This document provides an analysis of Virginia Woolf's novel Orlando from a feminist perspective. It begins with a brief biography of Woolf, noting she was an important modernist author who pioneered stream of consciousness writing. The analysis then examines how Orlando represents the protagonist's life through different periods of British history. Most importantly, it explores Orlando's change in sexual identity from man to woman as a reflection of Woolf's belief in sexual ambiguity and vision of gender equality. By feeling comfortable in both male and female identities and roles, Orlando embodies Woolf's feminist message that gender should not limit one's actions. The document concludes that Woolf used Orlando to defend the equality of gender through the protagonist's experience of sexual identity.

1. Orlando
A Feminist Reading of
Virginia Woolf’s Orlando: A
Biography

2. • Name:- Aamena Rangwala
• Roll no:-1
• Enrollment no:-4069206420210028
• Subject:- 20th-century literature
• Email id:-
aamenarangwala51@gmail.com
• Batch:- (2021-23) M.A Sem 2
• Submitted to:-Department of English
Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji
Bhavnagar University

3. Table of content
Brief intro of Virginia woolf
01 02
03
A Feminist Approach to the
Work of Virginia Woolf:-
Orlando
Conclusion

4. Brief intro of Virginia woolf
01

5. Virginia Woolf
● Virginia Woolf was an English writer, considered one of the
most important modernist 20th-century authors and a pioneer
in the use of stream of consciousness as a narrative device.
● She was best known for her novels, especially Mrs. Dalloway
(1925) and To the Lighthouse (1927). She also wrote
pioneering essays on artistic theory, literary history, women's
writing, and the politics of power.

6. A Feminist Approach to the
Work of Virginia Woolf:-
Orlando
02

7. ● Orlando is a story of fantasy .The life of Orlando is represented in four different
periods
of the British History.
● At the beginning of the story, Orlando is a noble man who has
everything: all what a man could have in the Elizabethan Period. He travels, writes,
falls
in love, etc until he turns into Lady Orlando.
●
● The second part of the novel is the most important part because the process of
adaptation in the sexual identity is the key element of this feminist work.

8. ● Orlando feels comfortable being a man and being a woman.
● This fact reflects clearly the feminist vision of Virginia Woolf,
her belief in the sexual ambiguity.
● The following passage of the novel is a clear example of this
idea.

9. ORLANDO HAD BECOME A WOMAN THERE IS NO DENYING OF IT.
BUT IN EVERY OTHER RESPECT, ORLANDO REMAINS
PRECISELY AS HE HAD BEEN. THE CHANGE OF SEX, THOUGH IT
ALTERED THEIR FUTURE, DID NOTHING WHATEVER TO ALTER
THEIR IDENTITY.
● When in Constantinople amongst the natives, Orlando did not
experience gender differences due to her changed sex. However as
soon as she boards in love with Lady to return to England,
appropriately dressed as a “young Englishwoman of high rank”, she
realized that English “women are not ….. exquisitely apparelled by
nature”.

10. CLOTHES HAVE, THEY SAY, MORE IMPORTANT OFFICES
THAN MERELY TO KEEP US WARM. THEY CHANGE OUR
VIEW OF THE WORLD AND THE WORLD’S VIEW OF US.
● Cross-dressing in Orlando occurs fairly frequently. Archduke
Harry dresses as a woman, but later reveals himself as a
man. Similarly, even after Orlando’s sex change,
she continues to switch between clothes of both gender. This
motif functions in the novel to emphasize the similarities
between men and women, underneath their clothes, and
hence, that genders should be allowed more freedom in their
actions.

11. ● The feminist vision of the author is reflected on the sexual identity of the
protagonist.
● He/She feels confused sometimes by her/ his sexual identity, but, at the
end, Orlando ends up to be comfortable being a man or a being a woma.
The equality of gender defended by the author is reflected.
Conclusion

12. Resources
1. Parapar , P. L. (2014). A feminist approach to the work of Virginia Woolf: Orlando and a room of one’s own.
Retrieved April
11,2022,https://ruc.udc.es/dspace/bitstream/handle/2183/15703/Pernas_Parapar_Laura_2014_enfoque_feminis
ta_virginia_wollf2.pdf?sequence=3
2. Wikimedia Foundation. (2022, April 10). Virginia Woolf. Wikipedia. Retrieved April 11, 2022, from
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_Woolf
3. Rosewall, Kim. "Orlando." LitCharts. LitCharts LLC, 27 Aug 2019. Web. 11 Apr 2022.

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