Virginia Woolf s The Hours - 970 Words

Virginia Woolf, portrayed by Nicole Kidman in Stephen Daldry’s The Hours, is an author who experiences depressive symptoms while writing her novel, Mrs. Dalloway (Fox, 2003). In this paper, I will demonstrate that Virginia Woolf meets the DSM-5 diagnostic criteria for a major depressive episode. There are several possible stresses in Woolf’s life that may be contributing to her depression. One is the stress and isolation Woolf feels living in the suburb of Richmond. Although her husband states that they made to move in an attempt to relieve Woolf’s depression, Woolf herself states that if given the choice between Richmond and death, she would choose death. Another possible stressor in Woolf’s life is the task of writing a novel. Yet another stressor could be difficulties in Woolf’s interpersonal relationships. Woolf expresses that â€Å"even crazy people like to be asked [to parties].† Whether Woolf’s interpersonal difficulties contribute to her depression or are a result of it is unclear, however. An additional stressor may be the incestuous relationship Woolf has with her sister. We may not speculate upon a history of abuse in Woolf’s childhood but the nature of Woolf’s relationship with her sister goes against cultur al norms of acceptable sexual behaviour at the time, being both incestuous and homosexual. In addition, although some people may not feel distressed at the existence of extramarital feelings for someone, many do. This abnormal relationship may be distressing toShow MoreRelated The Importance of Time in Virginia Woolfs Mrs. Dalloway Essay1603 Words   |  7 PagesThe Importance of Time in Virginia Woolfs Mrs. Dalloway We live in a consumer society consuming time. We use time to function smoothly but also to channel the direction of our lives. As a college student, I am constantly aware of time. I have a time frame for finishing my college career, as well as constant deadlines to meet. Daily, I divide my hours between my job, my studies, and my friends. In the midst of following external time, I strive for a balance with my internal time. My personalRead MoreEssay on The Hours by Michael Cunningham1456 Words   |  6 PagesIn his novel The Hours, Michael Cunningham creates a dazzling fabric of queer references managing to intertwine the lives of three different women into one smooth narrative. In this essay, I will discuss what makes The Hours queer literature, how the novel has contributed to the queer genre, the cultural significance of the novel, and I will discuss several points made in Jeanette McVicker’s critical article â€Å"Gaps and Absences in The Hours.† My aim, however, i s not to say that Michael Cunningham’sRead MoreParallels Between Mrs Dalloway and The Hours1059 Words   |  5 PagesThe ongoing relationship between the literary movements of modernism and post-modernism is encompassed by the intertextual relationships between Stephen Daldry’s â€Å"The Hours† and Virginia Woolf’s â€Å"Mrs Dalloway†. These relationships communicate the inadequacy of previous writings to convey trauma, cultural crisis and the deep fragmentation within their respective societies. The immediate context of these social dialogues creates a clear division between each text, however the intertextual similaritiesRead MoreEssay on Expectations in the Movie The Hours3010 Words   |  13 PagesExpectations in the Movie The Hours We expect those endowed with a gift - be it artistic, intellectual or circumstantial - to cultivate that gift and use it as a vehicle for excellence in life. In the movie The Hours Virginia Woolf, the 20th Century British author; Laura Brown, a doted-upon 1951 Los Angeles housewife; and Clarissa Vaughan, a 2001 New York editor; struggle with their gifts and the expectations they, and others, have for themselves. All three women are obsessed with findingRead MoreEssay on Death and Rebirth in the Hours1365 Words   |  6 PagesDeath and re-birth in The Hours Adapted from Michael Cunninghams Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Director Stephen Daldry and playwright David Hare, The Hours was inspired by Virginia Woolfs 1925 novel Mrs. Dalloway. It is no coincidence that The Hours was the working title Woolf had given Mrs. Dalloway as she was writing it. The emotional trauma that this film guides its viewers through becomes evident in the opening prologue. The scene begins with Virginia Woolf composing what would be herRead MoreAnalytical Essay : Dead Man s Path By Chinua Achebe And A Clean, Well Lighted Place1337 Words   |  6 Pagesanalytical it is asking you to analyze the literature. I will be taking a deeper look into three different short stories. Two of my favorite short stories this semester were Dead Man s Path† by Chinua Achebe and â€Å"A Clean, Well-Lighted Place† By Ernest Hemingway. My third choice was a short story by Viginia Woolf called â€Å"A Haunted House.† â€Å"Dead Man’s Path† was written by a man named Chinua Achebe who was a devout christian. He was very talented and began learning English by the age of eight. WhileRead More Linear Time Structure of the Western World1448 Words   |  6 Pagestime-monitoring devices. In Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway, for example, the day is structured by the tolling of Big Ben. Woolf explains that â€Å"the sound of Big Ben striking the half-hour struck out between them with extraordinary vigour, as if a young man, strong, indifferent, inconsiderate, were swinging dumb-bells this way and that† (Woolf 48). Later, she says that â€Å"it was precisely twelve o’clock; twelve by Big Ben; whose stroke was wafted over the northern part of London† (Woolf 94). There is a similarRead MoreCritical Analysis Paper for a Room of Ones Own1193 Words   |  5 PagesCritical Essay, A Room of Ones Own English 374: Austen, Bronte, and Woolf Kendra Plowden For centuries women have been forced into a role which denied them equal education opportunities. Virginia Woolfe expresses her frustration on why women were denied privacy in her novel , A Room of Ones Own. Where she compare the traditional lifestyle tailored made for the opposite sex and the sacrafices that came with it. Wendy Gen feels, Though women through the centuries have not always enjoyed roomsRead MoreIntertextuality in the Hours4441 Words   |  18 PagesIn The Hours Intertextuality is a term first introduced by French semiotician Julia Kristeva in the late sixties. She says that a literary work is not simply the product of a single author, but of its relationship to other texts and to the strucutures of language itself. Any text, she argues, is constructed of a mosaic of quotations; any text is the absorption and transformation of another. ( www.litencyclopedia.com, Kristeva: Word, Dialogue, and Novel, 1966). The Hours is a pieceRead MoreAnalysis Of Who s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf1609 Words   |  7 Pages Analysis Who s Afraid of Virginia Woolf Edward Albee is a well known American was born in Virginia, he moved to New York to start his passion of writing plays and he wrote his first play which is The Zoo story, Albee then started to spend most of his time in the American University Theater. Albee became famous and received numerous amount of awards. He won awards for his plays that include Seascape