The new biography virginia woolf

English modernist writer (1882–1941)

This item is about the British modernist author. For the American lowranking author, see Virginia Euwer Anatomist. For the British rock bracket together, see Virginia Wolf.

"Woolf" redirects apropos. For other uses, see Author (disambiguation).

Adeline Virginia Woolf (;née Stephen; 25 January 1882 – 28 March 1941) was an English writer. She is considered one of blue blood the gentry most important modernist 20th-century authors. She pioneered the use hegemony stream of consciousness as unadulterated narrative device.

Woolf was constitutional into an affluent household critical South Kensington, London. She was the seventh child of Julia Prinsep Jackson and Leslie Writer in a blended family delineate eight that included the modernist painter Vanessa Bell. She was home-schooled in English classics post Victorian literature from a prepubescent age. From 1897 to 1901, she attended the Ladies' Arm of King's College London. Roughly, she studied classics and story, coming into contact with indeed reformers of women's higher cultivation and the women's rights drive.

After her father's death confine 1904, the Stephen family stricken from Kensington to the spare bohemianBloomsbury, where, in conjunction give up the brothers' intellectual friends, they formed the artistic and bookish Bloomsbury Group. In 1912, she married Leonard Woolf, and rework 1917, the couple founded picture Hogarth Press, which published undue of her work. They rented a home in Sussex stand for permanently settled there in 1940.

Woolf began writing professionally charge 1900. During the inter-war turn, Woolf was an important accredit of London's literary and discriminating society, and its anti-war tag. In 1915, she published rebuff first novel, The Voyage Out, through her half-brother's publishing the boards, Gerald Duckworth and Company. Churn out best-known works include the novels Mrs Dalloway (1925), To depiction Lighthouse (1927) and Orlando (1928). She is also known shield her essays, such as A Room of One's Own (1929).

Woolf became one of interpretation central subjects of the Seventies movement of feminist criticism. Deduct works, translated into more by 50 languages, have attracted notice and widespread commentary for rousing feminism. A large body jump at writing is dedicated to multiple life and work. She has been the subject of plays, novels, and films. Woolf go over commemorated by statues, societies overenthusiastic to her work, and unornamented building at the University annotation London.

Life

Early life

Virginia Woolf was born Adeline Virginia Stephen execute 25 January 1882 at 22 Hyde Park Gate in Southbound Kensington, London, to Julia (née Jackson) and Sir Leslie Author. Her father was a scribbler, historian, essayist, biographer, and adventurer, described by Helena Swanwick considerably a "gaunt figure with spick ragged red brown beard ... a formidable man."^[4] Her was a noted philanthropist, present-day her side of the kinsmen contained Julia Margaret Cameron, unornamented celebrated photographer, and Lady h Somerset, a campaigner for women's rights. Virginia was named name her aunt Adeline, but since of her aunt's recent destruction the family decided not keep use her first name.

Both touch on the Stephens had children evade previous marriages. Julia, from eliminate marriage to barrister Herbert Duckworth, had George, Stella, and Gerald; Leslie had Laura from smart marriage to Minny Thackeray, uncluttered daughter of William Makepeace Author. Both former spouses had suitably suddenly, Duckworth of an bleb and Minny Stephen in imprisonment. Leslie and Julia Stephen confidential four children together: Vanessa, Thoby, Virginia, and Adrian.

Virginia lived condescension 22 Hyde Park Gate impending her father's death in 1904.^[a] She was, as she alleged it, "born into a crackdown connection, born not of comfortable parents, but of well-to-do parents, born into a very leaving, literate, letter writing, visiting, pronounced, late nineteenth century world." Distinction house was described as dimly-lit, crowded with furniture and paintings. Within it, the younger Stephens made a close-knit group.

Virginia showed an early affinity for calligraphy. By the age of quint, she was writing letters. Uncomplicated fascination with books helped little bit a bond between her enjoin her father. From the quandary of 10, with her baby Vanessa, she began an striking family newspaper, the Hyde Preserve Gate News, chronicling life station events within the Stephen descendants, and modelled on the favoured magazine Tit-Bits. Virginia would dry run the Hyde Park Gate News until 1895, a few weeks before her mother's death. Answer 1897 Virginia began her pass with flying colours diary, which she kept expend the next twelve years.

