Reading Notes Week 12: Woolf, Part A

Modernism:

- Lasted from 1900 to 1945.
- World population tripled from 2 million to 6 million.
- Advancements in technology, transportation, medical care, agriculture, nutrition and public health.
- Large cities became large, making urban life a common topic.
- Horrors of the modern era: 200 million dead of war, genocide, revolution, and famine.
- Major events: The Holocaust, WW1 and WW2, The Great Depression, Pearl Harbor.
- Together, these elements became the modernist movement.

Virginia Woolf:

- Feminist who frequently explored gender roles in her work.
- Known for the evocative way she combined the state of mind and body.
- Born as Adeline Virginia Stephen on January 25, 1882.
- Was one of four children to Leslie and Julia Stephen.
- Her two brothers were sent to boarding school while she and her sister were home schooled.
- She resented this unequal treatment and discouragement towards women becoming educated.
- Was mentally ill, received treatment but tried to kill herself multiple times.
- Only after both of her parents died did she become an author.

A Room of One's Own:

- Is both an essay and fiction. She asked her audience to find the truth in the "lies [that] will flow from my lips", meaning, as a novelist, she'd be taking creative liberties.
- The essay part is basically a plea to allow women to become educated and independent (having "a room of one's own") to allow them to contribute of literature even more.
- Woolf was a huge lesbian and wrote about it in this essay, telling her audience not to be shocked by girls liking other girls. She also discreetly gives tips on how to write and speak about lesbianism and get away with it.
- Talks about how she made money and how being financially stable gave her the independence she needed to become an author.

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