Virginia Woolf——A Creative Genius with Elegance and Yet Mad 弗吉尼亞?伍爾芙——優(yōu)雅與瘋癲集于一身的創(chuàng)作奇才

李果爰

Abstract： “Every secret of a writer's soul， every experience of his life， every quality of his mind is written large in his works” （proverbia.net）. This famous quote is a real reflection of the writing career of Virginia Woolf. As a famous feminist writer， Virginia Woolf devoted all her life to writing， as evidenced by Mephams words： “Writing was not an addition to her life but its foundation” （xiii）. However， Virginia Woolf had a rather miserable life， as she suffered a series of losses of relatives and was haunted by mental instability throughout her life. This paper will let us obtain a better understanding of Virginia Woolf as a combination of elegance and madness.

Key words： Virginia Woolf； elegance； madness

Adeline Virginia Stephen， better known by her married name， Virginia Woolf， was born on January 25， 1882 at 22 Hyde Park Gate in London. Virginias father， Leslie Stephen， was an editor， critic， and biographer， and also “one of the most prominent figures in the golden age of mountaineering” （“Biography”）. Virginias mother， Julia Prinsep Stephen， was a late-Victorian woman from the upper-middle classes blessed with great beauty， which Virginia inherited. As she stated in her memoir， A Sketch of the Past， she was “the second daughter of Leslie and Julia Prinsep Stephen” （qtd. in Webb 1）. Since it was not the first marriage for either Leslie or Julia， this family was a huge one， with eight children altogether： George Duckworth， Stella Duckworth， Gerald Duckworth， Laura Stephen， Vanessa Stephen， Thoby Stephen， Virginia Stephen and Adrian Stephen.

From 1882 to 1894， Virginia had a happy childhood. Every summer， she spent two or three months with her family at “Talland House” on the bay of St Ives， which brought her a feeling which could be described as ecstasy. It was her impressions and memories of St Ives， not some concrete events， that served as the inspiration of Virginias later literary creations （Yi 7）. Unlike her brothers， Virginia did not receive a formal education but home schooling. Therefore， she was heavily influenced by her parents. As the descriptions in her novels suggest： “her father offered her a model of intellectual curiosity and power， and gave her an admiration and talent for writing and a love of argument， while her mother reinforced the fanciful and emotional aspects of her nature” （Gorsky 17）. Also， access to her fathers massive library， the London library and the British Museum guaranteed Virginias broad reading， which served as fundamental preparation for her later writing career. In addition， the guests visiting their house， including James Russell Lowell， who was Virginias godfather； Henry James； and Thomas Hardy， all gave her a good grounding in Victorian literature （Yi 3）. Both at St Ives and at home， Virginia began to show her talent in writing. At the age of five， she told stories to her father every night and could write letters （Yi 6）. Her father even remarked that Virginia had the talent to “be an author in time” （Webb 5）.

However， this paradise-like life did not last long. Starting in her thirteenth year， Virginia began to experience a series of blows. In 1895， Virginias mother Julia died of rheumatic fever， which led to “the first of the series of mental collapses which were to plague her throughout her life” （Gorsky 19）. In July 1897， Virginias half-sister Stella suddenly died， which was “the second blow of death” for Virginia （Webb 7）. Nevertheless， tragedies continued to occur in her family. In February 1904， Virginia had to face the death of her father. Having experienced the deaths of three close relatives in such a brief period， Virginia had undergone too much pain. Consequently， at this time， Virginia suffered a second mental collapse， with headaches， hallucinations， and an inability to speak in a coherent way. During her illness， Virginia made her first suicide attempt by jumping out of a window， but did not succeed， as the window was not high enough to really hurt her （Webb 13）.

The period from 1904 to 1911 can be regarded as the “apprenticeship” and “maturation” of Virginia Stephen （Gorsky 19）. Shortly after Leslie Stephens death， in November of 1904， Virginia and the other three Stephen children moved to 46 Gordon Square in Bloomsbury. Here Virginia began a new stage in her life. From 1905 to 1907， she had a short-lived career as a volunteer teacher at Morley College for working-class men and women （Webb 15）. Soon after Virginia began her teaching， her brother Thoby initiated a weekly get-together by inviting his Cambridge friends. These meetings were the beginnings of what was later called the Bloomsbury Group， “a circle of intellectuals and artists” （“Biography”）. As a result of these occasions， Virginia came to know a lot of people， including Clive Bell， Walter Lamb， Desmond MacCarthy， Lytton Strachey， Saxon Sydney， Edward Hilton Young and later Leonard Woolf. At the same time， Virginia reviewed books for The Guardian and The Times Literary Supplement， which marked the beginning of her writing career.

