The Legacy [short story]
by Virginia Woolf
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In The Legacy, Gilbert Clandon is a widower whose wife has left him the collection of diaries she has kept since their marriage began. The diaries reveal that the wife he thought was completely devoted to him has been in love with another man. With this discovery also comes the realization that her death may not have been accidental, as he previously thought. A heartbreaking tale, though a very human and rewardingly moving one.Tags
Member Reviews
Strange, but when I read this story of a grieving husband, a highly successful politician, reading his deceased wife's diaries, I couldn't help but think how removed from reality the privileged ruling class is. It is not just that the upper one tenth of one percent does not understand the other 99%, they are often completely unaware of what happens outside their own immediate circle of activities. Egocentric is inadequate to describe the phenomenon and probably even an understatement.
Using terminology from grammar, what society must achieve is not a shift from thinking exclusively in the 1st person singular to the 2nd person or 3rd person, but a shift from the 1st person singular to the 1st person plural, from "I" to "we". When that show more happens, mankind will have achieved genuine progress. show less
Using terminology from grammar, what society must achieve is not a shift from thinking exclusively in the 1st person singular to the 2nd person or 3rd person, but a shift from the 1st person singular to the 1st person plural, from "I" to "we". When that show more happens, mankind will have achieved genuine progress. show less
This short story packs quite a punch as Woolf explores marriage, a topic she is very good with. The direction the story took was not a surprise, but the character study was marvelous.
Thank you to Mark for reminding me that I wanted to read this...and so I did.
You can read it HERE
Thank you to Mark for reminding me that I wanted to read this...and so I did.
You can read it HERE
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649+ Works 118,988 Members
Virginia Woolf was born in London, England on January 25, 1882. She was the daughter of the prominent literary critic Leslie Stephen. Her early education was obtained at home through her parents and governesses. After death of her father in 1904, her family moved to Bloomsbury, where they formed the nucleus of the Bloomsbury Group, a circle of show more philosophers, writers, and artists. During her lifetime, she wrote both fiction and non-fiction works. Her novels included Jacob's Room, Mrs. Dalloway, To the Lighthouse, Orlando, and Between the Acts. Her non-fiction books included The Common Reader, A Room of One's Own, Three Guineas, The Captain's Death Bed and Other Essays, and The Death of the Moth and Other Essays. Having had periods of depression throughout her life and fearing a final mental breakdown from which she might not recover, Woolf drowned herself on March 28, 1941 at the age of 59. Her husband published part of her farewell letter to deny that she had taken her life because she could not face the terrible times of war. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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- Canonical title
- The Legacy [short story]
- Original title
- The Legacy
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- 13
- Popularity
- 1,767,234
- Reviews
- 2
- Rating
- (4.00)
- Languages
- English, Swedish
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 5
