Orland by Janet Woolf
analytical Essay
1661 words
The effect marriage in Virginia Woolf’s Orlando has upon the modern individual will be the focus of this essay, whilst also considering the role the wedding ring plays in defining the terms of marriage. Woolf portrays Orlando as a modern individual largely because she is free from a number of social conventions and familial pressures other women of the time are subjected to. Despite this, it is the pressure of marriage that she cannot escape: even after she has married Shelmerdine, Orlando is thinking of ways to live her life as before. In contrast to her statement of being forced to consider ‘the most desperate of remedies, which was to yield completely and submissively to the spirit of the age, and take a husband’ (121) Orlando is sincere in her affection for Shelmerdine, suggesting it is the idea of what marriage entails rather than the act itself which provides the pressure to conform and desire for escape.
Orlando can be seen as a modern individual in terms of the contemporary, representing the emancipated free woman: this is visible as ‘the cry that rose to her lips was ‘Life! A lover!’ not ‘Life! A husband!’ (120) Without thinking, she automatically associates a husband with restrictions, which, as the text demonstrates, was not always the case in the nineteenth century: a husband would add to freedom whilst a lover could damage her reputation, making her an outsider in the patriarchal and strict Victorian society. Woolf displays this fact through the character of Orlando with marriage as a partial way of achieving freedom. Her decision to pretend to be married in order to live as she had previously done as a man shows marriage as a way to increase liberty; this is enhanced by her union with Shelmerdine, ultimately reflec...
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...ctorian England.
Works Cited
Caine, Barbara. English Feminism. New York: Oxford University Press. 1997. Print.
Chesser, Barbara Jo. “Analysis of Wedding Rituals: An attempt to make weddings more sfdsdfffdmeaningful”. Family Relations. Vol. 29, No. 2. (Apr., 1980) pp. 204-209. [JSTOR]
Goldman, Jane. The Feminist Aesthetics of Virginia Woolf. New York: Cambridge University Press. fsfdfsdgg2001. Print.
Shanley, Mary Lyndon. Feminism, Marriage and the Law in Victorian England. Princeton: Princeton dfsdfdfsdfUniversity Press. 1989. Print.
Simmel, Georg. ‘The Metropolis and Mental Life’ in Kolocotroni, Vassiliki; Goldman, Jane; Taxidou, sfdfsfdfsdOlga, ‘Modernism: An Anthology of Sources and Documents.’ Edinburgh: Edinburgh ffffffffffffUniversity Press. 1998. Print.
Wolff, Janet. ‘Feminism and Modernism’, The Polity Reader in Social Theory.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how virginia woolf portrays orlando as a modern individual largely because she is free from social conventions and familial pressures other women of the time are subject to.
- Analyzes how woolf portrays orlando as a modern individual in terms of the contemporary, representing the emancipated free woman.
- Illustrates the idea of marriage as a necessary chore with woolf's comment that couples trudged and plodded in the middle of the road indissolubly together.
- Analyzes how woolf's description of marriage in the nineteenth century highlights the lack of rationality regarding marriage and the way it was regarded.
- Analyzes woolf's portrayal of marriage as a necessity for women in terms of property, yet in one sense portrays the union as something that does not have to alter lifestyle dramatically.
- Analyzes how simmel's argument stems from life in the metropolis, but women and their status through marriage could be included in this.
- Analyzes how orlando's comment that the wedding ring must be on the third finger of the left hand shows she holds the opinion marriage is a social necessity.
- Analyzes how chesser examines the history of the wedding ring, stating that it is the oldest and most universal marriage symbol.
- Analyzes how woolf demonstrates the effect of marriage upon the modern individual. the wedding ring implies female subordination and an inability to escape the marriage contract.
- Cites chesser, barbara jo, "analysis of wedding rituals: an attempt to make weddings more sfdsdff
- Explains goldman, jane, the feminist aesthetics of virginia woolf.
- Explains shanley, mary lyndon, feminism, marriage and the law in victorian england.
- Cites simmel, georg, goldman, jane, and taxidou in modernism: an anthology of sources and documents.
