The Literary Worlds Presented in Coming to London

In Coming to London, Leonard Woolf spoke about how he entered what might be called “a literary world, a provincial literary world”. He spoke about the glimpse he got of an Old Victorian London Literary World through the eyes of Lytton Strachey and Thoby Stephen. He then spoke of Lesley Stephen who allowed him to get a last glimpse of that “incredibly ancient London literary world of ladies and gentlemen”. This Old Victorian London Literary World had begun to vanish and a new literary world had begun to appear. This new world was known as the London Literary World of Bloomsbury.


Where exactly did this transition take place? Leonard said “it is not the goal, not the destination, not the arrival which is interesting, but the journey”. Therefore, let’s examine a major part of what I believe influenced this journey from the Old Victorian London Literary World to the New London Literary World of Bloomsbury.


Leonard also spoke of how he and Virginia “failed the entrance examination to literary London”. They had been invited to dine with a well-known novelist, and so they went “dirty and disheveled from painting”. However, to their surprise, there were many distinguished writers dressed in full formal attire. One could imagine the embarrassment that they both felt as Leonard confessed “we had both disgraced ourselves in literary London”. In my opinion, this presents Literary London as simple or outdated. It was presented as a conventional “square” because of its do’s and don’ts inflicted by the Victorian era. They were fashionable in appearance, but unfashionable in their constraints.

The “square” above is a symbol of constraint which was presented in the Victorian London Literary World. It portrays a world where limited perspectives and ideologies were allowed. There were many codes that one had to comply with (codes of behavior, codes of dress, codes for everything one could think of) in order to be a part of this world.

Leonard and Virginia could not live with being “boxed” into those norms and ideologies of literature and more generally art. Therefore, in my opinion, it is probably here where the “web” of Bloomsbury, which I depicted in my presentation began to form. It eventually gave way to a more liberal and intricate form of the literary world. This new world was the London Literary World of Bloomsbury where life was simply presented as art!

The “web” above is a symbol of the freedom which was presented in the New London Literary World of Bloomsbury. It was a world where different ideologies and perspectives were woven together to portray life as art.

In Coming to London, I believe that Leonard Woolf subtly portrayed some of the influences which led to the formation of the Literary World of Bloomsbury.

A Different Perspective on the Same Object

The Bloomsbury Group played a major role in the development of modernist painting in Britain. The work of artists Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant proved to be one of the key influences on twentieth-century British art and design. Vanessa often painted with Grant, and several of their paintings depict a different perspective on the same subject. The two paintings that I will focus on today are “Still Life on Corner of a Mantelpiece” by Vanessa Bell and “The Mantelpiece” by Duncan Grant.

A Different Perspective on the same object:

*Difference in angles
*Difference in aesthetic and color
*Symbolism of pyramid




BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bell, Vanessa. Still Life on Cornor of a Mantelpiece. The Omega Workshop, 33 Fitzroy Square.

Grant, Duncan. The Mantelpiece. The Omega Workshop, 33 Fitzroy Square.

New World Encyclopedia. Duncan Grant. 2 April 2008. 13 September 2009 .

Reed, Christopher and Nancy E. Green. A Room of Their Own: The Bloomsbury Artists in American Collections. 13th September 2009 .

In Florence Nightingale, Florence was the complete opposite to the prominent figure of the typical Victorian woman. She rejected one of the most prestigious expectations of women in the Victorian Era; marriage. Her thoughts of this are depicted in the animated video below.



In the novel, Florence Nightingale said, 'To be nailed to a continuation and exaggeration of my present life...to put it out of my power ever to be able to seize the chance of forming for myself a true and rich life' – "that would be a suicide". In my opinion, Florence viewed marriage as a cross that she would be nailed to. She felt that the Victorian expectations of a woman in marriage, this world that she had always tried to escape from, would inflict wounds to her being while burdening her in many ways. She even refers to it as “suicide” because to her, by committing in marriage, she would kill herself; her desires and her dreams. In fact, “She would think of nothing but how to satisfy that singular craving of hers to be doing something. As if there was not plenty to do in any case, in the ordinary way, at home". Her mother even highlighted this point in the video above when she asked her if she was too good to run a household. Hence, we see the significance of marriage and family presented in the Victorian Era and also the obligation and role of the woman in marriage and family. We also see that “her sister, cousin, all the young ladies of her acquaintance, were either getting ready to do this or had already done it. It was inconceivable that Florence should dream of anything else; yet dream she did.” This emphasizes her independence which may be mistaken for rebelliousness.



In my opinion, Florence fulfilled her own expectations of “her duty in that state of life unto which God had called her”; marriage. Instead of committing herself to a man, she committed herself to providing for the sick and needy. She also carried out her obligations as a Victorian woman in the home as the nursing institutions and hospitals can be seen as her “household” and the patients her “family” whom she took great care of.



Today, the statue of Florence Nightingale seen above can be found in Waterloo Place, London to commemorate her leadership and devotion to the lives of many.

Introduction

Hi everyone! Welcome to my blog!

My name is Sharia de'Castro. I'm from the British Virgin Islands. I am currently a junior here at TCU with a major in English. As the name of my blog says, I LOVE ENGLISH! I enjoy writing poetry, short stories and even songs. Writing has always been a passion for me since I was in highschool. I plan to be an english/literature teacher at one of the highschools back at home and eventually at the community college. I would even like to write my own book of short stories sometime in the future. Besides writing, I enjoy dancing which I've been doing for the past 5 years or so in my church's dance ministry at home. I also enjoy shopping, travelling and spending time with my family and friends.

I'm a twin and my twin sister also goes to TCU. We both have similar interests as she is majoring in Secondary Education - English. I also have two other sisters currently attending TCU; one is in her senior year as an undergrad student and the other is in the graduate program. As you can imagine, this makes it a whole lot easier being far away from home. But I am enjoying my life here at TCU! Infact, I LOVE IT!