terms of their views on life and creativity. The beginning of such an alliance was laid by Toby's circle of acquaintances during his studies at Cambridge. Most of the members of the union were homosexuals, influenced by the philosophical ideas of the philosopher Moore. They put above all the ideals of love, friendship, love and "mutual attraction". These ideals work only when sincerity and freedom overcome pretense and servility. For these young years, the highest goal was precisely the frequent communication of people with each other. Virginia fully shared the ideology of this union.

Who was the Virginia girl?

The girl was tall and slender, and her expressive features betrayed a real classic beauty. But for many, she made a strange impression, which led to her alienation from people and loneliness. Many were afraid to communicate with her, seeing her complex character and the madness expressed in her eyes. All this was the result of nervous disorders. They were not uncommon, because she suddenly plunged into a state where she heard otherworldly voices quite clearly, and hallucinations were observed. She also spent long periods of time in mental hospitals. On account of her four tangible attacks of a nervous nature. After outpatient treatment, she felt fine for a long time, until a new breakdown occurred.

What is love and its relation to the intimate side of the issue

Virginia's half-brothers Duckworths (Gerald and George) became guides to the world of sex for Virginia. Acquaintance with him happened rudely and very early (the girl was six years old). Gerald, who was fourteen years older than his sister, decided to explore her body, not forgetting its most intimate corners. This "learning process" left a nerve scar in Virginia's memory until her death. Over time, George followed the example of his brother and matured, visiting Virginia's bedroom at night. Without further ado, he rushed into bed with her, kissing and caressing her. As a true British woman with a strict Victorian upbringing, she steadfastly "accepted" the excess of her brother's feelings in silent silence. And this was the case until she was twenty-two years old.

It is not difficult to guess what attitude after all this she experienced towards the stronger sex. The objects of her amorousness were women, although from time to time she did not refuse a little flirting with men. At the age of sixteen, the romantic beauty Madge Vaughan became the object of her adoration, with whom she had the same views on literature, but she soon married. When she was twenty years old, she exchanged passionate love letters with Violet Dickinson, who was seventeen years older than Virginia. The "romance at a distance" lasted ten years, but it was only a reflection of their emotions, which did not carry any physical content.

With thoughts of family

These thoughts often visited Virginia. In 1909, a member of the Bloomsbury Group, Lytton Strachey, even proposed to the girl. Knowing that Lytton was an "unconventional comrade," she calmly gave a positive answer, appreciating the young man's high intelligence and wit. But the very next day, apologizing, gave a reverse move. This incident had absolutely no effect on their further friendship. Moreover, it was Litton who advised Leonard Wolfe, a well-known writer and politician, to pay attention to Virginia and take care of her.

And at the age of thirty, Virginia married him. Any intimate relationship between the spouses ended on the day the honeymoon ended and they did not remember about them anymore. This did not prevent them from living together and happily for twenty-eight years. Their marriage is a model of respect, emotional and professional support. For example, the fruit of their joint efforts was the establishment of the Hogarth Press publishing house, which later became a profitable and prosperous enterprise.

This will seem very strange to many, but not to the spouses themselves. Virginia loved no one more than Leonard, except maybe her sister Vanessa. About herself, she often said that she was neither a woman nor a man. Once she had dreams of motherhood, fiery love and burning passion. But the aversion to sex, acquired in early childhood, took over.

For her, the world of literary images without love and sex was always closer and more interesting. In it, she was always much calmer, and she was madly in love with him. True, there were love affairs with women of different duration in her life (Ethel Smith, Vita Sackville-West). Sometimes she even enjoyed physical contact with her partner. The husband treated these "intrigues" absolutely calmly, since they were not a threat to their "happy" marriage.

Writing career

From the very start of her writing career, Virginia commanded respect. By the age of forty, she had become a popular novelist. The circulation of her books was envied by many venerable authors. If sexuality was “hiding” somewhere in her, then it splashed out in her literary works. Her first novel, Journey, was not easy. Its end coincided with the biggest nervous breakdown in her life, up to the thought of suicide, which lasted for two whole years. Prolonged treatment has taken its toll. After becoming relatively healthy, she again delved into her literature, publishing an average of one novel every two years. She presented access to her wounded soul only through her works. Her fears, the reasons for her frequent mood swings, the subtle notes of joy in her inner life - all this can be felt by the attentive reader in her novel The Waves.

