“Orlando, to look at, was cut out precisely for some such career. The red of the cheeks was covered with peach down; the down on the lips was only a little thicker than the down on the cheeks. The lips themselves were short and slightly drawn back over teeth of an exquisite and almond whiteness. Nothing disturbed the arrowy nose in its short, tense flight; the hair was dark, the ears small, and fitted closely to the head.”
This passage is one of the first descriptions we get of the title character, Orlando. Yet the diction used seems to be a clear contrast from the opening lines of the novel: “He — for there could be no doubt of his sex…” (Woolf 1). This contrast to what he is said to be versus what he is described as is the central theme to this novel. This section introduces the idea that gender is not a set role, but a dynamic one, that is not truly based on sex. Such a theme is not dictated solely by …show more content…
In using red, it implies to the reader to think of blush—something that is usually associated with woman, either through cosmetics or in natural beauty. Then in Woolf’s descriptor of “peach down” the connotation is of soft skin, something that again is uniformly attributed to feminine physiques. Woolf goes on to describe the other features with words that indicate Orlando’s qualities as slight: “lips…were short and slightly drawn back”, “arrowy nose”, “ears small”. In society of this time (16th century), men were thought to be solid, hulking masses; but Orlando is described here with the delicate characteristics of a woman. This physical characterization of him through the literary device of word choice clearly shows that Woolf’s intention for Orlando was to always be changing. In the first lines Orlando is surely a man, then a page later if read without context could be mistake as a
This passage is one of the first descriptions we get of the title character, Orlando. Yet the diction used seems to be a clear contrast from the opening lines of the novel: “He — for there could be no doubt of his sex…” (Woolf 1). This contrast to what he is said to be versus what he is described as is the central theme to this novel. This section introduces the idea that gender is not a set role, but a dynamic one, that is not truly based on sex. Such a theme is not dictated solely by …show more content…
In using red, it implies to the reader to think of blush—something that is usually associated with woman, either through cosmetics or in natural beauty. Then in Woolf’s descriptor of “peach down” the connotation is of soft skin, something that again is uniformly attributed to feminine physiques. Woolf goes on to describe the other features with words that indicate Orlando’s qualities as slight: “lips…were short and slightly drawn back”, “arrowy nose”, “ears small”. In society of this time (16th century), men were thought to be solid, hulking masses; but Orlando is described here with the delicate characteristics of a woman. This physical characterization of him through the literary device of word choice clearly shows that Woolf’s intention for Orlando was to always be changing. In the first lines Orlando is surely a man, then a page later if read without context could be mistake as a