Editing Virginia Woolf (section)

=== Early life ===
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| image1 = Leslie Stephen c1860.jpg
| caption1 = [[Leslie Stephen]], 1860
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| alt2 = Photo of her mother, Julia Stephen 1867
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Virginia Woolf was born Adeline Virginia Stephen on 25 January 1882, in [[South Kensington]], London,{{sfn|Gordon|2004}} to [[Julia Stephen|Julia (née Jackson)]] and [[Leslie Stephen|Sir Leslie Stephen]]. Her father was a writer, historian, essayist, biographer, and mountaineer, while her mother was a noted philanthropist.{{sfn|Gordon|2004}}{{sfn|Garnett|2004}} Woolf's maternal relatives include [[Julia Margaret Cameron]], a celebrated photographer, and [[Lady Henry Somerset]], a campaigner for women's rights.{{sfn|Garnett|2004}} Originally named after her aunt Adeline, Woolf did not use her first name due to her aunt's recent death.{{sfn|Harris|2011|pp=12-13}}

Both Virginia's parents had children from previous marriages. Julia's first marriage, to barrister [[Herbert Duckworth]], produced three children: [[George Herbert Duckworth|George]], Stella, and [[Gerald Duckworth|Gerald]].{{sfn|Garnett|2004}} Leslie's first marriage, to Minny Thackeray, daughter of [[William Makepeace Thackeray]], resulted in one daughter, Laura.{{sfn|Gordon|2004}} Leslie and Julia Stephen had four children together: [[Vanessa Bell|Vanessa]], [[Thoby Stephen|Thoby]], Virginia, and [[Adrian Stephen|Adrian]].{{sfn|Gordon|2004}}

[[File:Duckworth Stephen Family 1892.jpg|thumb|Duckworth/Stephen Family {{circa|1892}}. Back row: Gerald Duckworth, Virginia, Thoby and Vanessa Stephen, George Duckworth. Front row: Adrian, Julia, Leslie Stephen.]]

Virginia showed an early affinity for writing. By the age of five, she was writing letters, and her fascination with books helped form a bond with her father.{{sfn|Gordon|2004}} From the age of 10, she began an illustrated family newspaper, the ''Hyde Park Gate News'', chronicling life and events within the Stephen family,{{sfn|Harris|2011|p=18}} and modelled on the popular magazine ''[[Tit-Bits]]''.{{sfn|Lowe|2005|p=vii}} Virginia would run the ''Hyde Park Gate News'' until 1895.{{sfn|Lowe|2005|p=ix}} In 1897, Virginia began her first diary,{{sfn|Woolf|1990|loc=1 January 1898|p=134}} which she kept for the next twelve years.{{sfn|Woolf|1990}}

==== Talland House ====

In the spring of 1882, Leslie rented a large white house in [[St Ives, Cornwall]].{{sfn|Eagle|Carnell|1981|p=232}}{{sfn|Gordon|2004}} The family spent three months each summer there for the first 13 years of Virginia's life.{{sfn|Harris|2011|pp=19-20}} Despite its limited amenities, the house's main attraction was the view of Porthminster Bay overlooking the [[Godrevy Lighthouse]].{{sfn|Gordon|2004}} The happy summers spent at Talland House would later influence Woolf's novels ''[[Jacob's Room]]'', ''[[To the Lighthouse]]'' and ''[[The Waves]]''.{{sfn|Wright|2011|p=22}}

At both Talland House and her family home, the family engaged with many literary and artistic figures. Frequent guests included literary figures such as [[Henry James]], [[George Meredith]], and  [[James Russell Lowell]].{{cn|date=June 2024}} The family did not return after 1894; a hotel was constructed in front of the house which blocked the sea view, and Julia Stephen died in May the following year.{{sfn|Harris|2011|pp=21-22}}

{{multiple image | align = center | direction = horizontal | total_width = 700 | float = none
|image1=Talland House, c1882–1894.jpg |caption1=Talland House, [[St Ives, Cornwall]], {{circa|1882}}–1895|alt1=Photo of Talland House, St Ives during period when the Stephen family leased it
|image2=Virginia Adrian Stephen cricket.1886.jpg |caption2 = Virginia and Adrian Stephen playing [[cricket]], 1886|alt2= Virginia and Adrian Stephen playing cricket at Talland House in 1886
|image3=Julia Leslie Virginia.jpg|caption3=Julia, Leslie and Virginia, Library, Talland House, 1892|alt3=Julia, Leslie and Virginia reading in the library at Talland House. Photography by Vanessa Bell
|image4= Virginia Woolf and Vanessa Bell children.jpg|caption4= Virginia and Vanessa, 1894| alt4= Virginia playing cricket with Vanessa 1894
|image5=GodrevyLightHouse.JPG |caption5=[[Godrevy Lighthouse]], 2005|alt5=View of Godrevy Lighthouse in 2005
}}

