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Virginia Woolf Influences

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Virginia Woolf is among one of the greatest female authors to this day, most known for her innovative and revolutionary ideas on feminism, war, and literature itself. By vocalizing her avant-garde thoughts on these issues, she impacted the lives of readers everywhere proving that women could be just as prosperous as men and excel beyond whatever deterrent was set before them--an idea virtually unheard of before she helped to pioneer the progressive era of the early 1900’s. Above all, Woolf’s various encounters with abuse and neglect as a child, as well as having to work and exceed expectations in a field dominated by men, simultaneously dealing with what is presumed to be bipolar disorder, helped to influence her unique writing style and shape the opinions that would later influence generations to come. Virginia Woolf, originally Adeline Virginia Stephen, was born into the Victorian household of her parents, Leslie Stephen and Julia Jackson on January 25, 1882 in London, England. Virginia’s parents shared the strict and hypercritical attitude that many during the Victorian era professed leading to a childhood focused primarily on discipline and education. (“Virginia Woolf” 1) Henceforth, from a young age, Virginia was expected to live up to the crippling expectations that her family outlayed for her without so much as a complaint. Leslie Stephen, her father, was an avid and well known writer preceded by clergymen and many other famous writers (Marsh 2), knowing this, Woolf

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