Critical Analysis Of Virginia Woolf's Theory Of Androgyny In Man-Woman Relation And Art Creation

As a generally acknowledged pioneer and spiritual leader of the feminist movement, Virginia Woolf is unwilling to position herself in the single sexual polarity and confine herself to the prison of gender. She holds that in terms of the social differences arising from the history of the physical differences between the two sexes, both of them are mutually dependent and dialectically united in the structure of social existence. The masculine principles of fact, reason, and logos and the feminine principles of imagination, intuition and emotion—these two human natures should overcome their respective one-sided extremes and self-satisfaction, to make the perfect fusion of them. Being a prominent writer and critic, Woolf emphasizes again and again that the single sex-consciousness is a big enemy of art, and it will prevent artistic creation from entering into a higher level. Then she puts forward her androgynous idea in literary writing—the most favorable writing state is to write with an androgynous mind. She thinks that an artist should not be a gender, but an individual with the two sexes harmoniously united spiritually in his or her mind. Only thus, can the artist break through the constraint of the sexual prejudice and produce good writings outstanding not only in ideology but also in aesthetics.Virginia Woolf has often mentioned that if life has a base, it is memory. The base of her artistic life is on her persistent constant memory of her parents. The intimate and consonant relationship between them deeply impinges upon her feminism of man-woman relationship. In addition to this, the Bloomsbury Group, which consisted by some talented intellectuals from Cambridge University, greatly influences on her views towards forming her androgynous vision. Joining the Group means to Woolf a dramatic break from woman's self-disdain of the Victorian time and helps her establish self-confidence as a female and a female writer under the pressure of the masculine discourse hegemony. This thesis tries to make a deep analysis of Woolf's vision of androgyny in man-woman relation and in art creation through a close reading of her three specific texts: To the Light House, Orlando, A Room of One's Own. In To the Lighthouse, the author of the thesis tries to find other binary oppositions Woolf wants to present besides the man/woman opposition, such as emotion/ration, sympathy/self-centeredness and nature/culture. On the other hand, this thesis tries to challenge some traditional ideas holding that To the Lighthouse reaches a peak in terms of androgyny. This is the first time to draw To the Lighthouse and Orlando together and treat them as a system that exposes Woolf's growing androgyny vision. If binary opposition between masculinity and femininity is thoroughly represented in To the Lighthouse, then in Orlando, Woolf exposes the true cause of the opposition by way of deconstruction, that is, the patriarchal society nurtured the difference. Through Orlando, Woolf creates a real androgynous image and realizes her dream—true union in one person.Besides this, this thesis explores Woolf's vision of androgyny in art creation. In A Room of One's Own, Virginia Woolf accepts Samuel Taylor Coleridge's idea that the great mind is androgynous. To Woolf, androgyny is the most propitious writing state, in which a writer can make a perfect artistic expression. Writing with indignation, fear, the sense of superiority, and the masculine power, will thwart the completeness and wholeness of its artistic expression. In To the Lighthouse, it takes Lily ten years to complete her painting only right after she achieves an androgynous mind. Woolf's vision of androgyny is also reflected in Orlando. Through sex change, he enters a period of enacting both man and woman and enjoys the experience of two sexes. In the end of the story, Orlando successfully publishes the poem and creates some other grand works.Woolf's androgynous idea that it seeks for the harmonious reconciliation of the sexes brings a burst of revolutionary and vanguard vigor into the western patriarchal society. It deconstructs the male-centered binary opposition and revolts against the masculine value, which is taken as the arbitration value standard in patriarchal society. To the present fact that some feminists go to the extreme: they aim to deconstruct the old man-dominated world, but make a great effort to construct a feminine world with an obvious inclination of female-centeredness, we can find the prominence of Woolf's feminism: Woolf calls for a multiplication of different perspectives, in literature as in life. Therefore, Woolf's feminism of androgyny is a better and profounder quest.