Alexandria Hall Essays (1739 words) - Literature, Bloomsbury Group

Alexandria Hall Maryann Hofmann ENGL 2070 16 November 2016 Rhetorical Contributions of Virginia Woolf "Every secret of a writer's soul, every experience of his life, every quality of his min d is written large in his works " ( Virginia Woolf, 1928 ). When Virginia Woolf made this powerful claim, she allowed an insightful glance into the many ways in which her works were inter weaved with secrets of her own . Many of her essays and short stories depict Woolf's childhood traumas, reveal her psychological instability, and expose her feminist ideologie s . Fu rthermore, Woolf's writings displayed her daringness to diverge from classic literature and establish a style of her own, one with melancholy undertones and a postmodernist flair. Postmodernism is a style of writing that emerged after World War II, when much of the world was changing and literature followed suit ( Holmesland 67) . Postmodern literature is known for its incorporation of a variety of stylistic devices that include fragmentation , m aximal ism , and magical realism ( Holmesland 18) . Woolf incorporates her most personal memories and experiences with these different devices throughout nearly all of her works. Perhaps this skillful integration is what makes reading her literatur e such an impactful experience. Altogether, Woolf's readings have had a profound impact on the way that these postmodern devices are used in rhetorical theory and have given her audience a glimpse into the darkness of her past. On January 2 5, 1882, in Kensington, London , Virginia Woolf (then Virginia Stephen ) was born into a n upper-class , well-educated family . Her father, Leslie Stephen , and her mother, Julia Pr insep Duckworth Steph en, raised Woolf and her seven other siblings in a narrow t ownhome on 22 Hyde Parke Gate. Both t he addres s and the home itself are well distinguished because Woolf often used the m as an authentic setting to her stories ; in one of her most renowned short stories A S ketch of the Past , Woolf explicit recounts the tragedies she was forced to endure during her time in the home. Painfully, Woolf invites her readers into the murkiest, most vulnerable depths of her heartache by sharing the details of the heartbreaking molestation that her brothers inflicted upon her as a child. Though she was far too young to grasp the concept of what had been happening to her, Woolf held onto the memo ries and, as she emerged into adulthood, stood by as these grudges overtook her and spiraled into severe depression and life-threatening psychological illnesses that haunted her for her entire life. Woolf was institutionalized on more than one occasion because of the severity of her illness. Despite these insufferable burdens , Woolf did her best to maintain her academic regimen. She continued on to study German, Greek, and Latin at the Ladies' Department of King's College. She even began working for a well-known newspaper The Times Literary Supplement . She built upon this success but struggled to maintain a firm grasp on her sanity. As she worked to restore her mental health, she met a man named Leonard Woolf through mutual friends of theirs . The two quickly sparked an interest in one another and, before long, Leonard decided to propose to her. They were officially m arried in 1910 and Virginia picked up her iconic new last name . Despite all of these positive, life-changing advancements in Woolf's career and in her life overall , she continued to spiral into her illness and depression. The pessimism eventually consumed her; she felt so desperately entangled within her memories of the past and her anxieties of the future that she was entirely incapable of having any bl iss. After fifty-nine years of hardship , Woolf could no longer bear the immense weight of all the sorrow, heartbreak, uncertainty , and betrayal. Instead of facing another day, she slipped on her wool coat and took a walk around a lake near her home. Her face somber, she trudged around the lake, collecting large stones and adding each one to her pockets. Her pockets now heavily weighed down, Woolf walked into the lake without looking back at the grueling