Virginia Woolf's only play-a hilarious farce taken from the life of her great-aunt, Julia Margaret Cameron, the famous Victorian photographer. It was first performed at Vanessa Bell's London studio in 1935 as one of Bloomsbury's theatrical evenings and later, in New York, in a star-studded French production. Edited and with a Preface by Lucio P. Ruotolo; drawings by Edward Gorey.
SHAW 21 offers readers an eclectic perspective on Shaw, his works, and his contemporaries. Basil Langton, actor and director, reminisces about his early development as an actor, his meeting with Shaw, and his career as director of many of Shaw's plays. He focuses upon Shaw's stagecraft, augmenting his views with those of Sybil Thorndike and Sir Lewis Casson, whom he interviewed in 1960. Galen Goodwin Longstreth analyzes the correspondence between Shaw and Ellen Terry and argues that the exchange is itself a literary genre, a dramatic performance that reveals their personal identities. The next two contributors, Stanley Weintraub and Andrea Adolph, examine the Shaw/Virginia Woolf relationship. Weintraub focuses on those occasions when their respective lives touched each other, what their feelings for each other were, and how those occasions were obliquely woven into Shaw's plays, most notably Heartbreak House. Professor Adoph argues that in Woolf's only dramatic text, Freshwater: A Comedy, she was conforming to the traditional theatrical mode of the day, dominated, of course, by Shaw, but that she subverted his traditional literary depiction of paternity as, for example, the paternity dramatized in Major Barbara. Sidney Albert and Bernard Dukore provide unique perspectives on reading Major Barbara. Albert shows how John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress serves as Shaw's source for Barbara's progress toward enlightened understanding. Dukore, focusing on the perspective of the familial relationship within the play, concludes that Shaw's dialectic gives the kids the future and not the dad. It will be the next generation, not Father Undershaft, who will determine where society will go next. Julie Sparks and Martin Bucco approach Shaw from a comparative basis, juxtaposing him with two American writers, contemporaries of Shaw, Mark Twain and Sinclair Lewis, respectively. Sparks explores the commonality that exists in Shaw's and Twain's thinking about evolution, namely, their heretical visions of a post-Darwinian Eden. Both viewed conventional Christianity iconoclastically, but both arrived at different conclusions about human origin and destiny, a view Sparks describes as emanating from the deist-pessimist-evolutionary-determinist perspective versus the mystic-optimistic-creative-evolutionist perspective, or the Personal Godhead versus the Impersonal Force. Professor Bucco enumerates the many references Sinclair Lewis makes to Bernard Shaw throughout his writings, both prose and fiction, to underscore the American novelist's admiration for the Irish playwright, both recipients of the Nobel Prize for Literature. The final two contributors to SHAW 21, Rodelle Weintraub and William Doan, provide the readers with distinctive perspectives on John Bull's Other Island and The Doctor's Dilemma, respectively. Weintraub recasts the play into a dream sequence whereby Doyle's dream becomes an artifice for problem solving. Implied within Father Keegan's lines in the play, "Every dream is a prophecy: every jest is an earnest in the womb of Time," is the resolution of Doyle's problem with Nora, the girl he had left behind, and of the dream of modernizing Roscullen. Doan suggests that in The Doctor's Dilemma Shaw uses the idea of unconsummated adultery to argue for the efficacy of art over science. In the conflict between the artist and the scientist, the latter plans to have the artist's muse. In the end, not only is he deprived of the wife but also of the works of art themselves and the spirit that animates them. SHAW 21 also includes three reviews of recent additions to Shavian scholarship as well as John R. Pfeiffer's "Continuing Checklist of Shaviana."
