AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL ELEMENTS IN ADELINE VIRGINIA WOOLF’S SELECT NOVELS A Thesis submitted to BHARATHIDASAN UNIVERSITY for the award of the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN ENGLISH By M. SAHAYA RANI, M.A., M.Phil., B.Ed., (Reg.No.025686/Ph.D.2/English/P.T./Jan.2009) Under the guidance of Dr. K. SUNDARARAJAN, M.A., M.Phil., Ph.D., Associate Professor of English P.G. AND RESEARCH DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH A.V.V.M. SRI PUSHPAM COLLEGE (AUTONOMOUS), (AFFILIATED TO BHARATHIDASAN UNIVERSITY) POONDI-613 503, THANJAVUR DISTRICT TAMIL NADU, INDIA SEPTEMBER 2012 P.G. AND RESEARCH DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH A.V.V.M. SRI PUSHPAM COLLEGE (AUTONOMOUS) POONDI-613 503, THANJAVUR DISTRICT, TAMIL NADU, INDIA. [Affiliated to Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirapalli] Dr. K. SUNDARARAJAN, M.A., M.Phil., Ph.D., Associate Professor of English Date : .09.2012 CERTIFICATE This is to certify that the thesis entitled AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL ELEMENTS IN VIRGINIA WOOLF’S SELECT NOVELS is a bonafide record of research work done by M. SAHAYA RANI in the P.G. and Research Department of English, A.V.V.M. Sri Pushpam College (Autonomous), Poondi, Thanjavur district, under my guidance and supervision, submitted to the Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirapalli for the award of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in English and that the thesis has not been previously formed the basis for the award to the candidate of any degree, diploma, associateship, fellowship or any other similar title. I further certify that the thesis represents independent work on the part of the candidate. (K. SUNDARA RAJAN) RESEARCH ADVISER DECLARATION I do hereby declare that this work has been originally carried out by me under the supervision of Dr. K. SUNDARARAJAN, Associate Professor, P.G. and Research Department of English, A.V.V.M. Sri Pushpam College (Autonomous), Poondi, Thanjavur district, Tamil Nadu, affiliated to Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirapalli and this work has not been submitted elsewhere for any other degree. September, 2012 Poondi-613 503 (M. SAHAYA RANI) ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I extend my sincere gratitude to Sriman K. Thulasi Ayya Vandayar, Secretary and Correspondent, A.V.V.M. Sri Pushpam College (Autonomous), Poondi, for having given me the opportunity to carry out my research in the Department of English in the esteemed institution. With illimitable pleasure, I express my fervent indebtedness and heartfelt profuse thanks to my research supervisor Dr. K. Sundararajan, who has given me timely, informative and constructive guidance for organizing and executing my research work. It is due to his guidance alone that I was able to compute my research successfully. His vast scholarship in the field of “Virginia Woolf’s Studies” has inspired me. I am grateful to him for his meticulous guidance at each and every stage of this project. I take this opportunity to express my earnest thanks to the principal of this college. I have to thank the respected Principal Dr. R. Rajendran, A.V.V.M. Sri Pushpam College (Autonomous), Poondi, respectively for having granted me permission to do the research work. I express my deep sense of gratitude to the Staff, Department of English, A.V.V.M. Sri Pushpam College (Autonomous), Poondi, for their keen interest. I am grateful and I thank Dr.R.Gowthami, Associate Professor of English, Rajah’s College, Thiruvaiyaru for her intellectual support, constructive criticism and valuable suggestions. I am deeply indebted to Mr. V.S. Ramakrishnan, H.O.D. of English, Government College, [Men] AUTONOMOUS, Kumbakonam. I became interested in Virginia Woolf’s studies because of a series of lectures given to me by him in 2007-2008 when I did M.Phil, under his able guidance. v It is my bounden duty to place on record, my gratitude to Prof. T.Vijayakumari [Rtd.] H.O.D. and Controller of Examinations. Govt. College for Women, Kumbakonam, who motivated me with her favourite dictum ’WORK IS WORSHIP’. I am bound to profusely thank my father, mother and my children for their whole-hearted co-operation. I offer my sincere thanks to Nagu Computers, Thanjavur, for their neat work. I thank the Almighty God for completing my work successfully. M. SAHAYARANI CONTENTS Chapter Page TEXTUAL NOTE vi Chapter I INTRODUCTION 1 Chapter II FAMILY INCIDENTS IN VIRGINIA WOOLF’S 44 MAJOR NOVELS Chapter III VIRGINIA WOOLF’S FAMILY DISEASES IN 137 HER SELECT NOVELS Chapter IV THE SUICIDE OF VIRGINIA WOOLF 189 REFLECTED IN HER MAJOR NOVELS Chapter V SUMMING UP 229 BIBLIOGRAPHY viii TEXTUAL NOTE The thesis has been framed by strictly following the guidelines given in the seventh edition of MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. The following abbreviations are used for indicating name of the primary source immediately after the quotations: LH - To the Lighthouse Mrs. D - Mrs. Dalloway VO - The Voyage Out BIBLIOGRAPHY PRIMARY SOURCE Woolf, Virginia. (1915) The Voyage Out. London: The Hogarth Press. (The Project Gutenberg EBook produced by Judith Boss and David Widger. Releas dt: January 12, 2006 [EBook #144] Last updated: July 19, 2011). Available online www.gutenberg.org ---. (1925) Mrs. Dalloway. 