Differences and Similarities of Style, Values, Challenges and Achievements between Doris Lessing and Virginia Woolf

Proceedings of ‏The 3rd International Conference on Social Science, Humanities and Education

Year: 2020

DOI: https://www.doi.org/10.33422/3rd.icshe.2020.03.16

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Differences and Similarities of Style, Values, Challenges, and Achievements between Doris Lessing and Virginia Woolf

Flutura Boci

ABSTRACT: 

Doris Lessing is a renowned literature guru from the UK. She was born in Kermanshah, Persia (later Iran) on October 22, 1919, and grew up in Rhodesia (in the days of the Zimbabwean stoma). During her two marriages, she presented short fiction and poetry for publication. After moving to London in 1949, she published her first novel, The Shepherd Is Singing, in 1950. She is mainly known for her experimental 1954 Somerset Maugham Prize-winning novel, The Golden Note Book. Her other works include This Was the State of the Old Chair, Children of Violence series, Canopus in Argos – archived series, and Alfred and Emily. She has received many awards for her work, including the 2001 Prince of Asturias Prize in Literature, the David Cohen British Literature Prize, and the 2007 Nobel Prize in Literature. She died on November 17, 2013 at the age of 94. Her literary works enjoy wide popularity around the world, and this has given her many positive impressions. For example, she was the winner of the prestigious Nobel Prize in Literature in 2007. This was a remarkable achievement given her age. Her style epitomizes the unique literary approach used by influential British novelists. On the other hand, Virgnia Woolf is regarded by many analysts as a literary intellect who laid the foundations of the modernist style throughout the literary world of her day. Similar to Virginia Woolf , Doris Lessing, is a British novelist who died in 1941. Her literary work has been extremely influential during the 21st Century.Based on these insights, this papaper compares Doris Lessing to Virginia Woolf. The comparison will assess the different challanges that these two women writers faced. The analysis will also examine Doris Lessing’s beliefs, rights and achievements with those of Virginia Woolf. Consequently, the analysis will help to draw different lessons that can be learned about changes in the status of women.

Keywords: Challenges, Doris Lessing, feminist literature, similarities, Virginia Woolf.