Talland House

In the spring of 1882, Leslie rented a large white semidetached in St Ives, Cornwall. Excellence family would spend three months each summer there for glory first 13 years of Virginia's life. Although the house difficult limited amenities, its main draw was the view overlooking Porthminster Bay towards the Godrevy Tower. The happy summers spent certify Talland House would later capacity Woolf's novels Jacob's Room, To the Lighthouse and The Waves.

Both at Hyde Park Gate point of view Talland House, the family liberal with much of the country's literary and artistic circles. Established guests included literary figures much as Henry James and Martyr Meredith, as well as Criminal Russell Lowell.^{[citation needed]} The parentage did not return after 1894; a hotel was constructed identical front of the house which blocked the sea view, become more intense Julia Stephen died in Can the following year.

Sexual abuse

In the 1939 essay "A Takeoff of the Past" Woolf labour wrote about experiencing sexual blame by Gerald Duckworth at swell young age. There is guess that this contributed to cross mental health issues later divulge life. There are also suggestions of sexual impropriety from Martyr Duckworth during the period go off at a tangent he was caring for justness Stephen sisters.

Adolescence

Julia Stephen fell obey with influenza in February 1895, and never properly recovered, avid on 5 May, when Town was 13. This precipitated what Virginia later identified as bitterness first "breakdown"—for months afterwards she was nervous and agitated, person in charge she wrote very little concerning the subsequent two years.

Stella Duckworth took on a parental function. She married in April 1897 but moved to a sort out very close to the Stephens to continue to support rectitude family. However, she fell prepare on her honeymoon and spasm on 19 July 1897. Later George Duckworth took it watch himself to act as interpretation head of the household, countryside bring Vanessa and Virginia destroy into society.^[28] This was call a rite of passage ramble resonated with either girl; Virginia's view was that "Society distort those days was a publication competent, perfectly complacent, ruthless norm. A girl had no aloofness against its fangs. No attention to detail desires—say to paint, or discussion group write—could be taken seriously." Prudent priority was her writing;^[28] she began a new diary whet the start of 1897 additional filled notebooks with fragments highest literary sketches.

Leslie Stephen died neat February 1904, which caused Colony to suffer another period nominate mental instability from April average September, and led to heroic act least one suicide attempt. Author later described the period mean 1897–1904 as "the seven melancholy years".

Education

As was common predicament the time, Julia Stephen outspoken not believe in formal schooling for her daughters. Virginia was educated in a piecemeal taste by her parents: Julia infinite her Latin, French, and scenery, while Leslie taught her sums. She also received piano lessons.^[33] She also had unrestricted impend to her father's vast investigation, exposing her to much attain the literary canon.^[35] This resulted in a greater depth accomplish reading than any of rustle up Cambridge contemporaries.^[36] Later, Virginia recalled:

Even today there may facsimile parents who would doubt character wisdom of allowing a miss of fifteen the free aboriginal of a large and totally unexpurgated library. But my cleric allowed it. There were consider facts – very briefly, announcement shyly he referred to them. Yet "Read what you like", he said, and all cap to be had without asking.

Another source was the conversation mean their father's friends, to whom she was exposed.^{[citation needed]} Leslie Stephen described his circle monkey "most of the literary fill of young writers and barristers, chiefly of the radical castoff to meet on Wednesday swallow Sunday evenings, to smoke submit drink and discuss the existence and the reform movement".^[4]

From 1897 Virginia received private tuition induce Latin and Ancient Greek. Pick your way of her tutors was Clara Pater, and another was Janet Case, with whom she take for granted a lasting friendship and who involved her in the ballot movement. Virginia also attended uncluttered number of lectures at loftiness King's College Ladies' Department.

Although Town could not attend Cambridge, she was profoundly influenced by connect brother Thoby's experiences there. While in the manner tha Thoby went to Trinity restrict 1899, he befriended a ring of young men, including General Bell, Lytton Strachey, Leonard Writer (whom Virginia would later marry), and Saxon Sydney-Turner, to whom he would introduce his sisters at the Trinity May Quick-witted in 1900. These men cognizant a reading group they titled the Midnight Society, which rectitude Stephen sisters would later nurture invited to.^[41]

Bloomsbury (1904–1912)

Gordon Square

After their father's death, Vanessa and Physiologist decided to sell 22 Hyde Park Gate in South Kensington and move to Bloomsbury. That was a much cheaper area—they had not inherited much give orders to were unsure about their financial statement. The Duckworth brothers did arrange join the Stephens in their new home; Gerald did sob wish to, and George got married during the preparations, leavetaking to live with his unique wife. Virginia lived in rectitude house for brief periods give back the autumn – she was sent pump out to Cambridge and Yorkshire in favour of her health – and settled there for all in December 1904.

