ORLANDO: Week 1, Chapter 1

[Peppermill]

My copy, with the most recent copyright of 1956, has no notes.  I haven't explored the links given us here yet -- thought I would see how this reads on its own.

So, will start by calling out a few passages that caught my eye and ear:

p.18 "...It was very high, so high indeed that nineteen English counties could be seen beneath, and on clear days thirty, or forty perhaps, if the weather was very fine.  Sometimes one could see the English Channel, wave reiterating upon wave. Rivers could be seen and pleasure boats gliding on them; and galleons setting out to sea; and armadas with puffs of smoke from which came the dull thud of cannon firing; and forts on the coast; and castles among the meadows; and here a watch tower; and there a fortress; and again some vast mansion like that of Orlando's father, massed like a town in the valley circled by walls. To the east there were the spires of London and the smoke of the city; and perhaps on the very sky line, when the wind was in the right quarter, the craggy top and serrated edges of Snowden herself showed mountainous among the clouds.  For a moment Orlando stood counting, gazing, recognizing...."

Emphasis (bold or italics) added.

For me, the passage brought memories of my own experiences standing on a favorite mountaintop in Vermont, whether Mansfield or Jay, where a clear day offers such a wide spread view (even occasionally Mt. Washington in New Hampshire like Snowden here) -- but how explicitly Woolf is able to envision the experience for others!

Snowden or Snowdon

[Peppermill]

  This shows the "serrated edge" edge of the Snowdon range, rather than just the mountain itself.  Either seems applicable for Woolf's descriptive imagination.

This site describes Snowdonia National Park in Wales.

Castell y Bere reminds me of Woolf's description of the mansion of Orlando's father, "massed like a town in the valley circled by walls," although Castell y Bere is a ruins.

[dulcinea3]

Here is an aerial view of Knole, the Sackville estate that was the origin of Orlando's father's home:

Somewhat as related in the novel, it had belonged to Thomas Cranmer, until he was obliged to present it to Henry VIII when the King expressed admiration for it.  Henry's daughter Elizabeth I (the Queen in this part of the story) presented it to her cousin Thomas Sackville.  It was rumored that she wanted to have him closer to her court because she was very fond of him.  Orlando is apparently representing Thomas Sackville at this point, as Thomas was appointed lord high treasurer and lord high steward, the same as Orlando ("named him her Treasurer and Steward").  In addition, both Orlando and Thomas Sackville were sent to Scotland to inform Mary, Queen of Scots, that she had been sentenced to death.

Here is a list of the illustrations, although the images are rather small:

http://www.virginiawoolfsociety.co.uk/vw_res.illustrations.htm

Do those of you without notes still have the illustrations?

I'm afraid that I have fallen quite behind in reading, as my cold made me too exhausted to stay up and read most of the week, so I am still only about 2/3 through the first chapter.

[foxycat]

Vita didn't fare as well as Orlando.  In reality, the estate went to the first male heir, her uncle. Today it's owned by the National Trust, like most of the historic English country homes, and Sackvilles own the park and lease parts of the house. In the Great Hall is a facsimile of Woolf's manuscript of Orlando. And, as in Orlando, it was refurnished in the 17th and 18h Centuries.

http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-vh/w-visits/w-findaplace/w-knole/w-knole-history.htm

I've come into contact with Vita before. The part of her story I know begins in 1930, because before my knees got bad I had been a passionate, obsessive gardener. When Vita and Harold bought Sissinghurst Castle, they jointly created one of the great gardens of the world, divided into "rooms." The best known compartment is the White Garden. I don't think many people still read her novels or poetry, but her fame today is as a great landcaper and gardener, and also Woolf's lover.

[foxycat]

I have the same edition as Dulcinea, with only 4 photos.

[foxycat]

Please read carefully and take notes, as there will be a test:

Sasha is generally believed to be the possessive and obsessive Violet Keppel Trefusis, who had an affair with Vita before Woolf. It was considerably longer than Orlando's with Sasha. Now get out your scorecards:

Vita's husband Harold was also gay, and they were tolerant of each other's affairs.   I remember the show on PBS  in 1990 about Vita's affair with Violet,  based on Portrait of a Marriage, by the Nicolsons' son Nigel. Vita was played by the great Janet McTeer.

http://www.afterellen.com/Movies/2006/6/portrait.html

Vita wrote a number of novels, poetry and biographies, but is known today mostly as Woolf's lover and for her landcsaping.

