Ms. Hen reviews Virginia

 

Virginia

Edna O'Brien

Harcourt Brace Jovanovich

1981

Ms. Hen stumbled upon this book in a small used bookstore in Concord, MA, called Barrow Books. She has read a lot by Edna O'Brien, and is very interested in Virginia Woolf, and she was excited to find a play about her. When she bought the book, she discovered it had been autographed, which made it even better.

This play is an autobiographical look at Virginia Woolf's life. No dates are given in the play, she exists in different time periods throughout the play. She marries her husband, and they have a difficult life, but they entertain each other. He publishes her books, and she does what she wants.

She meets Vita Sackville-West, and they have an affair, though they are both married to men. Virginia had spent time in a psychiatric hospital, and was troubled. She is talented, but haunted. She can't handle that England has entered another war and commits suicide by walking into a river with stones in her pockets.

Ms. Hen does not know what to make of the Virginia of this play. She is almost jealous of her, because she has the freedom to do what she wants with her life, and does not have to pretend to be a normal person. Ms. Hen does not like the idea of pretending to be sane; she thinks people should be able to be themselves. But that is not possible in the real world. Virginia did not live in the same world as everyone else.

Ms. Hen enjoyed this play, and spending time with Virginia. She thinks that O'Brien did a decent job writing about her, and Ms. Hen would like to see this play. She thinks reading drama takes imagination, and Ms. Hen has plenty of that. Ms. Hen can imagine what it's like to be in Virginia's wild mind, somewhere floating into space.