Concetti Chiave
- "Orlando" is an experimental novel by Virginia Woolf, showcasing her ability to adapt narrative style to different historical periods.
- The book sparked significant debate in London literary circles due to its innovative narrative techniques.
- It serves as a love declaration from Woolf to Vita Sackville-West, blurring lines between biography and fiction.
- The plot features the androgynous character Orlando, transitioning from a young man to a woman across four centuries.
- Woolf employs varied stylistic approaches, switching between omniscient and third-person narration.
"Orlando" is a novel written by the English author Virginia Woolf.
Indice
Stile narrativo e dibattito letterario
The book is experimental because:
- The author demonstrates a great ability to vary her narrative style according to the historical moment that is narrated.
- it is characterized by new narrative solutions that, at the time of the writing of the novel, aroused a lively debate in London literary circles.
Un album segreto e una biografia fittizia
"Orlando" looks more like a secret album; in fact it can be considered as a declaration of love written by a woman, Woolf, for another woman (the noble Vita Sackville-West, with whom Virginia Woolf had a relationship).
“Orlando” can be considered as a fictional biography of Vita Sackville West, a poetic character more than a poet, a modern and elusive woman, on the crest of the wave in the fashion of the period: androgynous, bisexual, fierce smoker and masculine intellectual. Virginia will come out blessed by their meeting, in love with her strength and her charm.
Peculiarità e trama del romanzo
The peculiarity of this novel is the great originality of the plot. The plot is very articulate and revolves around the androgynous figure of Orlando, hero-heroine who spans four centuries (from the 16th to the 19th), often clashing with the English society of those centuries, which as a handsome young man turns into an enchanting lady .
From a stylistic point of view, Virginia Woolf alternates various registers and points of view: for example, the narrator is sometimes omniscient, other ones in the third person.