How to identify the best of Virginia Woolf

"Women, then, have not had a dog's chance of writing poetry. That is why I have laid so much stress on money and a room of one's own." – Virginia Woolf


An avant garde who was far ahead of her times, Virginia Woolf introduced an entire movement of thought and of course highlighted the stream of consciousness technique. These works also highlighted feminism, bipolar disorder, post- traumatic stress disorder, and existentialism.


A Room of One’s Own that was originally written as an essay was later published as a book. It was viewed as a piece of feminist literature and discussed a woman’s right to education and being financially independent to write poetry. It also discussed whether women would ever produce the same quality of work that Shakespeare wrote. Woolf went on to fabricate a fictitious character called Judith Shakespeare who could’ve had been William Shakespeare’s sister and confined within the four walls of their home. While William went to school, Judith ran the errands of the house. Moreover when she wanted to have access to the kind of education that her brother had, her fate was sealed and she was about to be married. While Judith Shakespeare did not want to be married, she was physically assaulted by her father and at the end, she committed suicide. Here Virginia Woolf wanted to highlight the danger in not allowing women to define their lives and destinies. This essay is one of her best works; first published in 1929, it has influenced several writers and has enabled people to understand several themes on women’s education and women’s suffrage.



Mrs. Dalloway is another piece of her writing that defines the stream of consciousness technique at its very best. The novel moves back and forth with the characters’ present and their past. It begins with Clarissa Dalloway in London who is about to host a dinner that night and while she is at it with her preparation for the dinner, she reminisces her past. She thinks about her past choices and wonders if she made the best choice. The novel throws light on the London’s elite and housewives’ narcissism and ennui at life in general. It also illustrates a fiercely independent woman in Sally Seton. Therefore in this manner, the book reveals the paradoxical sides of different women: financial repression and freedom.



Mrs. Dalloway also highlighted post-traumatic disorder which was then an aftermath of the First World War. It had an underlying message that the war was not forgotten and many soldiers who returned home alive had to cope with the grief and shock of having seen their friends and comrades killed. Septimus Warren Smith was one such person who hallucinated and found life too difficult to cope with after returning from the war. Note that post-traumatic disorder was an important inclusion in British literature in the 1920s. This book also revealed a side of partly-stoical and existential element in people. Clarissa remained poised and perfectly alright on hearing about Septimus’ death during the party.



Woolf was dead against the way patients suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder were being treated those days. In Mrs. Dalloway, she was successful in showing the cool detachment in all those people whose lives were not affected by this illness. She also revealed bipolar disorder from which she suffered. In a way, Mrs. Dalloway ran parallel with her life.



To the Lighthouse unfolds a story where Lily Briscoe is struggling to paint in the throes of a conflict. It also throws light on the First World War and men seeking emotional strength from women.



Further there are other works such as The Waves, Orlando, Flush, Three Guineas, and others that shed light on Woolf’s perception of Fascism and the times in which she lived.