The exploration of gender in Virginia Woolf's "Orlando" (PDF)

Examination Thesis from the year 2021 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 2,3, University of Kassel, language: English, abstract: This paper deals with the representation of gender in Virginia Woolf's work "Orlando: A Biography", which was published in 1928. With this novel, Woolf created a cross-genre play that does not follow ossified rules and shows a flexible gender system. Originally, the novel, which was written in the style of a biography, was intended as a parody of Vita Sackville-West's life, with whom Woolf had a long-standing affair, which will be revealed in this elaboration through Woolf's diary entries.

In the course of writing, however, the playful ideas developed into a serious critique of society's image, which is why this work is often considered a milestone for the second wave of feminism, as the androgynous main character Orlando changes her gender about halfway through the novel and becomes a woman from a man, which is why the topic of gender understanding is in the foreground. For this purpose, the concepts of gender and feminism are first introduced with the help of Judith Butler's "The Discomfort of Gender", before the focus is put on Virginia Woolf and her contribution to the feminist movement. For this purpose, Woolf's work "A Room to Herself" will be examined and her statements regarding androgyny and gender roles will be analyzed. Then, "Orlando" is presented as a stand-alone work and the concepts of the biographer, who is the narrator of the novel, and of time are emphasized, as they are fundamental to the overall understanding of the work.

In the analysis, different thematic areas are analyzed for their representation of gender. These include the change of identity as well as the social circumstances in which Orlando lives, the search for truth, love, the recurring symbol of the oak tree, which is associated with poetry, and Orlando's appearance, which Woolf punctuated with inserted images of the main character. In these chapters, Woolf casually presents how the understanding of gender evolves over time and how it is perceived by society. It is noticeable that Orlando himself always maintains his identity and his attempts to conform to societal expectations regarding gender roles fail. This makes it clear that gender is not a fixed category, but dynamic.