Virginia Woolf: Gender Differences And Women Writing Research

Virginia Woolf (1882-1941) is well-known for her modern avant-garde writing and stream-of-consciousness technique. Later in the 1950-60s, she is regarded as foremother of the Western feminism. For she enhances her feminist thought to a theoretical level, which includes women's history and literary history, women's writing, androgyny, lesbianism, etc. under sexual difference, and for the first time in history introduces her feminist thought to literary criticism. She thus makes the feminist thought as an alternative voice different from the patriarchal criticism. Her successors orient it toward cultural criticism and form an independent school of feminist criticism on the theoretical discourse, a very important dimension and focus in the Western culture.This dissertation aims at Virginia Woolf's thought of sexual difference, analyses and studies its presentation in her feminist writing. It consists of 3 parts: the introduction, body and conclusion. The introduction presents a brief outline of the research project. The conclusion summarizes the influence on and importance of Virginia Woolf in the history of the Western Women's Movements and feminist development. And the body of the dissertation is composed of five chapters.Chapter One gives a general account of the relationship between Virginia Woolf and the Western Women's Movements and feminist development, the significance of the research, the literary review in this subject and the research methodology. The thesis holds that Woolf's feminist thought has a very important position in the Western femimism, not only because she joined the first wave of the Women's Movements, but also because she has a close relationship with Western feminism. For her feminism is the guide in the cause of the Women's Movements and Western feminism. Her writing has the same significance as great as that of the Women's Movements themselves in the first part of the twentieth century, if not greater.Chapter Two studies Virginia Woolf's thought of sexual difference and its two important contents--- androgyny and woman's writing. For she believes that there is sexual difference between man and woman both in life and in art, which leads to different values. The thought of sexual difference has an epoch-making significance, and becomes the leading principle of the second wave of the Women's Movements. Woolf plays as a pioneer in writing women's characteristics and values into literature. Chapter Three mainly discusses about Virginia Woolf's presentation of lesbianism, and women's sexual experience and sexual desire in her works, which remain a dark continent before her. This is where men can't consider and know, and this is also where women are different from men. She thinks that women share their common fate, they tend to like each other and gather together to share their common sensations and experiences. Consequently, they have the desire to create their own world different from men's. The sexual taboo in Woolf's time does not prevent her from writing about them. The dissertation holds that she acts as a pioneer and taboo-breaker once more, by truthfully writing down women-to-women relationship and their sexual experience. Therefore, she opens up a new area for women's history and provides a model of woman's writing for her successors.Chapter Four explores Virginia Woolf's reflections and deconstruction of public and private worlds. Woolf thinks that the binary opposition of the two worlds is one of the sources that oppress women. For she believes that the two worlds are inseparably connected; that the tyrannies and servilities of the one are the tyrannies and servilities of the other. Therefore, Woolf tries to deconstruct the patriarchal system and thus build a better one, i.e., a women's republic.Chapter Five focuses on the efforts Virginia Woolf spends in tracking down, digging out and reconstructing women's history and literature. For she thinks British history has excluded women. Women's history is intentionally"lost","forgotten"or"squeezed"by the male history writers. She holds that individual woman's history is connected with the history of women as a whole, with the history of the whole nation and the world as well. The thesis holds that Woolf plays as an explorer and constructor of women's history, thus having a critical role in women's history in the world.