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Virginia WoolfA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.
Short Answer
1. Consider the connection between social expectations and specific gender norms in Western society. How have these changed over the course of the 20th and 21st centuries? Which historical movements helped transform the traditional understanding of gender roles in contemporary society?
Teaching Suggestion: This Short Answer question invites students to consider Woolf’s theme of The Construction and Performance of Gender through a historical lens. Woolf uses the protagonist Orlando to trace the relationship of women to a patriarchal society from the Elizabethan era to the early 20th century. For Woolf, gender is a social construct dictated by social norms of a specific historical period and enforced by outward appearances, such as clothing and marriage. Woolf is critical of women’s place in society in all periods of Orlando’s life; however, she is most critical of the Victorian era, as the regulation of women—coupled with the expansion of British imperialism—resulted in the rerouting of women’s roles from the public to the private, domestic sphere. To introduce Woolf’s theme regarding gender, consider providing students with access to the resources below; they may benefit from annotating the texts in a take-home assignment.
By Virginia Woolf
A Haunted House
A Haunted House
Virginia Woolf
A Haunted House and Other Short Stories
A Haunted House and Other Short Stories
Virginia Woolf
A Room of One's Own
A Room of One's Own
Virginia Woolf
Between The Acts
Between The Acts
Virginia Woolf
Flush: A Biography
Flush: A Biography
Virginia Woolf
How Should One Read a Book?
How Should One Read a Book?
Virginia Woolf
Jacob's Room
Jacob's Room
Virginia Woolf
Kew Gardens
Kew Gardens
Virginia Woolf
Modern Fiction
Modern Fiction
Virginia Woolf
Moments of Being
Moments of Being
Virginia Woolf
Mr. Bennett and Mrs. Brown
Mr. Bennett and Mrs. Brown
Virginia Woolf
Mrs. Dalloway
Mrs. Dalloway
Virginia Woolf
The Death of the Moth
The Death of the Moth
Virginia Woolf
The Duchess and the Jeweller
The Duchess and the Jeweller
Virginia Woolf
The Lady in the Looking Glass
The Lady in the Looking Glass
Virginia Woolf
The Mark on the Wall
The Mark on the Wall
Virginia Woolf
The New Dress
The New Dress
Virginia Woolf
The Voyage Out
The Voyage Out
Virginia Woolf
The Waves
The Waves
Virginia Woolf
Three Guineas
Three Guineas
Virginia Woolf