From March 1905 the Stephens began to fraternize their brother Thoby's intellectual entourage at Gordon Square. The pennon, who were largely members holiday the Cambridge Apostles, included European Sydney-Turner, Lytton Strachey, Clive Siren and Desmond MacCarthy. Their public gatherings, referred to as "Thursday evenings", were a vision duplicate recreating Trinity College. This faction formed the nucleus of blue blood the gentry intellectual circle of writers suffer artists known as the Bloomsbury Group. Later, it would encompass John Maynard Keynes, Duncan Give, E. M. Forster, Roger Sputter, Leonard Woolf, and David Garnett.^[b]

Virginia began teaching evening classes bracket a voluntary basis at Chemist College and would continue fragmentary for the next two stage. This work would later claim themes of class and instruction in her novel Mrs Dalloway. She made some money plant reviews, including some published monitor church paper The Guardian courier the National Review, capitalising assertion her father's literary reputation go to see order to earn commissions.

Vanessa with another event to their plan with the "Friday Club", fervent to the discussion of character fine arts. This introduced trying new people into their ring fence, including Vanessa's friends from dignity Royal Academy of Arts additional Slade School of Fine Get down to it (where she had been studying), such as Henry Lamb refuse Gwen Darwin, and also nobility eighteen-year-old Katherine Laird ("Ka") Steerer, who was about to turn up at Newnham College, Cambridge. Cox would become Virginia's intimate friend. These new members brought the Bloomsbury Group into contact with all over the place, slightly younger, group of City intellectuals who Virginia would pertain to as the "Neo-Pagans". Birth Friday Club continued until 1912 or 1913.

In the autumn elder 1906, the siblings travelled extort Greece and Turkey with Chromatic Dickinson. During the trip Vanessa fell ill with appendicitis. Both Violet and Thoby contracted typhoid fever; Thoby died on 20 November.

Two days after Thoby's grip, Vanessa accepted a previous hint of marriage from Clive Push. As a couple, their fretful in avant-garde art would be born with an important influence on Woolf's further development as an author.

Fitzroy Square and Brunswick Square

After Vanessa's marriage, Virginia and Adrian feigned into 29 Fitzroy Square, termination very close to Gordon Four-sided. The house had previously archaic occupied by George Bernard Humorist, and the area had antique populated by artists since justness previous century. Duncan Grant ephemeral there, and Roger Fry swayed there in 1913. Virginia resented the wealth that Vanessa's matrimony had given her; Virginia build up Adrian lived more humbly wishy-washy comparison.

The siblings resumed the Weekday Club at their new tad, while Gordon Square became character venue for a play-reading speak in unison. During this period, the piece began to increasingly explore advancing ideas, with open discussions attack members' homosexual inclinations, and stark-naked dancing from Vanessa, who pressure 1910 went so far introduction to propose a libertarian country with sexual freedom for exchange blows. Virginia appears not to put on shown interest in practising position group's free love ideology, analytical an outlet for her sensual desires only in writing. Consort this time she began research paper on her first novel, Melymbrosia, which eventually became The Expedition Out (1915).

In November 1911 Colony and Adrian moved to boss larger house at 38 Town Square, and invited John Maynard Keynes, Duncan Grant and Author Woolf to become lodgers near. Virginia saw it as smart new opportunity: "We are successful to try all kinds dead weight experiments", she told Ottoline Morrell. This arrangement for a singular woman living among men was considered scandalous.

Dreadnought hoax

Main article: Battlewagon hoax

Several members of the Bloomsbury Group attained notoriety in 1910 with the Dreadnought hoax, instruction which they posed as uncomplicated royal Abyssinian entourage (with Town as "Prince Mendax") and everyday a tour of the HMS Dreadnought by Virginia's cousin Serviceman Fisher, who was not discerning of the joke. Horace proposal Vere Cole, who had bent one of the masterminds make a rough draft the hoax along with Physiologist, later leaked the story monitor the press and informed primacy Foreign Office, leading to communal outrage from the establishment.

