Virginia Woolf and Victoria Sackville-West: Orlando as a reflection of their relationship

Abstract

Virginia Woolf belongs to one of the most significant and original writers of the twentieth century. She was known for her feministic attitudes and denial of traditional gender roles as the social construct. She often criticized the unequal position of women in the patriarchal society and its homophobic tendencies. She used experimental approaches towards literature and writing such as so-called "stream of consciousness" in a form of inner monologue, thus she became the leading figure of the modernistic movement in Britain. The theoretical part of this paper deals with the person of Virginia Woolf as a writer and an intellectual. Her opinions about feminism, gender and androgyny are compared with the general atmosphere of the early twentieth century society. Further, the paper describes the relationship between Virginia Woolf and Victoria Sackville-West which was the impulse for writing the novel Orlando (1928). This novel was inspired by Sackville-West and the story of her life and partially reflected their relationship. The last chapter deals with the novel Orlando itself and how it reflects not only the affinity between Woolf and Sackville-West, but also Virginia Woolf's own thoughts and viewpoints concerning the ambiguity and complexity of gender and other topics such as artistic creativity, inspiration, importance of fame and meaning of human life in general.