The Bloomsbury Group And Violence:Virginia Woolf And E.M. Forster

The Bloomsbury Group is the most influential cultural circle in the UK in the 20 th century.Its members include Virginia Woolf,E.M.Forster,John Maynard Keynes,Lytton Strachey,Roger Fry and others.The 20 th century was a turbulent era.Two World Wars and the Spanish Civil War took place during this period.At the same time,as an imperialist country,the United Kingdom joined the plunder of colonialism,oppressing and exploiting the colonial people by the means of war and so on.Under such background,the Bloomsbury Group was inevitably affected by wars and colonialism,and therefore they formed their own pacifism and anti-colonialism.This paper mainly includes five chapters:Chapter One firstly introduces the members of the Bloomsbury Group and violence;secondly,it explains the current domestic and international research on the Bloomsbury Group especially its members Virginia Woolf and E.M.Forster.Finally,it elaborates on the significance of the present study.Chapter Two firstly expounds the Bloomsbury Group’s anti-violence thoughts from two aspects,i.e.,the Group’s pacifism and anti-colonialism.Secondly,it analyzes the Group’s reasons for anti-violence.Chapter Three centers on Woolf’s anti-war views.The first section analyzes Woolf’s reasons for anti-war.The second section explains the anti-war thoughts in her works of Mrs.Dalloway,Three Guineas and Between the Acts.Chapter Four focuses on Forster’s anti-colonialism.The first section analyzes why Forster opposes empire.The second section expounds the anti-colonialism in his works of A Passage to India,Two Cheers for Democracy and The Other Boat.Chapter Five concludes that the Bloomsbury Group,represented by Woolf and Forster in literature,is generally anti-violence.