Virginia Woolf Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Virginia Woolf - Essay Example The Hours are novels that represent life as it truly is rather than the way that society demands it should be and this is a theme that will be discussed in this paper. Mrs. Dalloway is a story that has as its main focus life in Britain during the interwar period and it attempts to deal with issues that individuals in this society were not willing to talk especially in public. Among the issues that were taking place in this society, yet nobody was willing to address is the existence of homosexual and lesbian relationships. These were issues which were hardly ever addressed in the relatively conservative society of Britain during the first half of the twentieth century and it created a situation where such relationships were often looked down upon. The same situation occurs in The Hours where while there has been considerable progress since the time of Mrs Dalloway, where the so-called non-traditional relationships were hardly ever recognized, Cunningham addresses the new issues that have become a reality in the modern world, specifically HIV and AIDS. Cunningham uses Richard, a prominent writer who has just won an award and suffers from AIDS, to pe rsonify the manner through which individuals in the modern society have come to suffer from this disease. One would argue that it is through the characterization of Richard from Clarissa’s perspective that Cunningham comes to inform the reader of how while the modern world may have accepted homosexuality, it has yet to come to terms with AIDS. The myths and stigma that are attached to this condition seem to be the cause of the depression that Richard seems to be suffering as seen through his not being excited about the party that Clarissa is preparing for him for winning the award. When one compares Mrs Brown’s character in The Hours with that of Mrs Dalloway, one will find these characters to be very similar. One would argue that this is mainly because they both seem to be unsatisfied with the life that they are