Woolf and Schopenhauer: Artistic Theory and Practice

Virginia Woolf mentions the philosopher Schopenhauer only once in her writings, in a 1917 book review. She ridicules the book's author for his interest in Schopenhauer, and says that he has put her off ever reading any of the German philosopher's work. Nevertheless, repeated echoes of Schopenhauer appear both in her essays and in To the Lighthouse (1927), the novel in which her interest in his views is most apparent. A careful study of these echoes reveals a definite link between Schopenhauer's metaphysical theory and Woolf's artistic theory and practice.