Virginia Woolf
On 25th January 1882 in the family house 22 Hyde Park Gate in Knightsbridge Adeline Virginia Stevens was born to Leslie and Julia Stevens. The eight children from two marriages lived in an environment where freedom in all its colours could be experienced and accepted. The boys received Clifton and Westminster educations whilst the girls were taught at home. Imagining this bookish environment one can understand why such a creative, literary 'child' as the Bloomsbury Group would later be born and Virginia Woolf create such memorable writing and quotations.
"and that is the time to read poetry.....when we are almost able to write it"
Virginia's Mother noted for her beauty having modeled for the Pre-Raphaelites died too young on the 7th May 1895. Virginia's childhood came to an abrupt and cruel end resulting in her first mental breakdown. Death was to have a profound presence throughout her writing.
"She seemed a compound of autumn leaves and the winter sunshine"
Between 1897 and 1901 Virginia attended the Ladies Department of King College London studying classics and history. Whilst there she came into contact with the women's rights movement a further step in her social liberation. Other influences came through her Cambridge educated brothers and their friends.
"I sleep amongst ravishing illusion and wake to their burden"
Her father died in 1904 heralding her second mental breakdown. During this period Virginia thought she heard the birds singing in Greek as does Septimus in Mrs Dalloway. After his death, the Stevens family moved to Bloomsbury, and in conjunction with her brothers and their friends, they formed the Bloomsbury Group. A circle forming a nucleus of free-thinking writers and artists. Amongst them John Maynard Keynes, Duncan Grant, EM Forster, Roger Fry, and Leonard Woolf whom she would later marry in 1912.
"The waves paused and then drew out again sighing like the sleeper whose breath comes and goes unconsciously"
Named after their house in Richmond Leonard and Virginia, now married, started the Hogarth Press with a printing press bought for £19. Self-taught they worked in their dining room creating pamphlet sized publications. Initially, Virginia regarded it as a hobby to help her relax when the stress of writing overwhelmed her. In 1924 Hogarth Press moved to Tavistock Square. With illustrations by Vanessa Bell and Dora Carrington they published Bloomsbury Group authors and were forerunners in publishing Psychology titles and translated foreign literature, especially by Russian authors.
"I want to write novels about silence he said, the things people don't say"
In 1922 she met the aristocrat Vita Sackville West a successful writer and garden designer. Her influence on Virginia was profound. Encouraging her to reassess herself and her illness led to a period of well-being. After a tentative beginning, a sexual relationship evolved into a friendship that lasted throughout the 1930s. This became Virginia's most successful writing period demonstrating the absolute importance of their friendship.
"green in nature is one thing, green in literature another"
Leonard and Virginia bought Monk's House in 1919. A 16th-century weather-boarded cottage close to her sister Vanessa at Charleston Farmhouse in Firle. These houses became important retreats for the Bloomsbury Group. Charleston is magical. Every interior surface and fabric illustrated with shapes and images, Vanessa's circles, and Duncan Grant’s paintings. Entering this house adds a further dimension to our understanding of Virginia and her birthright.
"anyone who's worth anything reads just what he likes, as the moods takes him and with extravagant enthusiasm"
1941 after completing her last novel, Between the Acts, Virginia spiraled into a depression that would lead to her end. She wrote to Leonard of their deep love. "If anyone could have saved me it would have been you. I can't go on spoiling your life any longer". On 28th March 1941, she filled her overcoat pockets with stones and walked into the River Ouse flowing near their home. Suicide was ever-present throughout her life. Somehow it embodies all her strengths her weaknesses too. One wonders what thoughts she experienced as she made that final walk.
Virginia Woolf has given to readers an intimate insight into her character's thoughts. She leaves behind the narrative device of Stream of Consciousness. A 20th-century style that aims at expressing in words the flow of characters' or narrator's thoughts and feelings within their minds. A term often credited to William James who referred to it in his 1890 publication Principles of Psychology. Proust, Joyce, and Woolf are all aligned to this intuitive style of writing. Mrs Dalloway walking through the Park, looking in the Bookshop window, and finally selecting flowers is a perfect example.
I travel through life with Mrs Dalloway usually close at hand hidden in my bag. This book calms me and also makes me strong to be myself. Clarissa Dalloway is my very dear friend. For those yet to read Virginia Woolf I would suggest beginning with Mrs Dalloway then moving on to The Waves and Orlando.