| Virginia and Leonard Woolf had an unusual courtship, which was fraught with problems, not least among them gender difference and societal pressures on gender roles and sexuality. This courtship formed the basis for Virginia's novel, Night and Day, and Leonard's novel, The Wise Virgins. Both novels present a different perspective of interactions between the sexes both generally, pertaining to society at large, and specifically, pertaining to the difficulties of their courtship. Leonard's novel presents gender interactions as inherently at conflict, frustrated by simultaneous societal repression and expectation of male and female sexuality. These expectations seem to inhibit any further mental development, especially for women, and the only opportunities for personal creativity and fulfillment for them are restricted to the realms of marriage and childbirth. In Night and Day, Virginia Woolf is aware of this repression of female autonomy and creativity, as are her characters, and though they are unsuccessful in overcoming these obstacles, they demonstrate the capability for female desire of autonomy and creativity. By showing these texts in dialogue with each other, it is possible that a new discursive space will be opened regarding sexual and gender repression and a new perspective will be gained for analyzing the work of both Leonard and Virginia Woolf through the eyes of the gendered other. |
