During the 1920s and 30s, Virginia Woolf published some of her most popular and influential novels and essays, including her experimental novel, The Waves. Her upbringing and various experiences, both positive and negative, impacted her belief and writing style. Woolf created many diverse characters throughout her lifetime, including her progressive characters in The Waves. Her feminist beliefs prompted her to develop two opposing women, who represent different lifestyles. In her novel, The Waves, Virginia Woolf designed Jinny and Susan to model two opposite types of femininity; progressive and traditional.
Considering Virginia Woolf’s early life was filled with a number of influential literary figures, it is no surprise that she became so
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As the novel continues, they age and go away to school. While at school, some characters start behaving in ways that would be frowned upon at the time. For example, Jinny dreams of living her life independently. She represents feminist ideal that Woolf supported during her lifetime. Jinny knows early on that she never wants to settle down or “belong” to anyone but herself. She takes on various lovers and lives a purely physical existence. She cares about her appearance, and worries about it as she ages, but does not let anything hold her back from living the life she loves. At this time, and even now, Jinny’s behavior would have been seen as scandalous and wrong, but Woolf never portrays her in a negative light. Neville is another example of a progressive character. While he is away at school, it becomes obvious that he is in love with another man, Percival. However, Percival dies when he is in his mid-twenties. The six characters were all close to Percival, so his death devastates all of them. Neville is the most heartbroken, and never recovers. This causes him to have various lovers throughout his life. Again, Woolf never shows Neville in a poor way. As the characters age and mature, all of them show various diverse qualities. Two of them, Bernard and Susan, live out “normal” lives; they get married and have children. But the others take different paths. Louis becomes a wealthy businessman, Jinny continues to switch lovers and attend large parties, Neville becomes a famous writer, and Rhoda struggles to find her place in the world. The Waves uses these characters’ lives to send a message of diversity from Woolf to her wide