The Argument On Virginia Woolf's Feminist Consciousness And Writing Creation

Feminism movement is one branch of interdisciplinary enquiry that takes gender as a fundamental organization category of experience. This enquiry holds two related premises about gender. One is that the inequality of the sexes is neither a biological given nor a divine order, but a cultural construct. The second is that a male perspective has dominated fields of knowledge, shaping their paradigms and ideology. Therefore, the main concerns of feminism movement include: revising the traditional concepts seen as serving particular purposes and restoring a female perspective by extending knowledge about women's experience and contributions to culture. From its beginning, the vital connection of feminist criticism with the women's movement has encouraged joint efforts and collaborative research. After examining the images of women in traditional literary works, feminist critics have found that works of literature are one of society's most powerful vehicles for expressing and promulgating male dominance over women. The main tasks of feminist critics are to reveal the misogynist assumptions previously ignored by patriarchal critics and to subvert patriarchal conceptions to reconstruct women's identity. In order to reach their aims, feminist critics adopt various theories and approaches in their ideology. And women's living experiences and existing value have been emphasized in establishing critical stance and developing their theories.This thesis is to be devoted to exploring Virginia ?Woolf's feminist consciousness implied in a series of her writings, especially in A Room of One's Own and To the Lighthouse, concerning the content, style, utterance pattern, expression methods and analysis of the characters in the works. Influenced by her living background, and the ideological revolution of her times, Woolf nurtures. She makes a great challenge against the man's power and appeals for the establishment of women's self-reliance. Her works reflect the humiliating social status of women with limited education background and literary development. In To the Lighthouse, Woolf interweaves such consciousness into the portrayals of, two female characters, Mrs. Leonard and Miss Lily. By disclosing the attributes of these two conflicting characters, Woolf condemns the unfair treatment of women, which stems from male-dominated ideology. In order to restore women's position of subjectivity, Woolf subverts the conception of binary oppositions of man and woman in the male-dominated culture by constructing the language style as well as depicting her female and male characters. In A Room of One's Own and To the Lighthouse, Woolf abandons the traditional utterance pattern of man-dominated literature and adopts the suitable expression method of women. The first personal address, allusion, fabrication, indirect interior monologue,description of feelings and symbolism are put into a great use to fit for women's attributes in thought. In the end, Woolf puts forward the theory of "gynandromorphy" which is the optimum situation in the writing. In addition, Woolf's methodology of feminism movement reinforces an obvious influence upon the following feminists posterior to her times.