Orlando: A Biography
“Come, come! I’m sick to death of this particular self. I want another.”
As his tale begins, Orlando is a passionate sixteen-year-old nobleman whose days are spent in rowdy revelry, filled with the colorful delights of Queen Elizabeth I’s court. By the close, three centuries have passed, and he will have transformed into a thirty-six-year-old woman in the year 1928. Orlando’s journey is also an internal one—he is an impulsive poet who learns patience in matter of the heart, and a woman who knows what it is to be a man.
Virginia Woolf’s most unusual creation, Orlando is a fantastical biography as well as a funny, exuberant romp through history that examines the true nature of sexuality.
As his tale begins, Orlando is a passionate sixteen-year-old nobleman whose days are spent in rowdy revelry, filled with the colorful delights of Queen Elizabeth I’s court. By the close, three centuries have passed, and he will have transformed into a thirty-six-year-old woman in the year 1928. Orlando’s journey is also an internal one—he is an impulsive poet who learns patience in matter of the heart, and a woman who knows what it is to be a man.
Virginia Woolf’s most unusual creation, Orlando is a fantastical biography as well as a funny, exuberant romp through history that examines the true nature of sexuality.
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Community Reviews
I wrote a paper on this, so I get it more now. I think I love her wording more than anything, and the way her personality comes through in this book.. as if the biographer and narrator and protagonist all share blood.
I do still actually criticize some of her ideas. She has a bit of an elitist edge, inability to see past her class. Aristocratic stories are also really boring, so even though Orlando is an interesting experiment and a dedicated writer, showing us the downfalls of being a woman who makes art in a man's world... she really does fail to see class (and probably race... free use of n word makes for uncomfortable).
In A Room of One's Own Virginia her elitism really does start coming through. It's a logical concept to have some way of supporting yourself in order to fund your other passions, but to say that anger doesn't produce good art and that angry women are clouding their judgment. I dunno, she really lucked out in some ways and doesn't acknowledge it at all.
I do still actually criticize some of her ideas. She has a bit of an elitist edge, inability to see past her class. Aristocratic stories are also really boring, so even though Orlando is an interesting experiment and a dedicated writer, showing us the downfalls of being a woman who makes art in a man's world... she really does fail to see class (and probably race... free use of n word makes for uncomfortable).
In A Room of One's Own Virginia her elitism really does start coming through. It's a logical concept to have some way of supporting yourself in order to fund your other passions, but to say that anger doesn't produce good art and that angry women are clouding their judgment. I dunno, she really lucked out in some ways and doesn't acknowledge it at all.
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