検索キーワード： 著者 "Virginia Woolf" すべてのカテゴリー

Published seven years after the first instalment, The Common Reader: Second Series explores the works of Thomas Hardy, Laurence Stern and George Eliot, elegantly dissecting the art of the biography and the very nature of reading itself. Again Woolf speaks from the perspective of the everyday reader, urging for an intuitive and curious approach to literature – one which allows for freedom and experimentation as opposed to academic rigour.

Championing the everyday, ‘common’ reader, Woolf emphasises the importance of reading for curiosity and interest, as opposed to academic analysis. In a delightfully conversational tone and with personal flair, Woolf explores the works of classical and contemporary authors alike; from Chaucer and Austen to Defoe and Montaigne. Effortlessly blending biography, criticism and philosophy, these brilliantly written essays showcase Woolf’s passion for literature, and particularly its ability to shape life as we know it.

Based on two lectures Woolf delivered at the University of Cambridge, A Room of One’s Own compellingly argues for women’s intellectual freedom and the importance of financial independence. It is still considered one of the most powerful pieces of feminist writing to this day. Published in 1929, A Room of One’s Own asserts a simple message: in order for women to reach their full creative potential, they must have their own money and space with which to do it with.

Virginia Woolf's 1925 novel takes place over the course of a single June day in the lives of some very different Londoners: wealthy society hostess Clarissa Dalloway, who is preparing for a party; her old friend Peter Walsh, recently returned from India, whose proposal of marriage Clarissa rejected years ago; Septimus Warren Smith, a WWI veteran suffering from shell shock; and his Italian-born wife, Rezia, who is trying to care for him as best she can. Woolf's beautiful prose captures the minds and souls of these vivid characters.

To the Lighthouse is a landmark work of English fiction. Virginia Woolf explores perception and meaning in some of the most beautiful prose ever written, minutely detailing the characters thoughts and impressions. This unabridged version is read by Juliet Stevenson.

A Room of One's Own, based on a lecture given at Girton College Cambridge, is one of the great feminist polemics. Woolf's blazing polemic on female creativity, the role of the writer, and the silent fate of Shakespeare's imaginary sister remains a powerful reminder of a woman's need for financial independence and intellectual freedom.

Elegantly covering topics such as the nature of reality, the power of memory and the priceless value of literature, in this sophisticated collection of essays, Woolf more than ever focuses her attention on the fleeting moments of life that meaningfully shape the human experience. In the title essay, The Moment, she pursues the powerful, albeit brief, moments that enable a potent feeling of being utterly understood, and consequently, wholeheartedly alive.

In the aftermath of World War I, Clarissa Dalloway is an upper-class politician’s wife, who longs for the carefree, impassioned days of her youth. Her marriage to a sensible man gives her many opportunities to socialize and progress in society, but this practicality also prevented her from following other romantic and personal passions. These old regrets come to new light as Clarissa is reintroduced to Peter Walsh, a man she loved—and who had proposed to her—in her younger days.

Six children - Bernard, Susan, Rhoda, Neville, Jinny and Louis - meet in a garden close to the sea, their voices sounding over the constant echo of the waves that roll back and forth from the shore. The book follows them as they develop from childhood to maturity and follow different passions and ambitions; their voices are interspersed with interludes from the timeless and unifying chorus of nature.

It is a June day in London in 1923, and the lovely Clarissa Dalloway is having a party. Whom will she see? Her friend Peter, back from India, who has never really stopped loving her? What about Sally, with whom Clarissa had her life’s happiest moment? Meanwhile, the shell-shocked Septimus Smith is struggling with his life on the same London day.

To the Lighthouse chronicles the lives of the Ramsay family and their close friends, from the tranquil and motherly Mrs. Ramsay to the tragic and eccentric Mr. Ramsay, and their eight children and varied guests. Woolf uses the three movements of the novel to capture their complex family allegiances and the tensions between men and women at the time. Centered around their visits to the Isle of Skye between 1910 and 1920, the novel is an examination of the quiet, seemingly trivial moments of everyday life.

A single day becomes the entirety of a life in Virginia Woolf’s enduring exploration of a woman’s soul and purpose. As society hostess Clarissa Dalloway prepares for a party, she also reflects hour by hour on her past, her secret burdens, her safe marriage, and other compromises that have brought her to this moment in time. But elsewhere in London, a stranger, a damaged World War I veteran, makes irreversible choices of his own - choices that will intrude on Mrs. Dalloway’s reverie before the night is over.

Fantasy, love and an exuberant celebration of English life and literature, Orlando is a uniquely entertaining story. Originally conceived by Virginia Woolf as a playful tribute to the family of her friend and lover, Vita Sackville-West, Orlando's central character, a fictional embodiment of Sackville-West, changes sex from a man to a woman and lives throughout the centuries, whilst meeting historical figures of English literature.

A Room of One's Own, based on a lecture given at Girton College Cambridge, is one of the great feminist polemics. Woolf's blazing writing on female creativity, the role of the writer, and the silent fate of Shakespeare's imaginary sister remains a powerful reminder of a woman's need for financial independence and intellectual freedom.

An extended essay initially written in response to a letter pondering how to end war, Three Guineas eloquently relates women’s equal opportunity to the end of the power structures which contribute to conflict. Using the metaphor of three guineas, Woolf highlights three worthy causes to donate to in order to end violence: rebuilding education for women, supporting professional opportunities for women and the promotion of pacifism.

Published in 1919, Woolf's early novel unfolds in Edwardian London, where Katherine Hilbery, the granddaughter of a celebrated poet, navigates questions of marriage, independence and intellectual freedom. Her forthright acquaintance, Mary Datchet, a suffragist committed to political change, carries a contrasting vision of life and love, and her opinions throw Katherine's choices into sharp relief. While more traditional in form than Woolf's later works, Night and Day reveals her emerging mastery of psychological depth and subtle irony.

A beguiling trio of fantastical and farcical anti-fairy tales about a giantess who builds a magical “cottage of one’s own,” battles a silver-scaled sea monster, and defies governesses and gravity alike.

Written in 1927, To the Lighthouse is Virginia Woolf's experimental and brilliant third novel. The narrative concerns the annual visits by the Ramsay family to their summer home in the Isle of Skye in Scotland between 1910 and 1920. Once again employing her unique stream-of-consciousness style of writing, Woolf creates a fascinating and complex novel where the point of view of the narration switches between the various Ramsay family members and their guests.

The Ported fingers of glass hang downwards. The light slides down the glass, and drops a pool of green. All day long the ten fingers of the lustre drop green upon the marble. The feathers of parakeets their harsh cries sharp blades of palm trees green, too.

The collected BBC dramatisations of the fiction of Virginia Woolf, with star casts including Kristin Scott-Thomas, Vanessa Redgrave, Juliet Stevenson, Laura Fraser, Robert Glenister and Fenella Woolgar....