Emma Lynch Mrs. Oliveros British Literature H October 28, 2015 Influential Author and Feminist Life in Victorian England during the 19th century was predominantly a patriarchal society. Virginia Woolf was among a large group that profoundly resented their role in Victorian society. During this time, women had set responsibilities: they were expected to nurture, preserve, and repair. Virginia Woolf wanted to break this mold by becoming an author and integrating her feminist beliefs into her novels. As a result, Virginia Woolf is a prominent figure in the feminist movement, as she challenges the idea of a patriarchal society in her novel To the Lighthouse by deconstructing the feminine archetype of the Victorian era. Woolf disagrees that men …show more content…
She was a child of the perfect Victorian parents. Her father, Sir Leslie Stephen, was a ‘Victorian man of letters’ as he was the founding editor of the Dictionary of National Biography. Her mother, Julia Duckworth Stephen, was a former model for Edward Burne-Jones and George Frederick Watts. Julia Stephen was primarily famed for her beauty. Sir Leslie Stephen had multiple marriages. His first marriage was with Harriet Marion “Minny” Thackeray, the daughter of acclaimed English novelist, William Makepeace Thackeray. Together they had one daughter, Laura Makepeace Stephen. Laura Stephen was mentally disabled, and this eventually led her to be institutionalized in 1891. In the summer of 1875, Minny Thackeray was pregnant again. However, Minny unexpectedly passed away on November 28. Sir Leslie Stephen was remarried to Julia Prinsep Duckworth on March 26, 1878. She had three children from her previous marriage to Herbert Duckworth – George, Stella, and Gerald. Within four years of Stephen and Duckworth’s marriage, Julia bore four children: Vanessa, Julian Thoby, Adeline Virginia Stephen, and Adrian. All eight Stephen children lived in Kensington, England at 22 Hyde Parke …show more content…
Virginia’s father was an editor, critic, and biographer, and his connection with William Thackeray gave her the opportunity to be raised in an environment influenced by the authors of Victorian literature. The Stephen’s household welcomed many frequent visitors, authors, historians, philosophers, editors, and critics of the Victorian era. Luminaries such as the American poet, James Russell Lowell, novelist, W.M. Thackeray, and famous British writers, George Meredith and Thomas Hardy, as well as American writer, Henry James all encouraged Virginia’s writing as a child (Brackett). Virginia Stephen’s brothers also valued education. Thoby and Adrian were sent off to Cambridge, which provided both of them with opportunities and privileges Virginia would never see, as she was