Subtitle

Virginia Woolf's Assault on Traditional Male Gender Expectations

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

First Advisor

Schapiro, Barbara A.

Document Type

Thesis

School

Faculty of Arts and Sciences

Department

English

Date of Original Version

5-2010

Abstract

Explores the argument that several of Virginia Woolf's male characters, including Septimus Smith, Mr. Ramsay, and Bernard (in The Waves), challenge traditional male gender expectations in Britain after World War I. Examines Woolf's use of the concept of manliness in structuring her novels and her presentation of a series of men who do not conform to the British ideal of masculinity and who, thereby, allow her to expose the multiple fallacies of that ideal and a culture supported by such a concept. Posits that Woolf's work suggests that a new, more inclusive, understanding of gender is an important first step towards true gender equality.

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