Vita & Virginia

Discuss some of the views regarding marriage, relationship and the role of society

Relationship with Leonard Woolf

Virginia Woolf's marriage to Leonard Woolf was a partnership of mutual respect and intellectual camaraderie. Leonard was a political theorist, author, and civil servant, and his stable temperament provided a counterbalance to Virginia's emotional and psychological volatility. Together, they founded the Hogarth Press, which became a significant cultural institution, publishing not only Woolf's works but also those of T.S. Eliot, Katherine Mansfield, and Sigmund Freud, among others. Despite their strong partnership, the Woolfs' marriage was unconventional; they reportedly never consummated their relationship, and Leonard was aware of Virginia's romantic relationships with women.

Capture woolf's depressive state sincerity & Genuity

The ability of a film to capture Virginia Woolf's depressive state with sincerity and genuity depends significantly on how the filmmaker chooses to portray her internal struggles and whether they draw from Woolf's writings, personal history, and the broader context of her mental health challenges.

Ultimately, the sincerity and genuity lie in the film's intent and execution. If it approaches Woolf's depression with empathy, grounded in her writings and historical context, it can resonate as authentic, even if it cannot fully replicate the depth of her personal experience.

Who were Virginia Woolf and Vita Sackville-West?

Born in London in 1882, Adeline Virginia Stephen, or “Ginia” as she was affectionately known, had a love for arts and literature running through her family. Her sister Vanessa was an artist, and when they reached adulthood, the two sisters became the heart of an influential intellectual circle known as the Bloomsbury Group, a collective of radical artists, writers and thinkers during the early 20th century. In 1912, Virginia married Leonard Woolf, a politically active left-wing writer and university friend of her brother’s. While Virginia Woolf’s earlier novels, which included Night and Day (1919), Mrs Dalloway (1925) and To the Lighthouse (1927), were not hugely commercially or critically successful during her time, she is today respected as one of the most important writers of the 20th century and a pioneer of “stream of consciousness” writing.

Vita & Virginia depicts the two women meeting at a costume party, at which Sackville-West is immediately entranced by Woolf’s intellect and eloquence. The two women met in December 1922 and grew closer through attending a series of dinner parties together in London. “I simply adore Virginia Woolf, and so would you,” Sackville-West wrote to her husband after their first meetings. “You would fall quite flat before her charm and personality.”

“They came from pretty different places,” says Victoria L. Smith, a professor of English at Texas State University. “That might have provided some of the attraction to Virginia for Vita, certainly. Vita was very attracted to Virginia’s genius.”

What impact did the relationship have on Virginia Woolf’s life?

“Their relationship was very passionate and very sexual, even though initially their sexual relationship was downplayed and even ignored,” says Smith. And while the two women were open about their relationship, it was also during a time when British society was more socially conservative. While male homosexuality in the U.K. was still a criminal offense at the time, there was no equivalent legislation that targeted gay women. However, in 1921, some lawmakers voted to criminalize “sexual acts of gross indecency” between women, although the law was never passed because politicians feared it would encourage women to explore homosexuality.

Smith says their relationship was hugely significant on Woolf, as Sackville-West made her feel appreciated and adored: “Virginia deeply loved Vita, and she was so happy to recognize in Vita that Vita loved and celebrated women.” In the film, Woolf is depicted as finding it initially difficult to be sexually intimate with Sackville-West; some scholars have suggested this hesitation in real life was because Woolf was a survivor of childhood sexual abuse perpetrated by male members of her family. And while Virginia still loved her husband Leonard, he too saw that Vita had a profound impact on his wife’s life, and her work, and he did not object to their relationship.

My Refferance:

https://amp.theguardian.com/books/2021/feb/01/as-a-body-hers-is-perfection-alison-bechdel-on-the-love-letters-of-virginia-woolf-and-vita-sackville-west