- Collection:
- Atlanta University and Clark Atlanta University Theses and Dissertations
- Title:
- The inner struggle of Woolf's heroines: their purpose of balance between feminine and masculine ideals, 2004
- Creator:
- Hall, Robin C.
- Date of Original:
- 2004-05-01
- Subject:
- Degrees, Academic
Dissertations, Academic - Location:
- United States, Georgia, Fulton County, Atlanta, 33.749, -84.38798
- Medium:
- theses
- Type:
- Text
- Format:
- application/pdf
- Description:
- The purpose of this research project is to chronicle Virginia Woolfs conceptions of gender and androgyny through the evolution of her female characters. While this study is concerned with Woolfs depiction of women in a male-dominated society, it also looks for patterns of thinking and action in her characters within their social and historical contexts. Each female character brings Woolf a step closer to creating a female character that defies the gender-based conventions. Through examining the disconnect between the outer world of appearance and the inner world of reality in the lives of her female characters, Woolf exposes the psychological trauma and social ridicule that women experience both when they conform and when they do not conform to social expectations. Her contention is that the gender paradigm hurts women whether they conform or not - in both cases, women are prevented from achieving self-actualization that is not gender-driven. This examination chronicles the evolution of Woolf s female characters from Mrs. Ramsay in To the Lighthouse to the creation of her coup de grace archetype - Orlando. This critical analysis of Woolf s female characters traces the mind-set and behaviors of women through the decades as they encounter social constraints established by the prevailing gender paradigm of the time. This continuum reveals Woolfs process of birthing an awareness of self in her female characters that transcends gender and social conventions.
- External Identifiers:
- Metadata URL:
- http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12322/cau.td:2004_hall_robin_c.pdf
- Rights Holder:
- Clark Atlanta University
- Holding Institution:
- Atlanta University Center Robert W. Woodruff Library
- Rights:
-