Related
- analytical
- explanatory
- Virginia Woolf’s Orlandoanalytical essayOrlando is the paragon of Virginia Woolf’s literary genius. Published in 1928, the novel is a fictional biography of Woolf’s friend Vita Sackville-West. The novel is dedicated to Vita and "has been called ‘the longest and most charming love letter in literature’" (Meese 469). This crucial biographical context is often overlooked, a displacement which hinders the f...
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how virginia woolf's visionary mind emerged in a social climate that did not cultivate the intellectual development of women.
- Analyzes how orlando is the paragon of virginia woolf's literary genius. it is a fictional biography of vita sackville-west.
- Analyzes the extent to which vita and virginia did love each other—profoundly and, in every sense of the words, erotically and sexually—is something that continues to be resisted, denied, ignored, qualified out of significance, or simply unrecognized.
- Analyzes how the historical context, along with the consideration of woolf’s life and her writings before and after orlando, is a vital aspect of reading "virginia
- Analyzes how orlando is a manifesto of ideology, an evolving summation of woolf’s own cosmology, and her vision of human transcendence beyond sexism.
- Analyzes how woolf envisioned the androgynous mind as the most powerful and comprehensive creative force available to an author.
- Analyzes how the "biographer," or the narrator, of the novel is a satirical device as well.
- Analyzes how the narrator's treatment of the fantastic as ordinary is testament to the ridiculous extent of importance that society places on the difference of gender.
- Analyzes how virginia woolf wrote orlando in the middle of her literary career, but it stands today as the most exuberant and personal expression of ’s beliefs concerning many different levels and subjects.
- Describes the works of t.e. apter, nancy topping, sandra m. gilbert, susan gubar, and mark hussey.
- Cites little, judy, bloom, marder, and meese's work on virginia woolf, titled "the politics of holiday: orlando."
- Cites moi, toril, walker, nancy a. feminist alternatives: irony and fantasy in the contemporary novel by women.
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- Analyzes how orlando's sex changed because he felt his efforts to fit in were no longer substantial enough from a males perspective, but she did not lose the aspects of orlando, that would forever be drawn to ideal love and poetry.
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1670 wordsRead More - Austen juxtaposes the nineteenth century definition of a happy marriage with the opportunistic match of Charlotte Lucas and Mr. Collins. Charlotte, a quiet but clandestine young woman, marries Mr. Collins, a hubris gentleman, purely for the opportunity of the moment. She quickly consents to his proposal despite their being intimately unacquainted. Every aspect of their pairing is part of a calculated plan formed by society, binding these two people together for the sole purpose of the image it will portray over the town. However, Austen makes it evident Charlotte is equally aware of her motives towards the marriage, as she commits to Mr. Collins for her “disinterested desire of gaining an establishment” (Austen 97). The potential for property and financial freedom clouts all other reason for marriage and leaves Charlotte blindly accepting his offer, even though her prospect of future happiness remains inauspicious. Austen is giving the stereotypical version of the nineteenth century marriage; it is one of marrying for the prospect of higher societal grounds, and it becomes a pure “want o...
In this essay, the author
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- Analyzes austen's opportunistic portrayal of a hopeless marriage and its devastating consequences. charlotte must be handicapped to her husband in order to enjoy her monetary rewards.
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- Analyzes how mary bennet is liberal in her independence and decision not to blindly fall into the traditional path of a married life.
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- Analyzes the concept of power in woolf's ‘orlando’ and campion’s’ ‘the piano’.
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- Analyzes how baines uses his eyes in order to control ada. both have the power but in different ways.
- Analyzes how the notion of power can be positive in relation to orlando land inheritance, but also heartbreaking as seen with stewart and sasha.
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In this essay, the author
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- Analyzes how hardy argues that the institution of marriage is important to the novel but only as a means, not an end.
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- Analyzes how phillotson's decision to allow sue to go away is important in the context of the present discussion.
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In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how edith wharton critiques the absurd manners in which new york society regarded marriage during the 1870s.
