The Making Of Orlando's Gender

Gender, in this thesis, concerns society and culture, signifying the social interrelationship between male and female, and their social and cultural constitutions. It is dynamic. Judith Butler's theory of "Gender Performativity" claims that being multiple layers, gender is the result of socially constructed ideas about how the behaviors, actions and roles a particular individual performs. Therefore, in the context of English culture, gender is not a simple binary conception only being divided into male and female. Virginia Woolf, in her fantasy book Orlando, fully exhibits the most prominent traits of gender. This thesis attempts to focus on the making of Orlando's gender to uncover its significance.In the Introduction, a brief survey is made of the origin, development and application about gender immediately after a literature review of study on Orlando. Then this thesis proceeds to analyze the making of Orlando's gender in four chapters. In Chapter One, my concern is with Woolf's idea of androgyny and the embodiment of an ideal of humanity in Orlando. In Woolf's art concept of an ideal personality, androgyny combines merits of male and female by abandoning the demerits of both. Highlighting the perfect human nature, Orlando is the embodiment of this perfect condition with the mutual benefits of male and female. Chapter Two studies the process how Orlando is molded into changing from male to female in two steps exhibiting the fluidity of gender. This fluidity is taken as the first step to break the traditional opposition of two genders. Firstly, as embodied masculinity, Orlando is marked with the features of anima. Secondly, with the conflict of anima and animus, Orlando can change from male to female so as to achieve the amalgamation of both genders. Chapter Three investigates how the protagonist Orlando breaks the traditional binary opposition and transcends the fixed social pattern of male and female. Through the power created by the performing gender, Orlando constructs a newly-pattern of personality—womanly-man or manly-woman—an ideal personality. It is the significance of dynamics of gender. The purpose of Chapter Four is devoted to the discussion about the dynamic balance of genders in Orlando and Woolf's aesthetic pursuit in Orlando. In regard to the author's concentration on Orlando' gender, we may find out that her aesthetic pursuit is to build a healthy, equal, free and perfect personality.In Orlando, the process of making of Orlando's gender subverts the traditional concept of gender. By setting a unity of both genders in Orlando, Woolf casts off flaws of both genders and advocates the harmonious state of both genders. Woolf's artistic innovation, as a matter of fact, helps people to change the traditional ways of thinking to lead new lives.