Virginia Woolf Literature - Research Paper Example

How the problems in private circle/personal life influenced Virginia Woolf’s social life and literary contributions Personal problems and social life Virginia Woolf was forced to face a number of problems in her personal circle and it affected her social life. During the initial stages of her childhood, Woolf was able to enjoy a peaceful life. Woolf’s parents were keenly interested in socializing their children. For instance, the eminent members of the Victorian literary society used to visit Woolf’s family.

Besides, Woolf’s father was closely related to the literary circle in the society. All these factors helped Woolf to be in touch with the public domain, without any restriction. Alma Halbert Bond opined that, “Virginia Woolf, like her father, was known for speaking her mind” (60). During her adolescent age, Woolf was forced to undergo nervous breakdown due to the tragedies in her family. Her mother was succumbed to death and it created emotional trauma in Woolf’s mind. Lorraine Sim made clear that, “As readers of Woolf’s dairies know, physical illness and regimes of preventive healthcare and health management were integral aspects of her daily life” (81). . Later, Woolf’s social life was limited to the context of the Bloomsbury Group, which revolutionized the context of literature.

Personal problems and literary contributions In her first novel, she made use of the personal characteristics of some of her friends and family members. For instance, Helen Ambrose in her novel The Voyage Out possesses some characteristics of Vanessa Bell, her sister. Besides, the plot is symbolic of her temporary escapade from her private space to public space, i.e. to the Bloomsbury Group. One can see that Woolf tried to unveil the inherent reason behind the emotional trauma faced by her characters.

Roger Poole stated that, “The novels were an account of the mental distress: how it had been caused, how it manifested itself, and how it was overcome” (3). Besides, she made use of the stream-of-consciousness technique to present her characters’ views from a different angle. She never tried to escape from personal problems, but decided to make use of the same to provide consciousness and liveliness to her characters. For instance, in the novel To the Lighthouse, Woolf makes use of the central theme to unearth the problems in family life.

Within this context, Woolf approaches each and every character from different angles. In the novel Between the Acts, Woolf portrays extramarital relationships and related tension in family life. On the other side, Woolf’s works represents the human tendency to act according to change in life. Most of her characters are ready to change their course of life. To be specific, one can easily identify autobiographical elements in Woolf’s works, especially in her characters. She was not ready to be defeated by the personal problems, so does her