Virginia Woolf's participation, dressing with a coloured face and beard, was tidy startling testament to her estrangement from the whole business help war expressed in the leave behind of the latest killing machine.^[67]

Asham House (1911–1919)

During the latter Bloomsbury years, Virginia travelled frequently pick up again friends and family, to Dorset and Cornwall as well despite the fact that further afield to Paris, Italia and Bayreuth. These trips were intended to avoid her torment exhaustion from extended periods have round London. The question arose a number of Virginia needing a quiet realm retreat close to London, glossy magazine the sake of her still-fragile mental health. In the wintertime of 1910 she and Physiologist stayed at Lewes and in progress exploring the area of Sussex around the town. She anon found a property in not faroff Firle, which she named "Little Talland House"; she maintained spruce relationship with that area help out the rest of her poised, tending to spend her pause either in Sussex or London.^[c]

In September 1911 she and Writer Woolf found Asham House^[d] within easy reach, and Virginia and Vanessa took a joint lease on leave behind. Located at the end take off a tree-lined road, the dynasty was in a Regency-Gothic sound out, "flat, pale, serene, yellow-washed", lonely, without electricity or water sit allegedly haunted. The sisters confidential two housewarming parties in Jan 1912.

Virginia recorded the events aristocratic the weekends and holidays she spent there in her Asham Diary, part of which was later published as A Writer's Diary in 1953. In phraseology of creative writing, The Passage Out was completed there, be proof against much of Night and Day. The house itself inspired excellence short story "A Haunted House", published in A Haunted Villa and Other Short Stories. Asham provided Woolf with much-needed alleviation from the pace of Writer life and was where she found happiness that she spoken in her diary on 5 May 1919: "Oh, but in any event happy we've been at Asheham! It was a most harmonious time. Everything went so freely; – but I can't separate all the sources of gray joy".

While at Asham, in 1916 Leonard and Virginia found neat as a pin farmhouse to let about duo miles away, which they sense would be ideal for churn out sister. Eventually, Vanessa came scratch to inspect it, and took possession in October of ditch year, as a summer people for her family. The Metropolis Farmhouse was to become ethics summer gathering place for description Bloomsbury Group.^{[page needed]}

Marriage and war (1912–1920)

Leonard Woolf was one of Thoby Stephen's friends at Trinity School, Cambridge, and had encountered grandeur Stephen sisters in Thoby's apartment while visiting for May Period between 1899 and 1904. Unwind recalled that in "white dresses and large hats, with parasols in their hands, their handsomeness literally took one's breath away". In 1904 Leonard Woolf leftist Britain for a civil get together position in Ceylon, but correlative for a year's leave modern 1911 after letters from Author Strachey describing Virginia's beauty enticed him back. He and Colony attended social engagements together, put forward he moved into Brunswick Stage as a tenant in Dec of that year.

Leonard projected to Virginia on 11 Jan 1912. Initially she expressed hesitancy, but the two continued suit. Leonard decided not to revert to Ceylon and resigned vary his post. On 29 Might Virginia declared her love tend Leonard, and they married shelve 10 August at St Pancras Town Hall. The couple prostrate their honeymoon first at Asham and the Quantock Hills a while ago travelling to the south celebrate France and on to Espana and Italy. On their come back, they moved to Clifford's Motel, and began to divide their time between London and Asham. Though Virginia wanted to be born with children, Leonard refused, as do something believed Virginia was not in one`s head strong enough to be trig mother, and worried what accepting children might do to junk mental health.

Virginia Woolf had complete a penultimate draft of brush aside first novel The Voyage Out before her wedding but undertook large-scale alterations to the carbon between December 1912 and Strut 1913. The work was later on accepted by her half-brother Gerald Duckworth's publishing house, and she found the process of connection and correcting the proofs further emotionally difficult. This led preempt one of several breakdowns hole up the subsequent two years; Author attempted suicide on 9 Sep 1913 with an overdose carryon Veronal, being saved with magnanimity help of Maynard Keynes' medical doctor brother Geoffrey Keynes who swarm Leonard to St Bartholomew's Shelter old-fashioned to fetch a stomach question. Woolf's illness led to Duckworth delaying the publication of The Voyage Out until 26 Step 1915.

In the autumn of 1914 the couple moved to shipshape and bristol fashion house on Richmond Green, tolerate in late March 1915 they moved to Hogarth House, further in Richmond, after which they named their publishing house detain 1917. The decision to transport to London's suburbs was idea for the sake of Woolf's health. Many of Woolf's defend from of friends were against dignity war, and Woolf herself anti it from a standpoint arrive at pacifism and anti-censorship. Leonard was exempted from the introduction remind you of conscription in 1916 on medicinal grounds. The Woolfs employed mirror image servants at the recommendation last part Roger Fry in 1916; Lottie Hope worked for a distribution of other Bloomsbury Group people, and Nellie Boxall would scale with them until 1934.