==== Sexual abuse ====
In the 1939 essay "A Sketch of the Past", Woolf first disclosed that she had experienced sexual abuse by Gerald Duckworth during childhood.<ref>Virginia Woolf, "A Sketch of the Past", in ''Moments of Being'' (London: Hogarth Press, 1985), p. 69.</ref><ref>Roger Poole, ''The Unknown Virginia Woolf'' (Cambridge University Press, 1978), pp. 27–34.</ref> There is speculation that this contributed to her mental health issues later in life.{{sfn|Lee|1997a|pp=123-124}} There are also suggestions of sexual impropriety from George Duckworth during the period that he was caring for the Stephen sisters when they were teenagers.{{sfn|Lee|1997a|pp=151-156}}

==== Adolescence ====
[[File:Virginia Woolf with her father, Sir Leslie Stephen.jpg|thumb|Virginia and Leslie Stephen, 1902|alt=Portrait of Virginia Woolf with her father Leslie Stephen in 1902, by Beresford]]
Her mother's death precipitated what Virginia later identified as her first "breakdown"{{emdash}}for months afterwards she was nervous and agitated, and she wrote very little for the subsequent two years.{{sfn|Harris|2011|p=25}} 

Stella Duckworth took on a parental role in the household.{{sfn|Gordon|2004}} She married in April 1897 but remained closely involved with the Stephens, moving to a house very close to the Stephens to continue to support the family. However, she fell ill on her honeymoon and died in July of that same year.{{sfn|Harris|2011|p=28}}{{sfn|Bell|1972|loc=Chronology|p=191}} After Stella's death, George Duckworth took on the role of head of the household, and sought to [[debut (society)|bring Vanessa and Virginia into society]].{{sfn|Harris|2011|p=29}}<ref name=MP230/> However, this experience did not resonate with either sister. Virginia later reflected on this societal expectation, stating: "Society in those days was a very competent, perfectly complacent, ruthless machine. A girl had no chance against its fangs. No other desires{{emdash}}say to paint, or to write{{emdash}}could be taken seriously."{{sfn|Woolf|1940|p=157}} For Virginia, writing remained a priority.<ref name=MP230/> She began a new diary at the start of 1897 and filled notebooks with fragments and literary sketches.{{sfn|Bell|1972|loc=Chronology|p=190}}{{sfn|Harris|2011|p=35}}

In February 1904 Leslie Stephen died, which caused Virginia to suffer another period of mental instability, lasting from April to September. During this time she experienced a severe psychological crisis, which led to at least one suicide attempt.{{sfn|Harris|2011|p=36}} Woolf later described the period between 1897 and 1904 as "the seven unhappy years".{{sfn|Harris|2011|p=32}}

==== Education ====
[[File:Julia and the children at lessons 1894.jpg|thumb|Virginia (third from left) with her mother and the Stephen children at their lessons, Talland House, {{circa|1894}}|alt=Julia Stephen at Talland House supervising Thoby, Vanessa, Virginia and Adrian doing their lessons, summer 1894]]

As was common at the time, Virginia's mother did not believe in formal education for her daughters.{{sfn|Harris|2011|p=18}} Instead, Virginia was educated in a piecemeal fashion by her parents. She also received piano lessons.<ref name=Curtis58/>{{sfn|Harris|2011|pp=18-19}} Virginia had unrestricted access to her father's vast library, exposing her to much of the literary canon.<ref name=hauntedintro/> This resulted in a greater depth of reading than any of her Cambridge contemporaries.<ref name="Rosenbaum1/130"/> She later recalled: {{blockquote|Even today there may be parents who would doubt the wisdom of allowing a girl of fifteen the free run of a large and quite unexpurgated library. But my father allowed it. There were certain facts – very briefly, very shyly he referred to them. Yet "Read what you like", he said, and all his books...were to be had without asking.{{sfn|Woolf|1932a|p=72}}}}

Beginning in 1897, Virginia received private tutoring in Classical Greek and Latin. One of her tutors was [[Clara Pater]], who was instrumental to her classical education, while another, [[Janet Elizabeth Case|Janet Case]], became a lasting friend and introduced her to the [[Women's suffrage in the United Kingdom|suffrage movement]].{{sfn|Lee|1997a|pp=141,275-276}} Virginia also attended lectures at the [[King's College London|King's College]] Ladies' Department.{{sfn|Harris|2011|p=33}}

Although Virginia could not attend Cambridge, she was profoundly influenced by her brother Thoby's experiences there. When Thoby went to Trinity in 1899 he became part of an intellectual circle of young men, including [[Clive Bell]], [[Lytton Strachey]], [[Leonard Woolf]] (whom Virginia would later marry), and [[Saxon Sydney-Turner]]. He introduced his sisters to this circle at the [[Trinity May Ball]] in 1900.{{sfn|Todd|1999|p=12}} This circle formed a reading group that they named the Midnight Society, to which the Stephen sisters would later be invited.<ref name=Moggridge217/>