Violet's mother Alice Keppel was known mostly as the lover of King Edward VII.  As she was very discrete, she wrote only letters.

Violet's sister Sonia was the grandmother of Camilla Parker-Bowles, known mostly as Prince Charles' lover before they married. Don't know if Camilla has written anything.  Yet..

Prince Charles' first wife was ...

...and on and on.

Does anyone need clarification?

[Fozzie]

My book has the illustrations.

[dulcinea3]

---

foxycat wrote:

I have the same edition as Dulcinea, with only 4 photos.

---

Do you mean that only four out of the eight illustrations are photos?  I do have all eight as shown in the link that I posted, but half of them are portraits and the other half photos.

[KathyS]

---

foxycat wrote:

Vita didn't fare as well as Orlando.  In reality, the estate went to the first male heir, her uncle. Today it's owned by the National Trust, like most of the historic English country homes, and Sackvilles own the park and lease parts of the house. In the Great Hall is a facsimile of Woolf's manuscript of Orlando. And, as in Orlando, it was refurnished in the 17th and 18h Centuries.

http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-vh/w-visits/w-findaplace/w-knole/w-knole-history.htm

I've come into contact with Vita before. The part of her story I know begins in 1930, because before my knees got bad I had been a passionate, obsessive gardener. When Vita and Harold bought Sissinghurst Castle, they jointly created one of the great gardens of the world, divided into "rooms." The best known compartment is the White Garden. I don't think many people still read her novels or poetry, but her fame today is as a great landscaper and gardener, and also Woolf's lover.

---

Thanks, R.  I really know nothing about Vita, and her gardening.  I knew my sister-in-law, a master gardener, and my brother, had gone to England, and were very interested in seeing Vita's home.  I don't think we discussed it, at the time, but now I understand why she was interested in seeing it.

[KathyS]

Here's some very nice pictures of Sissinghurst Castle Garden, Kent - Take the tour!

http://www.invectis.co.uk/sissing/

[foxycat]

---

dulcinea3 wrote:

---

foxycat wrote:

I have the same edition as Dulcinea, with only 4 photos.

---

Do you mean that only four out of the eight illustrations are photos?  I do have all eight as shown in the link that I posted, but half of them are portraits and the other half photos.

---

Don't know, didn't really count them. I have whatever you have.

[foxycat]

Vita also wrote a number of gardening books, which still seem to be in print.   We have to give Harold equal credit for the gardens, as it was a team project. 

[Peppermill]

What is the relationship of Sissinghurst Castle to Knole?

Yes, I am being lazy, putting this out as a question, rather than doing the research myself.

Pepper

[foxycat]

Vita lost Knole to her uncle because she wasn't a male heir. In 1930 she and Harold bought Sissinghurst, not a bad consolation prize. The lawsuits in Orlando were based on fact, except that in real life she lost.

[foxycat]

I mentioned the imaginary biographer who intersperses subjective remarks now and then. Did anyone notice that on page 1, she says the Moor's head was "the colour of an old football"?  That would be a metaphor from her own time, not from Orlando's. Hee-hee.

[Peppermill]

---

foxycat wrote:

I mentioned the imaginary biographer who intersperses subjective remarks now and then. Did anyone notice that on page 1, she says the Moor's head was "the colour of an old football"?  That would be a metaphor from her own time, not from Orlando's. Hee-hee.

---

And how are we to interpret your "Hee-hee"?

[foxycat]

[dulcinea3]

There seem to be a lot of severed heads and the like in this novel!  There was the Moor, and then the heads on Traitor's Gate.

[foxycat]

Severed heads--That's was the usual thing to do with criminals or your enemies.

[Melissa_W Moderator]

And it was still common at the time Orlando starts to post the heads of traitors as a warning to others.

---

foxycat wrote:

Severed heads--That's was the usual thing to do with criminals or your enemies.

---