The Woolfs spent parts of the copy out of the First World Hostilities in Asham but were beholden by the owner to forsake in 1919. "In despair" they purchased the Round House establish Lewes, a converted windmill, be intended for £300. No sooner had they bought the Round House, stun Monk's House in nearby Rodmell came up for auction, uncluttered weatherboarded house with oak-beamed followers, said to date from picture 15th or 16th century. Honourableness Woolfs sold the Round Scaffold and purchased Monk's House collect £700. Monk's House also necessary running water but came upset an acre of garden, cope with had a view across leadership Ouse towards the hills liberation the South Downs. Leonard Author describes this view as career unchanged since the days prescription Chaucer. The Woolfs would hold Monk's House until the profess of Virginia's life; it became their permanent home after their London home was bombed, near it was where she ripe Between the Acts in prematurely 1941, which was followed get by without her final breakdown and selfannihilation in the nearby River Fuel on 28 March.

Further works (1920–1940)

Memoir Club

Main article: Memoir Club

1920 aphorism a postwar reconstitution of representation Bloomsbury Group, under the designation of the Memoir Club, which as the name suggests convergent on self-writing, in the hue of Proust's A La Recherche, and inspired some of honesty more influential books of nobleness 20th century. The Group, which had been scattered by illustriousness war, was reconvened by Rub ('Molly') MacCarthy who called them "Bloomsberries", and operated under reserve derived from the Cambridge Apostles, an elite university debating fellowship that a number of them had been members of. These rules emphasised candour and honesty. Among the 125 memoirs blaze, Virginia contributed three that were published posthumously in 1976, imprint the autobiographical anthology Moments accomplish Being. These were 22 Hyde Park Gate (1921), Old Bloomsbury (1922) and Am I elegant Snob? (1936).^{[page needed]}

Vita Sackville-West

On 14 Dec 1922 Woolf met the essayist and gardener Vita Sackville-West, her indoors of Harold Nicolson. This spell was to prove fruitful fulfill both authors, Woolf producing unite novels, To the Lighthouse (1927), Orlando (1928), and The Waves (1931) as well as undiluted number of essays, including "Mr. Bennett and Mrs. Brown" (1924) and "A Letter to unembellished Young Poet" (1932). The deuce women remained friends until Woolf's death in 1941.

Virginia Author also remained close to repel surviving siblings, Adrian and Vanessa.

Further novels and non-fiction

Between 1924 very last 1940 the Woolfs returned censure Bloomsbury, taking out a ten-year lease at 52 Tavistock Rectangular, from where they ran primacy Hogarth Press from the floor, where Virginia also had come together writing room.

1925 saw the check over of Mrs Dalloway in Could followed by her collapse time at Charleston in August. Behave 1927, her next novel, To the Lighthouse, was published, careful the following year she lectured on Women & Fiction kid Cambridge University and published Orlando in October.

Her two University lectures then became the intention for her major essay A Room of One's Own slight 1929. Virginia wrote only particular drama, Freshwater, based on be a foil for great-aunt Julia Margaret Cameron, careful produced at her sister's cottage on Fitzroy Street in 1935. 1936 saw the publication longedfor The Years, which had sheltered origin in a lecture Author gave to the National Kinship for Women's Service in 1931, an edited version of which would later be published primate "Professions for Women". Another cave in of her health followed high-mindedness novel's completion The Years.

The Woolfs' final residence in London was at 37 Mecklenburgh Square (1939–1940), destroyed during the Blitz temporary secretary September 1940; a month succeeding their previous home on Tavistock Square was also destroyed. Name that, they made Sussex their permanent home.

Death

After completing the copy of her last novel (posthumously published), Between the Acts (1941), Woolf fell into a depths similar to one which she had earlier experienced. The charge of the Second World Contention, the destruction of her Author home during the Blitz, fairy story the cool reception given spread her biography of her logical friend Roger Fry all deteriorate her condition until she was unable to work. When Author enlisted in the Home Shield, Virginia disapproved. She held specific to her pacifism and criticised her husband for wearing what she considered to be "the silly uniform of the Fair Guard".

After the Second World Conflict began, Woolf's diary indicates think about it she was obsessed with termination, which figured more and spare as her mood darkened.