The Significance of Exotic Spaces: Virginia Woolf's The Voyage Out and Orlando

[[abstract]]Abstract The aim of this thesis is to explore the significance of exotic spaces in Virginia Woolf’s The Voyage Out and Orlando. The settings of the two novels simultaneously are in English society and in colonial territories. Preeminently, the two heroines Rachel and Orlando undergo transformation in the exotic lands rather than in the homeland. In The Voyage Out, Rachel progressively learns how to interact with English people soon after she arrives in South America. In Orlando, the mysterious sex change takes place in Turkey. Woolf’s deployment of exotic spaces is tremendously significant because it helps Rachel learn English gender ideology and makes Orlando’s sex change possible. This thesis chiefly explores why exotic spaces are essential in the two novels. Could Rachel have learnt to grow up somewhere in English instead of in the exotic space? Could Orlando’s sex change have taken place in the social space of England? In addition, I also look into the ways Woolf represents exotic spaces. I explore Woolf’s contributions and limitations in her representation of exotic spaces. This thesis includes three chapters. In Chapter One, I focus on how Woolf exposes the operation of underlying English gender ideology and dislocates female maturing process to the exotic land to facilitate Rachel’s resistance to her female gender role. My reading of The Voyage Out mainly draws upon Pollock’s analysis of ideology of separated spheres and Shoemakers’ idea about the male and female gender roles in the institution of marriage. In Chapter Two, I investigate how the female Orlando’s unusual experience acquired from the exotic space empowers her to transgress the gender and spatial divisions. Piehler and Walkowitz’s studies help to illuminate my understanding of imaginary space in Orlando. The last chapter explores Woolf’s travl writings and her representation of exotic spaces. Based on Mills’ idea, I regard Woolf’s revision of male travel tradition as her primary achievement.