Feminism, in its truest form, is “the belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities” (“Feminism”). Virginia Woolf’s Orlando is a novel that brought attention to feminism during 1928 when feminism was not a topic discussed due to cultural stereotypes and gender roles that limited what males and females could do. In Orlando, her transition does not seem to affect anyone’s view on who Orlando was as a person. Though her physical life changes drastically as she so suddenly changes from a Duke to a lovely lady, her mental state and social life seems to change in only ways that would be considered social and cultural matters. For instance, Orlando would have to present herself in a feminine manner and attend social events
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She is invited to many important gathering and parties of the upper class that allow her to show off her more elegant and feminine side which is something she was not able to show off before. For instance, when Orlando attends Old Madame Deffand’s gathering of witty individuals she was able to meet many important individuals that were high in the society although no one really spoke but a few words at the get together (Woolf 117). Orlando began to understand that in her society “women must be obedient, chaste, scented, and exquisitely appareled” (Woolf 90) which is something quite different from her previous self that had to be “able to crack a man over the head, or tell [a man] he lies in his teeth” (Woolf 91). Virginia Woolf displays the distinct, and more extreme, differences between the life of a man and woman as how they are represented in the society she lives. She emphasizes the differences to further drive home the idea that cultural norms restrict men and women from being who they truly …show more content…
Since she became a woman she has been put at a disadvantage as she “…could not hold any property whatsoever… and that she was an English Duke who had married one Rosina Pepita, a dancer; and had had by her three sons, which sons now declaring that their father was deceased, claimed that all his property descended to them.” (Woolf 97). Basically, she had nothing and would continue to have nothing until she was able to find a partner with who she could depend on to provide for her as she could not provide for herself anymore. Although Orlando had been married once before, she was at the start of a new beginning and was forced to wait to have her hand asked for in marriage as she could not ask someone else herself. Woolf implies that Orlando struggles with marital aspects because “though she herself was a woman, it was still a woman she loved” (Woolf 92). A woman loving another woman was simply not acceptable during the time period that the novel occurs in. It was considered unnatural to many with traditional perspectives. Woolf makes this an issue in Orlando due to her own bisexuality. In fact, Virginia Woolf and her husband were both bisexual (Jones). It is easy to make the assumption that Woolf wished to normalize same sex relationships and attempted to do so by incorporated Orlando’s desire of women while she was a woman herself. This normalization
She is invited to many important gathering and parties of the upper class that allow her to show off her more elegant and feminine side which is something she was not able to show off before. For instance, when Orlando attends Old Madame Deffand’s gathering of witty individuals she was able to meet many important individuals that were high in the society although no one really spoke but a few words at the get together (Woolf 117). Orlando began to understand that in her society “women must be obedient, chaste, scented, and exquisitely appareled” (Woolf 90) which is something quite different from her previous self that had to be “able to crack a man over the head, or tell [a man] he lies in his teeth” (Woolf 91). Virginia Woolf displays the distinct, and more extreme, differences between the life of a man and woman as how they are represented in the society she lives. She emphasizes the differences to further drive home the idea that cultural norms restrict men and women from being who they truly …show more content…
Since she became a woman she has been put at a disadvantage as she “…could not hold any property whatsoever… and that she was an English Duke who had married one Rosina Pepita, a dancer; and had had by her three sons, which sons now declaring that their father was deceased, claimed that all his property descended to them.” (Woolf 97). Basically, she had nothing and would continue to have nothing until she was able to find a partner with who she could depend on to provide for her as she could not provide for herself anymore. Although Orlando had been married once before, she was at the start of a new beginning and was forced to wait to have her hand asked for in marriage as she could not ask someone else herself. Woolf implies that Orlando struggles with marital aspects because “though she herself was a woman, it was still a woman she loved” (Woolf 92). A woman loving another woman was simply not acceptable during the time period that the novel occurs in. It was considered unnatural to many with traditional perspectives. Woolf makes this an issue in Orlando due to her own bisexuality. In fact, Virginia Woolf and her husband were both bisexual (Jones). It is easy to make the assumption that Woolf wished to normalize same sex relationships and attempted to do so by incorporated Orlando’s desire of women while she was a woman herself. This normalization