Viriginia_Woolf's_Orlando

Evaluate the extent to which the text Orlando explores and challenges gender roles and values. Virginia Woolf, a ‘first-wave’ feminist, uses her ability with language to construct literature, reflective of social constraints, values, and power. In the novel Orlando, Woolf deconstructs the socially and biologically identified concepts of man and woman. At a time when psychoanalytical studies were taking off, and the female debate was first being shaped, Woolf criticised the material advantages of males compared to females. Many believe that this modernist novel was induced by her sexual frustrations towards Vita Sackville-West, others, that it was influenced by the sexual tolerance of The Bloomsbury Group, of which Woolf was a member. The character Orlando was used as a means to explore the power and possibilities of gender and time. By separating the biological and the psychological implications of gender, Woolf is able to use the concept of androgyny to “achieve a balance between a ‘male’ self-realization and ‘female’ self-annihilation.” She challenges these constructions by showing an imbalance of values and roles in regards to masculinity and femininity. The hegemonic definition of masculinity, what Virginia Woolf explains as the “quintessence of virility”, is “constructed in relation to various subordinate masculinities, as well as in relation to women.” (R.W. Connell). Woolf explores this belief by commenting on the nature of the patriarchy and by depicting men as aggressive and chivalrous. “In the act of slicing at the head of a moor.” (Chapter 1) In the beginning, Orlando is described as a young man, imitating the actions of his noble fathers. “The act” is clearly reflective of the role of men in the patriarch at this time. This ideology is then juxtaposed against the biographer’s depiction of Orlando as being feminine in appearance through hyperbolic descriptive detail. “The red of the cheeks… The lips themselves were short and slightly drawn over teeth of an exquisite and almond whiteness.” (Chapter 1) These are typically the words one would write for a female. Despite this physically evident femininity, however, it would seem that Orlando benefits from the social implications of the patriarchy, as his ‘beauty’ does not act as a barrier for him. These ‘feminine’ features are peppered through the first half of the novel to pre-empt the future of the novel, along with such physical symbols as the ambiguity of fashion. Orlando’s relationship with women unearths the comparative nature of man and woman. Sasha revealed two dispositions of Orlando – one that resonated with lustful desire by using words of light and beauty, “(Orlando) thought only of the pleasures in his life; of his jewel; of her rarity” (Chapter 1), which contrasts distinctively to the humour of the childish, bitter, broken-hearted male. “Faithless, mutable, fickle, he called her (Sasha); devil, adulteress, deceiver.” The alliteration of the two separate phrases clearly distinguishes two ideas about women from the male perspective - their flippancy and deceptive nature. “He was a woman.” This paradox begins the appropriation of androgyny, and the imbalance of gender can be further examined. Woolf uses the same character, Orlando – different, gender, different roles and values. Is this fair' Orlando, as a male, is granted with such pleasantries as an extravagantly large house, Dukedom, and he took such privileges for granted. After her transformation, however, Orlando is not exposed to such wonders, and is instead confined to subservience of woman at this time, and at the time that Woolf was writing. This is explored through the evident frustration in the tone. “Could not hold any property whatsoever…she was a woman.” This creates an explicit contrast to male Orlando as it explores negative, restricting connotations of female life, further challenging roles. Social expectations of the female are explored through the concept of marriage. During Orlando’s time as a woman, in order for her to be ‘something’, she must be wed. “To buy one of those ugly bands and wear it like the rest… overcome with shame.” (Chapter 4) The biographer then goes on to discuss Orlando’s tussle with the ring, as it led her to write of “early death and corruption”, a witty comment on the coercion of married life – ironically, the perspective that one would associate with the male gender. This idea furthers the argument that Orlando herself discovers - that both sexes uphold their respective constructions of gender, even herself. The female values and virtues are what ultimately distinguish Orlando, from Orlando. This idea is most perceptible during Orlando’s transformation, of which she seems to initially pay sparse attention to. Orlando lays in a trance, as three figures enter - Our Lady of Purity, Modesty and Chastity. The personification of these female virtues act as an expectation of what the perfect female should be, whilst concurrently commenting on these social presumptions. Our Lady of Modesty exclaims, “Not for me the fruitful fields and the fertile vineyard.” (Chapter 3) Here, a female character is challenging what has been constructed as socially acceptable. She challenges the social expectations of motherhood and reproduction, yet complies with the purity and sensibility of a virgin, thus exploring one whilst simultaneously challenging another notion of gender through one character, similarly to how Orlando is explored. The female ‘frustration’ is made clear through tone. The frequently repeated motif of the ‘skirt’ acts as a symbol for feminine inhibitions. “The coil of skirts about her legs.” (Chapter 4) Woolf uses this symbol to create the imagery of a cage around the legs of a woman, hindering her from moving forward with ease – a metaphor for the implications of the time. Woolf uses the concept Orlando, and character Orlando to examine how gender constructions subdue the distinction of male and female roles and values. She clearly revels in the bafflement that men and women are not only ‘forced’, but choose to behave as their gender suggests, which Woolf extensively comments on through the witty, androgynous perspective of the biographer. Through her ideas of social construction, roles, and values, and most importantly her language, Woolf has explored to all ends the power and possibilities of gender. 989 words