2nd ed. New Delhi: Peacock Books, 1997. Print. ---. (1927) To the Lighthouse. London: The Hogarth Press, Rpt. 1974. Print. SECONDARY SOURCES Abate, Frank. DK Illustrated Oxford Dictionary. New York: D.K. Publishing, 1998. Print. Arora, S.N. Virginia Woolf and Her Mrs. Dalloway (A Critical Study). 3rd rev. ed. Bareilly, India: Student Store, 1992. Print. ---. (1974) Virginia Woolf: A Study. 2nd rev. ed. Bara Bazar, Bareilly: Prakash Book Depot, 1999. Print. Barret, Michele ed. Virginia Woolf: Women and Writing. London: The Women’s Press, 1979. Print. Bayon, Feminine Consciousness in the Modern British Novel. Urbana: U of Illinois P, 1975. Print. ix Bell, Clive. Old Friends: Personal Recollections. New York: Harcourt, Brace, 1957. Print. Bell, Quentin. Bloomsbury. London: The Hogarth Press, 1969. Print. ---. Virginia Woolf A Biography: Mrs Woolf 1912 – 1941. vol.2. 6th Imp. London: The Hogarth Press, 1973. Print. ---. Virginia Woolf A Biography: Virginia Stephen 1882 - 1912. vol.1. 9th Imp. London: The Hogarth Press, 1973. Print. Bennett, Joan. ed. Virginia Woolf: Her Art as a Novelist. 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, Rpt.1975. Print. Blackstone, Bernard. (1949) Virginia Woolf: A Commentary. London: The Hogarth Press, 1972. Print. Bowlby, Rachel. ed. Virginia Woolf: Feminist Destination. Oxford: Blackwell, 1988. Print. Brad, Brooke M.C. Notes on the Style of Mrs. Woolf: Scrutiny I. 1932. Print. Dally, Peter. Manic Depression and the Life of Virginia Woolf. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1999. Print. ---. The Marriage of Heaven and Hell: Manic Depression and the Life of Virginia Woolf. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1999. Print. De Salvo, A. Louise. ed. Virginia Woolf: Melymbrosia. New York: New York Public Library, 1982. Print. x De Salvo, Louise A. ed. Virginia Woolf: the Impact of Childhood Sexual Abuse on Her Life and Work. London; The Women’s Press, 1989. Print. Dick, Susan ed. Virginia Woolf’s Diaries and Letters. The Cambridge Champion: Cambridge UP, 2000. Print. Drabble, Margaret. ed. Virginia Woolf: To the Lighthouse with an Introduction Notes. London: Oxford UP, 1980. Print. First East-West Press Edition. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 7th ed. New Delhi: Affiliated East-West Press Private Limited, 2009. Print. Forster, E.M. The Aspects of the Novel. New York: Harcourt Brace Company, 1927. Print. Guardian, Howells W.D. Review of the Son of Royal Lang Birth 14.12.1904: A Biography of Virginia Woolf. New York and London: Harber and Brothers Publishers, 1967. Print. Gupta, A.N., and Gupta, Satish. Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse. Bara Bazar, Bareilly: Prakash Book Depot, rpt. 2003. Print. Henke, Suzette A. “Mrs. Dalloway: the Communion of Saints.” New Feminist Essays on Virginia Woolf. Ed. Jane Marcus. London and Basingstoke Companies: Macmillan Press Ltd., rpt.1985: 120-176. Print. xi Holroyd, Michael. Lytton Strachey: A Critical Biography. 2 vols. London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1967-1968. Print. Hudson, William Henry. An Outline History of English Literature. New Delhi: B.I. Publications Pvt. Ltd., 1961. Print. Hungerford, E.A., “The Narrow Bridge of Art: Collected Essays-11, Virginia Woolf’s Criticism.” Diss. U of New York, 1960. Print. Kapur, Vijaya. Virginia Woolf’s vision of Life and her search for Significant Form: A Study in the Shaping Vision. Meerut: Anuprakasam, 1979. Print. Kelly, Alice Van Buren. The Novels of Virginia Woolf: Fact and Vision. Chicago: U of Chicago P, 1973. Print. Kermod, Frank. “Biographical Preface.” Oxford World’s Classics Virginia Woolf. Ed. Margaret Drabble. London: Oxford UP, 1980. vii-xi. Print. Kumar, Shiv K. Bergson and the Stream of Consciousness Novel. New York: New York UP, 1962. Print. Love, Jean O. Matters of Love and Death: The Future Plain. London: Longmans, 1960. Print. ---. Virginia Woolf: Sources of Madness and Art Los Angel, London: University of California Press, 1954. Print. xii Majumdar, Robin., and McLaurin, Allen. ed. Virginia Woolf: The Critical Heritage. London and Boston: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1975. Print. Marcus, Laura. ‘Woolf’s Feminism and Feminism of Woolf.” Cambridge Champion: Cambridge UP, 2000. Print. McNichol, Stella. ed. Virginia Woolf: Mrs. Dalloway’s Party: A Short Story Sequence. London: The Hogarth Press, 1973. Print. Moody, A.D. “The unmasking of Clarissa Dalloway.” Review of English Literature. vol.8. (1962): 78. Print. Moore, Madeline. “Some Female Versions of Pastoral: The Voyage Out and Matriarchal Mythologies.” ch.4. New Feminist Essays on Virginia Woolf, London: U of Nebraska P, 1981. Print. Neil, Mc Evan. The Survival of the Novel: British Fiction in the Later Twentieth Century. London: Macmillan Press Ltd., 1981. Print. Nicolson, Nigel. ed., and Trautmann, Joanne. Asst. ed. The Flight of The Mind: The Letters of Virginia Woolf. vol.1: 1888-1912 (Virginia Stephen). London: The Hogarth Press, 1975.