Date of Award

Spring 5-15-2026

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

MA English

Department

English

Advisor

Dr. Mary Balkun

Advisor

Dr. Russell Sbriglia

Keywords

fiber arts, Virginia Woolf, Angel in the House, knitting, crochet, sewing, embroidery, domesticity, gender, feminist criticism

Abstract

Scholars have long overlooked the role of fiber arts in Virginia Woolf’s fiction, treating the artform as acts of ‘women’s work.’ In an attempt to fill this gap, I posit that fiber arts operate as subversion of the Victorian ‘Angel in the House’ trope within two of Woolf’s novels, To the Lighthouse and The Years. While scholarship on To the Lighthouse cites Mrs. Ramsay’s perpetual status within the home as proof of her role as an ‘Angel in the House,’ her preferred hobby of knitting actually subverts this. Most Englishwomen during the Victorian era chose to follow their Queen’s example and crochet as opposed to knit. Knitting serves as both Mrs. Ramsay’s feminist artform, equivalent to that of Lily Briscoe’s painting in the novel, and a symbol with an evolving meaning that changes throughout the narrative. In Woolf’s final novel, The Years, published ten years after To the Lighthouse, embroidery and sewing also function in subversive ways. Rose Pargiter, her aunt Mrs. Malone, and her cousin Maggie all embroider or sew, yet only Mrs. Malone conforms to the ‘Angel in the House’ archetype. Rose’s embroidery project becomes a symbol of her rejection of Victorian ideals. Mrs. Malone uses the artform as an extension of her being and to control her home. Maggie uses sewing to survive as a single woman in the early 20th century. Despite their differing uses for craft, all of these women are able to leave their mark through their respective craft. Those women who are not creators, such as Eleanor and Mrs. Malone’s daughter, Kitty, are insecure in their identities. They only adhere to the roles they believe they are supposed to fulfill instead of crafting the lives they desire for themselves. Through her use of fiber arts as a symbolic activity, in these novels, Woolf creates an alternative reality where women are not defined by their partners or the families they produce; instead, they are creators who have complete agency over their legacies, both material and social.

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