Jane Austen versus Virginia Woolf

Mar 30, 2001 - © Lisa Martin McAfee

and the world did not make as much sense to this new generation as it had to the societies of the Neo-Classic and Romantic world.

Thanks to the Industrial revolution, weapons of destruction were now able to be mass produced quickly. Gone was the sense of honor in duty and war, such as you will find in Tennyson’s “Charge of the Light Brigade.” In the wake of the “war to end all wars” many are found to be disillusioned and cynical.

Virginia Woolf had to deal with the loss of her mother, step-sister, father, and beloved brother in her early teens and early twenties. Emotionally high strung, she became prone to suffering depression and mental breakdowns. She witnessed first hand the horrors of World War I and suffers boughts of madness and attempts at suicide. It is little wonder that the themes she chose to write about were so drastically different than those Austen wrote about.

In my next article, I want to take a break from discussing Austen’s writing and focus on Virginia Woolf’s autobiogaphic novel, To The Lighthouse. This way we can see how different these two women authors are in terms of writing styles and personal issues.

The copyright of the article Jane Austen versus Virginia Woolf in Jane Austen is owned by Lisa Martin McAfee. Permission to republish Jane Austen versus Virginia Woolf in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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