Cambridge in Virginia's writing

Cambridge University played a large role in Virginia Woolf's life. Her brothers Thoby and Adrian both attended the university and often brought their friends home to visit.   Virginia, her sister Vanessa, and these Cambridge companions formed what came to be known as the Bloomsbury Group.  The group was an influential force in the writing and art worlds and strongly embodied the spirit of Modernism.
Virginia, sometimes accompanied by her close friend Vita Sackville-West, visited Cambridge many times throughout her life mostly to present her essays.  She also had relatives and close friends that were members of the Cambridge Apostles, an elite society comprising of the top academics at Cambridge.

Some places where Cambridge appears in Virginia's writing...

A Room of One's Own: this work contains the most references to the university as it is an extension of an essay she presented there. She refers to Cambrdige as Oxbridge (a combination of Oxford and Cambridge) and Newnham College as Fernham, but her descriptions make it clear what she is actually refering to.

Moments of Being:
pg. 108 "...how he (Leslie Stephen) went to Eton and was unhappy; went to Cambridge and was in his element
....or mould, of so many Cambridge intellectuals

pg. 139 "great pride in us whose photographs were on his fireplace at Cambridge...

pg 193. "I am describing a tea party in James Strachey's rooms at Cambridge."

A Writer's Diary
pg. 171 " I expect I shall write to you again when I have re-read The Waves. I have been looking in it and talking about it at Cambridge."

pg. 167 " ...will I send a copy of my new book to Count Moira, all Italians are Counts, once he showed four Counts round Cambridge..."

pg 179 "...the common feeling I have with those trusty Cambridge fellows..."

The Waves
pg. 55 " Bernard and Neville, Percival, Archie, Lapernt, and Baker go to Oxford or Cambridge..."

The Years
pg. 254 " 'I can't put a name to him,' he said aloud.  'But I've met him--let me see--where? In Oxford or Cambridge?'"

The Voyage Out
pg. 161 "Either I must go to the bar, or I must stay on in Cambridge. Of course, there are obvious drawbacks to each, but the arguments certainly do seem to me in favour of Cambridge."

pg. 153 "...but Hirst had no taste for music, and a few dancing lessons at Cambridge had only put him into possession of the anatomy of a waltz, without imparitng any of its spirit."

pg. 293 "But at Cambridge, I can remember, there were times when one fell into ridiculous states of semi-coma about five o'clock in the morning."

Mrs. Dalloway
pg. 43 "Striding, staring, he glared at the statue of the Duke of Cambridge. He had been sent down from Oxford--true."

Monday or Tuesday
pg. 14 "Off we went then, some to the British Museum; others to the King's Navy; some to Oxford; others to Cambridge..."

Three Guineas
pg. 35 "History at once informs us that there are now, and have been since 1870, colleges for the sisters of educated men both at Oxford and Cambridge."

pg. 40 "Again, if we help an educated man's daughter to go to Cambridge are we not forcing her to think not about education but about war?"

pg. 104 "With what other purpose were the universities of Oxford and Cambridge founded, save to protect culture and intellectual liberty?"

Follow in her footsteps: Virginia's Cambridge walk

If you ever find yourself in Cambridge I highly recommend that you take Virginia's walk through the city that she writes about in A Room of One's Own.  It is a great way to see many of the university's famous sites.
Her walk begins at the Quay side and follows the river Cam past St. John's College, stopping at Trinity College where you can see the library she was denied access to.  The path continues past Trinity Hall and Clare College where you have a magnificent view across the river of The Backs.  The next stop is King's College which is home to the famous Gothic chapel that took fifteen years to build.  Along the way you will see Queen's College, one of the newer and more modern looking buildings.  From here, cross the river by way of Sidgwick Ave. (don't miss the turn like Virginia did) and you will end up at the towering iron gates that are "always open."
Don't forget to keep off the grass unless you want to be yelled at by a Beadle.

Built on a foundation of gold: King's Chapel

King's Chapel is one of the most iconic buildings at Cambridge University, with its gothic architecture and towering white limestome walls. The corner stone for the chapel was laid in 1441 by Henry VI and was the beginnings of his great court, which would house King's College.  "He went to great lengths to ensure that King's College Chapel would be without equal in size and beauty. No other college had a chapel built on such a scale: in fact, the building was modelled on the plan of a cathedral choir, the architect being Henry VI's master mason, Reginald Ely." (King's College website)  The foundation stone was laid in 1446 which began a fifteen year building process.  Henry VI was tragically murdered in the Tower of London during the building of the chapel and the project had to be taken up by the new king Edward IV, who was less than enthusiastic about the project.  Out of the kindness of his heart, Richard III donated enough funds to have the chapel completed.

