Virginia Woolf\'s Novels. Specifically it

¶ … Virginia Woolf's novels. Specifically it will create a research proposal to discuss the author's dialogue about war in her novels, and analyze the social and psychological implications of war in the context of gender relations.

This project will utilize several novels included in classroom study, namely "Mrs. Dalloway," "To the Lighthouse," "Jacob's Room," "A Room of One's Own, and "A Writer's Diary." The research will scour these novels for Woolf's references and feelings about war in general, to derive her own thoughts about war and society. (One possible conclusion is that Woolf, in her own way, used the war between nations to examine the nature of war between the sexes, a war which endorses gender polarization with direct consequences for both women and men.) Other conclusions are certainly probable.

To derive this information, a brief examination of Woolf's life will be necessary, as a background to the research and eventual conclusions. A brief discussion of World War I, the catalyst for wartime discussion for Woolf and many of her friends and acquaintances is also necessary for background information.

Then after reading and research, a set of questions will be derived to assess the information and its importance. These questions include:

How do the references to war in these works influence the characters and their actions?

How do these references influence the reader's feelings about war and violence in society? or, do they influence the reader at all?

How do Woolf's views on war correlate to war between the sexes, or do they?

What do other authors and researchers have to say about Woolf's writings and how they relate to war?

What are these experts' conclusions about Woolf and war?

Do their conclusions support my own conclusions about Woolf's meaning and feelings about war?

After answering these questions, the research should provide enough information to come to a conclusion about Woolf's war writings, her feelings about war, and if indeed her writing does compare or examine war in relationship to war between the sexes and these direct consequences for men and women.

Some potential resources for the research include:

Carter, Mia. "History's Child: Virginia Woolf, Heritage, and Historical Consciousness." Alif: Journal of Comparative Poetics (2007): 68+.

A background of Woolf's early life and her continued social and historical consciousness throughout her life.

Eide, Marian. "The Stigma of Nation': Feminist Just War, Privilege, and Responsibility." Hypatia; Spring, 2008, Vol. 23 Issue 2. 48-60.

Author draws her thesis from the title of one of Woolf's works, and discusses the feminist position on war, exclusion, and "just war."

Froula, Christine. Virginia Woolf and the Bloomsbury Avant-Garde: War, Civilization, Modernity. New York: Columbia University Press, 2005.

An excellent discussion of Woolf and her views on war, including her interaction with groups opposing and writing about war and society.

Hollander, Rachel. "Novel Ethics: Alterity and Form in 'Jacob's Room'." Twentieth Century Literature; Spring, 2007, Vol. 53 Issue 1. 40-66.

Discusses Woolf's novel in terms of "gender, urbanism, and war" while reflecting on the differences between modernist and Victorian writings.

Kramer, Jerome V. "The Woolf Pack: Michael Cunningham's the Hours Put the Spotlight on One Virginia Woolf Novel, but Don't Overlook the Others." Book May-June, 2003: 26+.

Discusses the remake of the book "The Hours," but includes brief synopsis of other Woolf works, especially as they relate to war.

Kovacevic, Natasa. "Beyond the Politics of Emancipation: Utopianism and Radical (Im)possibilities in Virginia Woolf." LIT: Literature Interpretation Theory; July, 2005, Vol. 16 Issue 3. 333-357.