Last year in my A.P. Language (English) class we read Virginia Woolf's A Room Of One's Own (AROOO) and then watched the movie The Hours based on the Michael Cunningham novel of the same name.
We were then asked to write an essay about both AROOO and The Hours. This is my essay:
A Room Of One's Own & The Hours
The
courage of a woman is no different than the courage of man. The act of writing
a book and not knowing how you will or won’t be criticized must be challenging.
Virginia Woolf and Michael Cunningham both faced the criticism and speculation
in order to share their ideas and thoughts with others. Both proving something
with their writing, even if not seeking to. It’s impressive to discover that The
Hours, the book, turned
movie was written by a man. Who would have thought that a man would be able to
tap into the thoughts of women and be able to capture these female characters
so well? Interestingly enough Cunningham’s writing of this book and the book
itself, tie into a number of theories and ideas that are presented in Woolf’s A
Room Of One’s Own.
Cunningham’s
ability to create a book about women from their perspectives is linked to the
concepts that are found within the pages of AROOO. As a male author, Cunningham proves that
a man is capable of using the feminine side of his mind and uses it
accordingly, to write fiction. This relates to Coleridge’s theory of the
androgynous mind, which Woolf discusses in her book. Woolf “…went on
amateurishly to sketch a plan of the soul so that in each of us two powers
preside, one male, one female; and in the man’s brain, the man predominates
over the woman…” and vice versa.
This theory is also visible in the movie The Hours as well. This concept can be seen I the
fact that Richard’s novel was of the female perspective. The comparisons that
are made between Virginia Woolf and Richard also reveal so. Virginia’s suicide
along with Richard’s suicide show how two people of the opposite sex felt the
same way, and they knew that they were doing what they thought best for the one
they loved most. The two of them wrote or said the same thing to Leonard and
Clarissa respectively; “I don’t think two people could have been happier than
we have been.”
If
one steps off of the path to wander the grasses, are they directed to return to
the path? In Woolf time women would be yet men would not. Men possessed a sense
of freedom that women did not, and furthermore, they expressed superiority over
women. The Hours proves
that women are no longer under the control of men, and it reveals that balanced
relationships did and do exist. Virginia Woolf was by no means controlled by
her husband Leonard. Laura Brown may have been a traditional 50’s housewife,
but her husband didn’t say what she could and couldn’t do, though society might
have. Also the relationship between Clarissa and Richard was a very equal one,
yet Clarissa tried to protect Richard. The movie proves that women are not
controlled by men, that at least not all men try to control women.
In
AROOO, Woolf analyzes
the development of female characters over time while, discussing the evolution
of the novel. It’s interesting to think of this after watching The Hours, because you can use Woolf’s character
of Mrs. Dalloway, as an example of a developed and complicated female
character. In discussing the growth of women in fiction, Woolf ponders
Lesbianism, as she reads Life’s Adventure by Mary Carmichael. In her novel, Carmichael reveals a
lesbian relationship between two women; “Chloe liked Olivia.” The Hours too portrays this lesbianism, as the
character of Clarissa is in a long-term relationship with her girlfriend Sally.
There are also three kisses that are exchanged in the movie between women,
further enhancing the idea of lesbianism, even though the kisses aren’t to be
thought of as sexual. At two instances in the movie the kisses are more of a
goodbye between friends, or sisters in the matter of Virginia and Vanessa. The
other kiss is between Laura and Kitty, as they are unsure of Kitty’s health.
The third kiss is shared between Clarissa and Sally towards the end of the
movie after Richard’s suicide as a sort of reconciliation. According to Woolf,
Carmichael as her contemporary was blazing a path for the further evolution of
female literary characters. “It is all half lights and profound shadows like
those serpentine caves where one goes with a candle peering up and down, not
knowing where one is stepping.”
The
Hours proves that
Virginia Woolf, and her ideas are here to stay. She has made an impression on
not only those who read her works, but on those who watch The Hours, through Nicole Kidman’s portrayal of her.
A Room Of One’s Own will
continue to be one of those classics that everyone knows by name, while The
Hours will remain that
movie with Meryl Streep, about Virginia Woolf. No matter what they both have many
more hours left to face.