In 1907， another tragedy occurred to Virginia--her brother Thoby died of typhoid after returning from a trip to Greece . This time， the emotional impact was not so great， but it still made Virginias mind more filled with thoughts of death. In 1909， Virginia Stephen accepted a marriage proposal from Lytton Strachey， but later the engagement was called off. In 1912， Virginia Stephen and Leonard Woolf were married. From then on， they began “nearly thirty years of a relationship marked by a paradoxical combination of independence and interdependence” （Gorsky 22）. However， during the period from 1912 to 1915， Virginia Woolf experienced her third breakdown， being on the brink of collapse. This time， she carried out her second suicide attempt by taking an overdose of sleeping pills， Veronal. Fortunately， her life was saved when her stomach was pumped in time （Webb 41）. After that， she began to recover gradually （Webb 42）. In 1915， Virginia and Leonard moved to Hogarth House， Richmond （“Chronology”）. Two years later， Virginia and Leonard purchased a printing press and named it the Hogarth Press （Webb 49）. From then on， the Hogarth Press was used to print both Virginias and Leonards works and also the works of other famous writers， including Katherine Mansfield， James Joyce and T.S. Eliot.

Although Virginia Woolf was haunted by mental disorders continuously， she totally devoted herself to writing and managed to make her literary career successful. In 1915， she published her first novel The Voyage Out， which received a lukewarm response. In spite of this， she continued her writing. In 1919， she published her second novel Night and Day. She also published her short story collections The Mark on the Wall （1917）， Kew Gardens （1919）， and Monday or Tuesday （1921）. Other novels were gradually published： Jacobs Room （1922）， Mrs. Dalloway （1925）， To the Light House （1927）， Orlando （1928）， The Waves （1931）， Jeu dEsprit， Flush （1933）， The Years （1937） and Between the Acts （1941）. Woolf also published her feminist essay “A Room of Ones Own” in 1929. During this period of time， Woolf continued “writing and collecting essays and reviews to reflect and develop her aesthetic theories” ， and consequently published The Common Reader： First Series in 1925 and The Common Reader： Second Series in 1932 （Gorsky 25-26）.

Among all of Woolfs works， the “stream-of-consciousness” work Mrs. Dalloway has been very influential. Mrs. Dalloway is a “completely unified novel” （McNichol 62）， recounting the life of Classia Dalloway on a single day， “[piercing] together bits of Mrs. Dalloway's past and bits of Mrs. Dalloway's present” （cliffsnotes.com）. In this novel， Woolf used a cluster of images to reach from the outside world to the inner world by means of “recurrent patterning”， thus creating a “rhythmic order” （McNichol 62）. Through this novel， she “[interwove] inferior monologues and [raised] issues of feminism， mental illness and homosexuality in post-World War I England” （“Biography”）， “[creating] a visceral and unyielding vision of madness and a haunting descent into its depths” （classiclit.about.com）.

Throughout her life， Woolf was plagued by her mental illness. However， her illness could be controlled with regular meals and rest， and it was closely related to her intense writing efforts （Lee 180）. Each time Woolf finished a novel， she would seem to be near insanity （Gorsky 23）. Maybe this could be explained by Drydens words： “Madness is to genius near allied” （qtd. in Gorsky 23）. It was her husband Leonard Woolfs good care that gave her courage to continue her life. In a letter， she said， “I should have shot myself long ago in one of these illnesses if it had not been for him” （qtd. in Gorsky 27） However， successful writing and friendships intermingled with illness and sharp shifts in mood were too much for her. On March 28， 1941， Virginia experienced her fourth breakdown， which led to her death. She drowned herself in the River Ouse with stones in her pockets （goodreads.com）.

Virginia Woolfs influence on English literature has been long-lasting. Her devotion to writing made her “a foremost modernist” in the twentieth century （wikipedia. org）. Regarded as one of “the greatest innovators in the English language”， she carried out experiments with “stream-of-consciousness”， “the underlying psychological”， “the emotional motives of characters”， and different kinds of “fractured narrative and chronology” （“Ebooks”）. Her works like The Mark on the Wall， Mrs. Dalloway， To the Light House， and Orlando made her a pioneer in the use of stream-of-consciousness technique and set a good example for many later writers. Her essay “A Room of Ones Own” expresses her views on feminism， which helped establish her important role in feminist writing. As E. M. Foster puts it， Virginia Woolf “pushed the English language ‘a(chǎn) little further against the dark” （qtd. in “Ebooks”）.

However， to most of us， Virginia Woolf was not only a great literary figure， but also a great woman. Her tragic and bitter life was too much for her. Nonetheless， she was not a weak woman， for her “fundamental sanity persisted， throughout her life， even up to the brink of her periods of illness” （Webb 39）. As Hermione Lee puts in her biography of Virginia Woolf：

Virginia Woolf was a sane woman who had an illness. She was often a patient， but she was not a victim. She was not weak， or hysterical， or self-deluding， or guilty， or oppressed. On the contrary， she was a person of exceptional courage， intelligence and stoicism， who made the best use she could， and came to the deepest understanding possible to her， of her own condition. She endured， periodically， great agony of mind and severe physical pain， with remarkably little self-pity. （175）

This combination of elegance and madness made her stand out in literary history. Her great contributions to literature will never be forgotten. Even today， Virginia Woolfs accomplishments in literature still influence many writers.

Works Cited

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