Those who are accustomed to "light reading" called her novels "difficult to understand" and "deliberately intellectual." Popularity came to her, but she delivered a lot of bitter moments. The conservative readership scolded the writer, frightened by the excessive frankness of the topics raised. And only the support of her husband and sister forced Virginia not to stop there, but to write and write her own works: novels, essays, author's notes, critical articles.

In his novels, the author tries to focus on a detailed depiction of the mental states of the characters, and not on specific events. The reader is given the right to “visit” the thoughts of different characters in turn, thereby “manifesting” the same event from different angles. So in the novel "Mrs. Dalloway" the author shows impeccable mastery of form, demonstrating the events of one June day in London through the eyes of "two halves" of one person. The novel "To the Lighthouse" became a kind of diary of Virginia's childhood years spent in a summer house on the sea coast. "Mr. and Mrs. Ramsey" is a tribute to the parents, so vividly and emotionally did Virginia show her beautiful mother and beloved father. In the biographical novel Orlando, she introduced her friends to the readers' judgment and did it in fantastic style, since Orlando is both a youth of the sixteenth century of the reign of Elizabeth, and a woman of thirty-eight years exactly four centuries later.

Many novels of the writer, despite the complexity of their perception, were filmed with varying degrees of success.

Departure from life

The year 1941 was terrible with its events. The echoes of the Second World War could not but disturb the peace of mind of the vulnerable Virginia. German aircraft bombed London and their house was destroyed. She and Leonard moved to Sussex. These hardships, emerging nightmares and hallucinations, as well as mental devastation after his last novel, Between Actions, made themselves felt. She felt herself losing ground under her feet and sinking back into madness. Strength began to leave her and she was no longer able to endure the suffering of her tormented nervous system. She decided on a fatal act - she stuffed her pockets tightly with stones and rushed for the long-awaited peace into the abyss of the Ous River. She was only fifty-nine years old.

Books

By sea away
Day and night
Jacob's room
Mrs. Dalloway
To the lighthouse
Orlando. Biography
Filmed in 1992.
Waves
Between acts
The Long Walk: London Adventure

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During the interwar period, Woolf was a significant figure in the London Literary Society and was a member of the Bloomsbury Circle. Her most famous works include the novels: Mrs Dalloway (), At the Lighthouse (), Orlando () and the essay Own room”(), containing the well-known aphorism: “Every woman, if she is going to write, must have funds and her own room.” Her novels are considered classic "stream of consciousness" works.

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✪ Lecture on Virginia Woolf in honor of her 135th birthday

✪ Lecture 18 | History of foreign literature of the XX century, 1 semester | Yuliana Kaminskaya | Lectorium

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Biography

Virginia Woolf was born in London to the famous literary critic Sir Leslie Stephen and Julia Duckworth. The writer's mother was the granddaughter of photographer Julia Margaret Cameron. Julia Duckworth in her youth posed for Pre-Raphaelite artists, in particular Edward Burne-Jones. Virginia was the third child of Leslie and Julia (the family had three children of Julia from her first marriage to Herbert Duckworth - George, Stella, Gerald; Leslie's daughter from her marriage to Minnie Thackeray - Laura; and four younger Stephens: Vanessa, Toby, Virginia and Adrian) . When Virginia was 13 years old, her mother died, and this was the cause of the first nervous breakdown of the writer. After Julia's death, Sir Leslie fell into a depression.

Wolfe received a home at home, her parents became her teachers. Leslie Stephen worked as a literary editor, critic and biographer, was close to William Thackeray, and the children were brought up in a literary environment. After the death of her mother, her older sister Stella took care of the house, but soon she too dies. Virginia has another nervous breakdown after her death. But at this time, she still finds the strength to study, studying Greek, Latin, German and history at a college for girls in London. At this time, the older sister, Vanessa, is doing household chores. During this period, the father's character deteriorates and he becomes a household despot. In 1904, Virginia's father died, and this provoked an even bigger attack. After the death of their father, the family moved to Bloomsbury, where many famous young people visit their home. Since 1909, Virginia began to publish her critical articles in magazines, continuing her father's work. Work is underway on the first novel.

In 1912 she marries Leonard Woolf, a writer and journalist. Marriage has become a union of people who respect each other. In 1917, the couple founded the Hogarth Press publishing house, from where all the works of the writer were published. Virginia typed and edited the texts herself. The publishing house, initially unprofitable, became a reliable source of income for the Wolf family. Leonard created ideal working conditions for both of them, he strongly supported Virginia.

