Orlando: Try Living in Someone else's shoes

‘As long as she thinks of a man, nobody objects to a woman thinking.’- Orlando

Virginia Woolf’s Orlando was dedicated to her intimate friend (wink wink) Vita Sackville-West. The novel is about: ‘…a chameleon-like historical figure who changes sex and identity at will.’ Basically a Mrs Doubtfire situation let’s be honest!

Woolf utilises the Oak Tree and clothing to show the cyclical nature of the text and the gender subjectification that Orlando is forced into.

We all had that special place as a kid where we hung out. For Orlando it’s the oak tree on his home estate:

‘…-on the earth at the foot of the oak tree. He loved, beneath all this summer transiency, to feel the Earth’s spine beneath him…’

‘The tree had grown bigger, sturdier, and more knotted since she had known it…but it was still in the prime of life.’

Woolf here utilises the symbolism of the oak tree to show the maturity Orlando has experienced from the beginning to the end of the novel. Most importantly, Orlando, by the end of the novel, lies beneath the tree again which shows us that she remains rooted to her past self.

For society today, most women can wear whatever they want, unfortunately women in the nineteenth century weren’t as fortunate:

‘By wearing dresses that resembled their interior furnishings, women became walking symbols of their social function - wife, mother, domestic manager.’

Clothing in the nineteenth century was used as a method of control. After transitioning from man to woman, Orlando has to come to terms with the significance of her new look. When Orlando is travelling back to Britain from Turkey (I know, one heck of a holiday!) Orlando briefly shows her ankles:

‘“If the sight of my ankles means death to an honest fellow who, no doubt, has a wife and family to support, I must, in all humanity, keep them covered.”’

Shock horror! How dare she do such a thing?!

Orlando’s clothing is symbolic because it shows the oppression that women faced from the nineteenth century patriarchy. In addition, after this incident Orlando makes other mistakes and society yet again tries to make her conform, but they fail, as Nancy Cervetti states:

‘The text marks subjectivity as multiple and shifting, and any attempt to define Orlando’s identity is useless.’

Overall, Orlando may be our past Mrs Doubtfire, but Woolf uses Orlando’s journey to shows the significance of symbolism. The Oak Tree plays a significant part in the text as it marks the beginning and the end of her journey; which has seen her undergo a spiritual growth which wouldn’t have happened if it wasn’t for her transforming into a woman.

I guess men don’t know how lucky they are.