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765 wordsRead More - Clothing and Gender in Virginia Woolf's Orlandoanalytical essay...ch woman when in fact it is not very clear what she is. Woolf posits that her choice of clothing points to something deeper: "Clothes are but a symbol of something deep beneath. It was a change in Orlando herself that dictated her choice of a woman's dress and of a woman's sex" (188). If only it were possible for us to change our genders and all the social baggage that comes with them merely by changing our clothing? But Orlando's life is in some ways magical, and this makes it possible.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how virginia woolf shrouds orlando's gender change in a mysterious religious rite, forcing readers to not question the mechanics of the change but rather focus on its consequences.
- Explains that in orlando, men and women wore distinct clothing. hairstyle, voice, and other cues, but clothing comes first. those wishing to undergo a sex-change operation must live as the opposite.
- Explains that orlando's sex change takes place when clothes are the cues that differentiate the two genders.
- Opines that the gypsy women, except in one or two important particulars, differ very little from the
- Explains that it is easier for a sex change to take place in an androgynous culture like orlando's leaving — there is little difference between the roles of women and men, and stricter rules govern social interaction.
- Analyzes how the symbolic value of clothing extends beyond its use to differentiate the genders. orlando undergoes two transformations during the novel.
- Analyzes how the symbolism of a wedding ring is obvious - it represents marriage. in orlando, the shame of not being married is transferred to the finger on which it is worn.
- Analyzes how orlando wanders around london, and her lips began framing the words of her telegram into a senseless singsong, so that park keepers looked at her with suspicion.
- Analyzes how the pearl necklace is a kind of metonymy for being rich. the keepers see it, assume orlando has money, and decide to leave her alone.
- Concludes that orlando's clothing and jewelry help her to pass for a rich woman when in fact it is not very clear what she is.
1048 wordsRead More - Comparing Marriage in Maria, or the Wrongs of Woman, She Stoops to Conquer and Moll Flandersanalytical essayFirst of all we should account for the situation of English women during the eighteenth century, that despite several social improvements, continued having less rights or freedom than men within the family and marriage as an institution. Patriarchal forms were still a deep-rooted custom that ruled society, which was male-centered. Marriage was often forced on women as their only way of having a recognized position in society, but at the same time led them to slavery. Women's property could be spent to the discretion of the husband as she was considered, together with all that she owned, a possession of the husband. Significantly relevant is the fact that the convention of marriages arranged by parents was still widely accepted.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes mary the wrongs of woman, she stoops to conquer, and moll flanders' separation between love and marriage.
- Aims to analyze and discuss the different ways in which love and marriage were dealt with during the eighteenth century. they will focus their attention on several works that reflect in an accurate way the social mores.
- Analyzes the situation of english women during the eighteenth century, that despite several social improvements, continued to have less rights or freedom than men within the family and marriage as an institution.
- Analyzes how tony's false directions lead marlow and hastings to the hardcastle residence, but the travelers don't realize this since the mansion resembles an inn.
- Analyzes how mary wollstonecraft exposes the tendency of arranged marriages where love is forgotten and only the possible benefits that both parts can obtain from the union are taken into account.
- Analyzes the role of women in the eighteenth century english society.
- Analyzes how defoe's "moll flanders" is about the evolution of a woman from low to mid-class status.
- Analyzes how she stoops to conquer sets an example on the figures of hastings and neville.
- Analyzes how mary narrates a similar story in mary the wrongs of woman. working women were not accepted by society and the only jobs that they could get were those implying hard physical work.
- Analyzes how mary wollstonecraft shows the misery of women who prostituted themselves because they did not have any other option. jemina is a clear example who, after being raped by her master at the age of 16, will be used by men for the rest of her life.
- Analyzes how the social and sexual mores between women and men were not equal when applied to both parts separately.
- Concludes that marriage in the eighteenth century did not go together with love, moreover they were considered opposed terms most of the times. mary describes the lack of love that runs through her marriage, while transforming it into a general declaration.
- Concludes that the separation between love and marriage is clear through all the examples they have analyzed. the existence of arranged marriages and consequently the lack of love turned matrimony into a prison where women were locked.
- Explains that pelikan ty, e., unsex'd revolutionaries: five women novelists of the 1790's.
- Describes spencer, j., the rise of the woman novelist: from aphra behn to jane austen.
3109 wordsRead More