Virginia Woolf: The Famed Feminist Writer of the 20th Century

Posted On: 2024-01-25 14:34:54

On 25th January, 1882, Virginia Woolf was born at Hyde Park Gate in South Kensington, London, England. Daughter of Julia (née Jackson) and Sir Leslie Stephen, Virginia’s mother was a philanthropist and her father was a writer and a historian. Virginia’s family came from a well-educated and affluent background. Julia Margaret Cameron (a famous photographer) and Lady Henry Somerset (a woman’s rights activist) were related to her by blood. 

Virginia started writing professionally in the year 1900. In 1915, she published her first novel, The Voyage Out, through her half-brother’s publishing company. Some of her famous works include Mrs Dalloway (1925), To the Lighthouse (1927) and Orlando (1928). Virginia Woolf’s novel represents the British modernist “stream-of-consciousness” style, characterized by the representation of characters' inner thoughts, a focus on everyday action, and the pervasive instability or unreliability of narration. 

Today, Virginia’s books are celebrated for their feministic and lesbian themes. Her legacy lives on in countless plays, novels, films, monuments and memorials, which are dedicated to her. Virginia Woolf passed away on 28 March, 1941. She drowned herself by filling her overcoat pockets with stones and walking into the River Ouse near her home. Virginia had a history of depression, which worsened at the onset of the Second World War. Her last book, Between the Acts, was published posthumously in 1941. 

Today, on her birth anniversary, we would like to celebrate the legacy of Virginia Woolf by celebrating the ever-relevant themes in her works. 

In her book, Mrs. Dalloway, Virginia explores the lack of equality present in the world through the character Clarissa Dalloway. The book illustrates how women’s potential is constrained by society because of gender and societal norms. In her non-fiction work, A Room of One’s Own, she examines how women have faced historical disenfranchisement in every sphere of life, including social, financial and educational. Showing awareness of her own class, Virginia states in the book, "A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction". 

During her lifetime, Virginia Woolf had sexual relationships with a lot of women, most notably Vita Sackville-West, who was a writer herself. It was during their relationship that both Wooldf and Sackvile-West saw the peak of their careers. Woolf’s book Orlando contains numerous queer themes. The novel centres around the titular protagonist who goes from becoming a man to a woman. The novel satirizes Victorian society's literature and explores the boundaries of gender and sexuality. 

Numerous authors have claimed to have been influenced by Virginia Woolf, some of whom include, Margaret Atwood, Michael Cunningham, Gabriel García Márquez, and Toni Morrison. There are numerous literary societies dedicated to her like the Virginia Woolf Society of Great Britain and The Virginia Woolf Society of Japan.

We, at Child Help Foundation, also greatly admire the work of Virginia Woolf and dedicate our resources to uplifting women. Through our Gender Equality Programme, Child Help Foundation has helped 3,25,526 people. Our efforts even cater to the transgender community, conducting ration kits distribution to them regularly.

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AUTHOR: Adil Sayyad