Headaches, voices, visions did not leave Virginia, several times she tried to commit suicide. The writer was very demanding of herself and her work, she rewrote novels dozens of times. She stopped keeping a diary only during illnesses, the diaries were published as a separate edition in 4 volumes, and 5 volumes of letters from Virginia were also published, which she wrote to friends, sister, Leonard and Vita Sackville-West, her lover, whom they met in 1922. Love from Virginia, along with the insult caused by Vita's betrayals, became the basis of the novel "Orlando", in which the main character turns into a woman.

With the outbreak of World War II, fear for her husband, who was Jewish, caused the seizures and headaches to return. Their London home was destroyed in an air raid. After completing the manuscript of her last (posthumously published) novel, Between the Acts, Woolf fell into a deep depression. Believing that she could no longer torment Leonard, and that it would be easier for him without her, Virginia Woolf, leaving a letter to her husband and sister, put on a coat on March 28, 1941, filled her pockets with stones and drowned herself in the Ouse River, not far from their home in Sussex. The body was found by the children two weeks after the tragedy, on April 18, 1941, the writer's husband buried her cremated remains under an elm tree in the garden of a house in Sussex.

In her suicide note to her husband, Virginia wrote: “My dear, I am sure that I am going crazy again. I feel like we won't be able to relive this. And this time I won't get better. I'm starting to hear voices. I can not concentrate. Therefore, I made the only right decision and do what seems best to me. I was absolutely happy with you. You were everything to me that I could only dream of. I don't think that two people could be happier than we were before this terrible disease came. I can't fight anymore. I know that I am spoiling your life, that without me you could work. And you can, I'm sure. See, I can't even find the right words. I can not read. I just want you to know that I owe you all the happiness in my life. You have been immensely patient with me and incredibly kind. Everyone knows this. If anyone could save me, it would be you. Everything is gone. Everything left me, except the confidence in your kindness. I just can't ruin your life anymore. I don't think anyone in this world would be happier than we were."

Creation

Virginia's novels were published not only in England, but also in America, translated into 50 languages, including translations of such writers as Jorge Luis Borges and Marguerite Ursenar. She is considered one of the best novelists of the 20th century and a leading modernist writer. Wolfe is considered the main innovator of the English language. In her works, she experimented with the stream of consciousness and singled out not only the psychological, but also the emotional component in the behavior of the main characters. Her popularity waned after World War II, but interest in her writing returned after the feminist movement in the 1970s. Her novels are highly experimental: the narrative often does not have a clear plot and place of events. Deep lyricism and stylistic virtuosity are combined, filling the novels with auditory and visual images.

Woolf began writing professionally in 1900, first in a literary supplement for the Times. Her first novel, By Sea Away, was published in 1915 with the active assistance of her brother. She edited the novel several times over the course of time.

Deep poetry of images fills the ordinary life in her novels. For example, the novel Mrs. Dalloway (1925) shows the attempt of Clarissa Dalloway, a middle-class representative, to organize an evening, despite the fact that through her life there is a parallel with the life of Septimus Warren Smith, a veteran of the First World War from the working class.

The novel "Na beacon" (1927) has a plot that takes place over two days. The plot is about a family that is going to visit the lighthouse and about family disagreements that occur at this time. One of the main themes of the novel is the struggle in the creative process. The heroine is trying to paint while the family drama is playing out. The novel also contains discussions about the life of the people during the war and the rights of a woman in marriage.

The novel Orlando (1928) is a parody biography of a young aristocrat who lives for three centuries without aging, but at the same time suddenly turns into a woman. This book is a partial biography of Woolf's mistress, Vita Sackville-West. In this novel, the style of historical biographies is carried to the point of absurdity.

The novel The Waves (1931) features a group of six friends whose characters create a wave atmosphere that is more like poetry in prose than a novel with a plot.

The Flush (1933) is part literary and part biography of a Cocker Spaniel owned by the Victorian poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning. The book is written on behalf of a dog.

Her last work Between the Acts (1941) focuses on the writer's main theme: the transformation of life through art, the transience of time and life. This is the most lyrical book among the works of the writer, not only in terms of feelings, but also in style.

Virginia Woolf (in some translations - Virginia Woolf) - the famous British writer and literary critic, who is considered one of the leading representatives of the modernist culture of the early twentieth century. Her novels are written using the "stream of consciousness" technique. She was an active member of a circle of British intellectuals: writers, poets, graduates of the best universities and colleges - the so-called "Bloomsbury group".

