Orlando by Virginia Woolf - Book Report/Review Example

Orlando “All extremes of feeling are allied with madness.”  (Wolf) Orlando begins with the protagonist as a young boy, pretentiously slicing off the head of Moors just as his father and grandfather did. The numerous heads hanging from their attic rafter spurs a motivation within Orlando which inspires him to go to expeditions with his family. “So too would Orlando, he vowed” writes Wolf, but since he is too young, Orlando cannot be taken along in the journey (40). What remains is to only pretend the slicing maneuvers that his father and grandfather must have made thereby chopping heads off shoulders. At this point, Orlando’s character is marked by a portrayal of his mannish side and his unfeminine ardor. Only a few lines later, we are introduced to the literary and poetic side of Orlando that appreciates color and tints in their contextual placements. As soon as Orlando opened the window, a light of various tints fell on the body of the leopard, which is intricately described by the author as though Orlando exhibited attentiveness to such details. Indeed, Orlando presented a great sense of nature and their beauty which inspired him to write poetries. What is important is a transition in the character of Orlando, and his tastes and preferences as he passes through each era within history. The change from one gender to another is also of significant importance in the development of Orlando from an adventurous male to a sensitive female. The only thing which remains consistent about Orlando throughout the course of the story is the brevity of his or her character as Orlando changes selves and goes through various experiences in the midst of an identity crisis. Orlando passes through several different eras from Elizabethan through the Jacobean era, English Interregnum during King Charles II and Victorian era to finally the Edwardian era and the 19th century. The variations in time and the transition of one period to another is of critical importance when considering Orlando’s moods and feelings as he experiences these varying times. Each era is symbolized by its own feeling that it brings to Orlando’s literary and poetic endeavors. Just as the Elizabethan era ends, Orlando finds himself to be in the Jacobean era where he spends a lot of his time socializing among the high elite class, among which many are women. Around this time, Orlando also gets engaged to Euphrosyne; one of the ladies whose name Orlando mentions in his sonnets thus drawing his inspiration from different beautiful ladies who have showered their favors upon him. As it is, Orlando has everything he could have desired; wealth, higher affiliation and status. However, Orlando does not seem to be content with this as he is seeking different things at different times. Thus, his character presents a crisis of belongingness, to each era and later, to either gender. Each period in time is marked by its own set of feelings and moods it brings to Orlando. The Elizabethan period marked by his escalation of status and wealth followed by his awakening of deep despair as the Russian princess, Sasha deserts him at the night of their planned run-away in the Jacobean period. Subsequently, the English Interregnum period of King Charles II is marked by his secret marriage to Rosina Pepita, a dancer and daughter of an unknown gipsy. After the era of King Charles II, Orlando is introduced as a character embodies within a woman’s body. Then the Victorian period has its characteristic gloom and dullness where Orlando, as a woman, feels unable to fit into. There are constant emphasis made, which refer to “the spirit of the age” that explains Orlando’s character – as being sexually disputed – and temporally defined. Orlando’s life gone through the different times represents an irregular and inconsistent way of living and choices where his tendencies constantly present a confused identity. Towards the end, Orlando does present a certain level of certainty where she is certain that as female she must now dwell with her husband. With this, Orlando hopes to end the sense of emptiness and detached belongingness within her by finding a purpose in her life. It is interesting to see Orlando’s character change as if in phases as the time passes and the story progresses from one age to another. From being a curious young man to a feminine woman, Orlando’s thoughts and ideas change as he experiences the body of a man and then a woman. Of vital importance is his literary connection with writing poetries. From the start, Orlando’s character is constructed as a carefree kind whose love for women takes him through diverse experiences with women until he feels a new spark in his relationship with women after he sees Sasha. It is not his intimate desires for Sasha that draws him closer to the Russian princess but rather the fascination which he faces after he sees her skating. Here, Orlando had been intrigued by her androgynous attributes which perplexed him whether it were a man or a woman. His attraction was fueled up by her foreign language and obscure manner. After Orlando loses her, he destroys all of his poems apart from “The Oak Tree”, which is finally completed after Orlando finds a husband. The character matures at each stage demonstrating a different character at each point. When Orlando wakes up as a woman after the trance, he realizes what it is like to be a woman. This is also when he realizes about Sasha from a feminine perspective. Perhaps this is why the character transitions into a woman to recognize the growing doubtfulness and uncertainty of one’s own identity and belongingness to a particular time. “Up to this point...documents, both private and historical, have made it possible to fulfill the first duty of a biographer, which is to plod, without looking right or left, in the indelible footprints of truth... on and on methodically until we fall plump into the grave and write finis on the tombstone above our heads.” (Wolf) The whole transformation from one time to another and from one gender to another is essential in building the relevant emotions and feelings appropriate for the times. During the Victorian period, the dreariness of the surrounding atmosphere sparks a feeling within Orlando calling for a settlement as a family. This also when Orlando finds her later husband, Marmaduke Bonthrop Shelmerdine, after she mangles her ankle and Shelmerdine saves her. “The spirit of the age” tells her that she should now find a husband and become a bride. The two do get married in a ceremonious wedding but again, the time is about to change. Towards the end of the Victorian era, Orlando finally concludes writing her poem, “The Oak Tree”. The connection between the poem and Orlando is unexplainable as it has travelled throughout time along with Orlando. although the reasons for Orlando not destroying this specific poetry is not obvious, it is clearly one of the poetries which Orlando appreciates and cherishes. The completion of the poetry with Orlando’s marriage shows, to some degree, the finality of the constant change which both passed through in time. While the confusion in identity and gender role is presented quite essentially in Orlando’s character, another character, the supposedly Archduchess Harriet from Romania also presents a similar gender identity confusion, however, not in literal terms. After Orlando is filled with despair at the loss of Sasha, he finds a figure of Archduchess Harriet. Orlando is instantly repulsed by her tall figure. During the period of King Charles II, Orlando as a woman is faced with gender crisis as he wakes up as a woman. Upon returning to England, she meets the supposedly Archduchess Harriet again, but she is in fact Archduke Harry, a male. Interestingly, when the Archduke Harry tells Orlando his story of dressing as a woman, Orlando realizes that is was in fact her, as a man, who fascinated the Archduke so much that he dressed as a woman. But now, as a woman, Orlando was able to understand the emotions women experience. After Archduke Harry starts to cry in front of her, Orlando realizes that she is supposed to feel shocked at the display of emotions. The Archduke Harry makes several declaration of adoration towards her but to no avail while Orlando keeps feeling bored at his temperament and wants to get rid of him. The role of the Archduke, therefore, also transitions between a male and female where he ultimately chooses to be a male and proposes to Orlando. Finally, the brevity of Archduke Harry’s gender identity eventually finds permanence in his acceptance of the gender he really is. Throughout the story, Orlando’s character is important in its transient phases of gender and experiences. As a man, Orlando is initially a very enthusiastic young man but he matures as the story progresses and he interacts with many pretty women. The desertion by Sasha does prove to be a turning point where Orlando destroys all his literary works except “The Oak Tree”. As he is caught between an identity crisis and confusion, Orlando realizes the different emotions women go through. Towards the end, Orlando tries to resolve her unbecoming personality by following the “spirit of the age” by getting married. Later she meets Shelmerdine whom she marries at a ceremonious wedding. With this, the poetry is also completed which has travelled with Orlando throughout the different ages. “Better was it to go unknown and leave behind you an arch, then to burn like a meteor and leave no dust.”(Wolf) Works Cited Woolf, Virginia. Orlando. 1928. E-book. Web. 6 Apr 2014. . Read More