THE STORY: Sister Elizabeth Donderstock is Squeamish, has been her whole life. She makes cheese balls (traditional and smoky) that sustain the existence of her entire religious community, Clusterhaven. However, she feels unappreciated among her Squ
The renaissance of Virginia Woolf reflects a reassessment not only of Woolf as a writer but also of our social and political life as a whole. It points up differences between English and American readers, between older and younger critics, between men and women. Particularly striking in the revaluation is a tendency to approach Woolf as a soliloquist, a person, rather than as a detached and formal artist. In this collection, Ralph Freedman has brought together some of Woolf's most interesting commentators, whose varied concerns, traditional and modern, demonstrate the vitality and scope of Woolf criticism. Virginia Woolf: Revaluation and Continuity contains essays by Ralph Freedman, Harvena Richter, James Hafley, Avrom Fleishman, F. P. W. McDowell, Jane Marcus, Lucio Ruotolo, Maria DiBattista, Jean O. Love, Madeline Moore, James Naremore, and B. H. Fussell. This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1980.
Amid the tumultuous landscape of early 20th-century literature, a voice emerged that would forever alter the contours of modern fiction. This collection of intimate diaries offers an unprecedented glimpse into the mind of one of the greatest literary figures of her time. Spanning over three decades, these journals reveal Virginia Woolf's innermost thoughts, struggles, and triumphs, providing an intimate counterpoint to her well-known novels. Readers are invited to witness the raw, unfiltered emotions that fueled Woolf's groundbreaking works, from the initial spark of inspiration to the painstaking process of creation. Her reflections on the cultural and political upheavals of her era, her candid observations on fellow writers, and her deeply personal battles with mental illness paint a vivid portrait of a woman driven by an insatiable quest for artistic perfection and personal truth. This edition collects all five volumes of Woolf’s published diaries, spanning from 1915 to 1941. VIRGINIA WOOLF [1882–1941] was an English author. With novels like Jacob’s Room [1922], Mrs Dalloway [1925], To the Lighthouse [1927], and Orlando [1928], she became a leading figure of modernism and is considered one of the most important English-language authors of the 20th century. As a thinker, with essays like A Room of One’s Own [1929], Woolf has influenced the women’s movement in many countries.
Virginia Woolf's 'The Complete Works of Virginia Woolf' is a masterpiece that showcases the evolution of her writing style and literary themes. This collection includes her groundbreaking novels such as 'Mrs. Dalloway' and 'To the Lighthouse,' as well as her renowned essays and short stories. Woolf's stream-of-consciousness narrative technique and exploration of gender roles and societal norms make her works a vital contribution to modernist literature. Readers will be captivated by the complex characters, rich symbolism, and innovative storytelling found throughout this comprehensive collection. Virginia Woolf's ability to dive deep into the psyche of her characters and challenge conventional storytelling make her a significant figure in the literary world. Her writing reflects her own struggles with mental health and societal expectations, adding depth and authenticity to her works. 'The Complete Works of Virginia Woolf' is a must-read for anyone interested in exploring the complexities of human experience and the art of storytelling.
Amid the tumultuous landscape of early 20th-century literature, a voice emerged that would forever alter the contours of modern fiction. This collection of intimate diaries offers an unprecedented glimpse into the mind of one of the greatest literary figures of her time. Spanning over several years, these journals reveal Virginia Woolf's innermost thoughts, struggles, and triumphs, providing an intimate counterpoint to her well-known novels. Readers are invited to witness the raw, unfiltered emotions that fueled Woolf's groundbreaking works, from the initial spark of inspiration to the painstaking process of creation. Her reflections on the cultural and political upheavals of her era, her candid observations on fellow writers, and her deeply personal battles with mental illness paint a vivid portrait of a woman driven by an insatiable quest for artistic perfection and personal truth. The Diary of Virginia Woolf, Volume II collects Woolf’s diaries between 1920 and 1924. VIRGINIA WOOLF [1882–1941] was an English author. With novels like Jacob’s Room [1922], Mrs Dalloway [1925], To the Lighthouse [1927], and Orlando [1928], she became a leading figure of modernism and is considered one of the most important English-language authors of the 20th century. As a thinker, with essays like A Room of One’s Own [1929], Woolf has influenced the women’s movement in many countries.
