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Virginia Woolf: The feminine self

Virginia Woolf: The feminine self The American Journal of Psychoanalysis, Vol. 50, No. I, 1990 Shirley Panken Virginia Woolf claimed to feel most feminine when writing, which was shakily noted in her diary following a long digression on the aging process. Most characteristically, she equated writing with images of fertility and mother- hood, or with what she alluded to as the "pain ''t of childbirth, experiences of which she felt deprived. Corresponding with her sister, Virginia at 26 tells Vanessa Bell, her maternal and ego ideal, that she writes as her nephew Julian "sucks his bottle, ''2 telling us in effect that she autonomously creates her own milk or words; 3 this correspondence alerts us to the oral dimension defining her creative process, as she competes with both mother and child. Showing her deep enmeshment with her sister, Virginia in embarking on her novel Night and Day, 4 wrote Vanessa: "1 greatly envy your brats. I am very much interested in your life which I think of writing another novel about. It's fatal staying with you--you start so many new ideas. ''5 Vanessa as wife, mother, and artist was prototype for a good number of Woolf's fictional women. Many of Woolf's novels might be http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png The American Journal of Psychoanalysis Springer Journals

Virginia Woolf: The feminine self

Panken, Shirley
The American Journal of Psychoanalysis , Volume 50 (1): 11 – Mar 1, 1990
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References (25)

Publisher
Springer Journals
Copyright
1990 Association for the Advancement of Psychoanalysis
ISSN
0002-9548
eISSN
1573-6741
DOI
10.1007/BF01253455
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

The American Journal of Psychoanalysis, Vol. 50, No. I, 1990 Shirley Panken Virginia Woolf claimed to feel most feminine when writing, which was shakily noted in her diary following a long digression on the aging process. Most characteristically, she equated writing with images of fertility and mother- hood, or with what she alluded to as the "pain ''t of childbirth, experiences of which she felt deprived. Corresponding with her sister, Virginia at 26 tells Vanessa Bell, her maternal and ego ideal, that she writes as her nephew Julian "sucks his bottle, ''2 telling us in effect that she autonomously creates her own milk or words; 3 this correspondence alerts us to the oral dimension defining her creative process, as she competes with both mother and child. Showing her deep enmeshment with her sister, Virginia in embarking on her novel Night and Day, 4 wrote Vanessa: "1 greatly envy your brats. I am very much interested in your life which I think of writing another novel about. It's fatal staying with you--you start so many new ideas. ''5 Vanessa as wife, mother, and artist was prototype for a good number of Woolf's fictional women. Many of Woolf's novels might be

Journal

The American Journal of Psychoanalysis – Springer Journals

Published: Mar 1, 1990

Keywords: Clinical Psychology; Psychotherapy; Psychoanalysis

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