This magnificient building has remained since then and was passed down through the centuries to the Tudors and so on.

Virginia Woolf talks about the chapel in A Room of One's Own as she's walking the grounds of Cambridge. "As you know, its high domes and pinnacles can be seen, like a sailing-ship always voyaging ner arriving, lit up at night and visible for miles....and then painters brought in their glass for the windows, and the masons were busy for centuries up on that roof...Every Saturday somebody must have poured gold and silver out of a leathern purse into their ancient fists...An unending stream of gold and silver...But it was then the age of faith, and money was poured liberally to set these stones in a deep foundation...still more money was poured in from the coffers of kings and queens....and the age of reason had come, still the same flow of gold and silver went on....Certainly, as I strolled round the court, the foundation of gold and silver seemed deep enough..." (Woolf, 9-10).

Restricted Access! VIPs only: Trinity College library

The Trinity College Library, also known as the Wren Library, was designed by Sir Christopher Wren and was built in 1695 by Isaac Brown. This libary is the largest at Cambridge and houses three hundred thousand volumes including some very rare works as well as the college archive.  "Manuscripts and printed books are kept in the Wren Library and there is also a modern library and reading room, which are not open to visitors. Some of the College's most notable manuscripts are displayed in the Wren Library, including an eighth century copy of the Epistles of St Paul, John Milton's shorter poems in his own handwriting and the original manuscript of Winnie-the-Pooh." (Trinity College website)  In A Room of One's Own Virginia opens the door to the library but is sent away because she is a woman and does not have a letter of introduction.  "I must have opened it, for instantly there issued, like a guardian angel barring the way with a flutter of black gown instead of white wings, a deprecating, silvery, kindly gentleman, who regretted in a low voice as he waved me back that ladies are only admitted to the library if accompanied by a Fellow of the College or furnished with a letter of introduction.
 Although the libary is now open to women it is still very exclusive and is only open to visitors and tourists at certain times. Wren Library is always closed during exams.

A college for women?: Newnham's history

Newnham College was founded in 1871 and was originally in a house for students. "Lectures for Ladies had been started in Cambridge in 1870 and such was the demand from those who could not travel in and out on a daily basis, that the philosopher Henry Sidgwick, one of the organisers of the lectures, risked renting a house in which young women attending the lectures could reside" (Newnham College website).  The demand increased and eventually the university received a land grant where they built the beginnings of Newnham in 1875.  Women remained interested in attending the College and it was gradually  extended to include labs, three halls, and a library.
At first these women were ignored by Cambridge and they had to negotiate with each examiner to be able to take their exams.  Eventually, in 1881, permission was granted, but there was another problem.  The women's degrees were not being recognized. Protests broke out across the university and the first attempts at attaining recoginition failed.

The women of Newnham fought long and hard, and finally in 1948 their efforts were rewarded when they received full admission into the univeristy. However, Cambridge still retains the right to limit the number of women that attend.
Virginia Woolf was a strong advocate for women's education.  She mentions the College in A Room of One's Own.  She refers to it as Fernham, but it is apparent through her descriptions that she is actually talking about Newnham.  "The gardens of Fernahm lay before me in the spring twilight, wild and open, and in the long grass, sprinkled and carelessly flung, were daffodils and bluebells...The windows of the building curved like a ships' windows among generous waves of red brick..." (Woolf, 17).

A brief history of the university

The University of Cambridge has and interesting story...
According to Cambridge University-The Unauthorised History the university was founded by some Oxford scholars who accidentally killed a townswoman while practicing archery. The king ruled on the side of the townspeople and fearing hanging the students fled.  The scholars ended up in various areas around England, but many of them settled in Cambridge where they founded the university in 1209.
Cambridge was one of the first universities to have a women's college.  Newnham College paved the way for women's studies and helped put Cambrige on the map as a presigious establishment.  Besides Newnham the univeristy is made up of 30 other colleges three of which admit only women (Newnham, Murray Edwards, and Lucy Cavendish).
The university appears throughout Virginia's writing especially in A Room of One's Own, an extended version of an essay she presented at Newnham. (Picture of Newnham below)

About this blog

This site is a unique guide that will take viewers on a journey of Cambridge through Virginia Woolf's eyes.  Each post gives a brief history of one of the locations in Cambridge that Virginia Woolf included in her writing.  There is also a map of the walk she regularly took through Cambridge as well as specific citations of where you can find Cambridge mentioned in Virginia's works.  So sit back and enjoy as Virginia Woolf takes you on a tour of Cambridge.