Virginia Woolf is rightfully considered one of those people of art who changed the world.

Biography

Virginia Woolf (before her marriage she had the surname Stephen) was born in London in January 1882. Her childhood biography is not particularly interesting.

It should be noted right away that the future great writer was born in a completely unusual family. For example, her mother's grandmother, Julia Duckworth, was one of Britain's first female photographers, and her father, Sir Leslie Stephen, was called by contemporaries the most influential and talented literary critic in London. In addition to Virginia, the family had eight more children.

The mother of the future writer died when the girl was only thirteen years old. Starting from this terrible moment, the future writer regularly had bouts of depression, as well as nervous breakdowns. These mental illnesses haunted the talented woman all her life, and it was they who ultimately caused her untimely death.

Virginia's first teachers were her parents, who were part of the intellectual elite of the time. After their death, the girl moved to Bloomsbury - the center of ambitious youth with great creative potential. In Bloomsbury, Virginia, then still bearing the surname Stephen, continued the work of her parents: she actively published in magazines, wrote critical essays and articles, and began working on her first novel.

In 1912, a significant event took place in the life of Virginia: she married a journalist and writer named Leonard Woolf. The family was happy, the spouses immensely respected and supported each other in the creative field. Leonard approved of his talented wife in all her endeavors, while realizing that he would never reach such creative heights.

At the same time, only one person completely owned the heart of Virginia - a woman from the art world, Vita Sackville (West). After some time, she betrayed the writer, which only brought the great woman closer to the grave ...

Together, the couple founded a small publishing house, which later began to bring them a good stable income, sufficient for the comfortable existence of two adults. Despite the fact that this union of thinking people was, in general, happy, the life of a young woman was difficult. She was often tormented by fits of insanity, she suffered from hallucinations and voices in her head ...

The writer Virginia Woolf was a kind of perfectionist: she could rewrite her novels a thousand times, trying to achieve the perfect combination of melodic sounds and a logical plot. Paradoxically, while working, she used the “stream of consciousness” method, based on the free movement of thoughts and feelings transferred to paper.

But the fragile family happiness of the Wolf couple was violated by the Second World War - a tragedy in the life of most of the world's population. Leonard Woolf was Jewish, and his wife had to constantly worry about him. A bomb hit their house in London - fortunately, the couple were not injured, but hallucinations and seizures became more frequent, the woman's depression did not stop. In March 1941, the writer's condition became unbearable. Virginia Woolf wrote a suicide letter to her husband and committed suicide by drowning herself...

Contribution to literature

This native of London, fearless in her creative search, can be called a truly great writer: her contribution to English, and indeed to world literature, cannot be overestimated. Her work changed the way we look at modernism, as well as women in literature. Immediately after the war, Woolf's books fell out of favor, but in the seventies, when feminism was gaining momentum, Virginia's novels received a second reading and a new birth.

This extraordinary woman became one of the founders of the creative direction "modernism" in literature, similarly - in modern plastic dance ("modern"). In addition, Virginia Woolf is rightfully considered the innovator of modern English, which she made more flexible, convenient and plastic. Before this British writer, only the great classic poet William Shakespeare was awarded the title of innovator of the English language.

Peru of this amazing woman writer belongs to the novels that have already become classics:

To the Lighthouse is a novel about a woman's struggle for personal and creative freedom.
"Orlando" is a parody biography about an ever-living man who one day woke up as a woman. The film adaptation was created in 1992.
The Waves is a novel about six friends that is more like a prose poem.

The creative power of these novels is incredible. These books changed the fate of several generations, they gave people strength in the most difficult moments of their lives, they inspired millions of women to fight for their rights to the bitter end. For many feminists, the novels of this strange, extraordinary woman with a tragic fate have become a kind of "Bible", that is, favorite and desktop books.

P ro Virginia Woolf was filmed a stunning film "The Hours" (2002). The role of the great writer was played by Hollywood star Nicole Kidman. Subsequently, for this role, the famous actress was nominated for the prestigious Oscar film award.

The death of Virginia Woolf was a terrible loss for the entire literary world. This beautiful writer changed the world - but she could not live in it ...

This most talented woman can rightly be considered a true master of the word, an excellent novelist and the greatest humanist of her time. Author: Irina Shumilova

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