A feminist reading of Virginia Woolf’s ‘Mrs. Dalloway’, ‘To the Lighthouse’ and ‘A Room of One's Own’

Abstract

Virginia Woolf is recognised as one of the most influential female writers. Throughout this dissertation I aim to discuss her works Mrs Dalloway, To the Lighthouse and A Room of One’s Own from a feminist perspective. The dissertation is divided into three chapters, with each chapter devoted to one book. The introduction looks at the feminist movement, its history and its aims and how it has improved the lives of women in various ways. Some of the most well-known and influential theorists and critics, whose works directly or indirectly relate to Virginia Woolf’s work and her feminist view, are introduced. The first chapter closely examines Mrs Dalloway, especially its female characters and their relationships with each other and the male characters in the story. It examines the theorist Judith Butler and the critics Elaine Showalter, Jane Marcus, Celiese Lypka and Christina Stevenson. The second chapter looks at To the Lighthouse and pays close attention to the main character’s connections to those around her, with attention towards the differences between the characters of Mrs Ramsey and Lily Briscoe. The critics this chapter refers to are Elaine Showalter, Margaret Atwood, Maggie Humm and Derek Ryan. The third chapter examines A Room of One’s Own. This chapter regards closely the history and the realities of women who write and the importance of financial and physical independence. The theorists and critics present are Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar, Elaine Showalter, Helene Cixous, Simone de Beauvoir, Tracy Lemaster, Julie Robin Solomon and Alice Walker. The conclusion wraps up all that is brought up in this dissertation and consolidates Virginia Woolf’s position at the forefront of the feminist movement of her time.