--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Elizabeth disliked the tragic, martyred…" description: "\"“Elizabeth disliked the tragic, martyred image of Virginia Woolf which grew up after her death. When she read the first volume of William Plomer's auto..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/64d/victoria-glendinning-57966_virginia_elizabeth-disliked-the-tragic-martyred-i_2583089.jpg" --- # Elizabeth disliked the tragic, martyred image of Virginia… ![“Elizabeth disliked the tragic, martyred image of Virginia Woolf which grew up after her death. When she read the first volume of William Plomer's autobiography, At Home, in 1958, she told him that ‘only you seem to bring back Virginia's laughter - I get so bored and irked by the tragic fiction…” quote by Victoria Glendinning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/64d/victoria-glendinning-57966_virginia_elizabeth-disliked-the-tragic-martyred-i_2583089.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/64d/victoria-glendinning-57966_virginia_elizabeth-disliked-the-tragic-martyred-i_2583089.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/64d/victoria-glendinning-57966_virginia_elizabeth-disliked-the-tragic-martyred-i_2583089.jpg) > ““Elizabeth disliked the tragic, martyred image of Virginia Woolf which grew up after her death. When she read the first volume of William Plomer's autobiography, At Home, in 1958, she told him that ‘only you seem to bring back Virginia's laughter - I get so bored and irked by the tragic fiction which has been manufactured about her since 1941.”” [Victoria Glendinning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victoria-glendinning/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A critique of the tragic mythologizing of Woolf, preferring her humor and vitality. **In simple terms:** Rejecting tragic myths about Woolf. Key Takeaway Seek a balanced view of historical figures. Themes literature biography myth Mood thoughtful critical Type literary historical When to use this quote - reading biographies - literary criticism - cultural perception - media analysis - historical reinterpretation Key Concepts Virginia Woolf tragedy humor legacy Questions to Reflect On - How does focusing on tragedy affect our understanding of an author? - What alternative narratives could honor Woolf’s humor? A Different Perspective Overemphasis on tragedy can obscure a person's full humanity. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Virginia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/virginia/) ## Related quotes > [Virginia Woolf was one example. She was called the "Lover of 100 Gangsters."](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sergio-leone/virginia-woolf-was-one-example-she-was-called-the-lover-of-100/) [Sergio Leone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sergio-leone/) > [In school, I was Martha in 'Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?' I loved that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cara-delevingne/in-school-i-was-martha-in-who-s-afraid-of-virginia-woolf-i-loved-that/) [Cara Delevingne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cara-delevingne/) > [Who was it who said that every virtue contains its corresponding vice? C.S. Lewis? Virginia Woolf? You forget. But it has always worried you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-brockmeier/who-was-it-who-said-that-every-virtue-contains-its-corresponding-vice/) [Kevin Brockmeier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-brockmeier/) > [Virginia Woolf, I enjoyed talking to her, but thought nothing of her writing. I considered her 'a beautiful little knitter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-sitwell/virginia-woolf-i-enjoyed-talking-to-her-but-thought-nothing-of-her/) [Edith Sitwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-sitwell/) > [I can't imagine otherwise - I guess Virginia Woolf could write wonderful novels where the women never have sex, and her novels work. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-geok-lin-lim/i-can-t-imagine-otherwise-i-guess-virginia-woolf-could-write/) [Shirley Geok-lin Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-geok-lin-lim/) > [Of Virginia Woolf: The talent of this generation which is most certain of survival.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-west/of-virginia-woolf-the-talent-of-this-generation-which-is-most-certain/) [Rebecca West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-west/) > [“Reading Virginia Woolf will change your life, may even save it. If you want to make sense of modern life, the works of Virginia…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-goldman/reading-virginia-woolf-will-change-your-life-may-even-save-it-if-you/) [Jane Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-goldman/) > [There is something so hopeful about a diary, a journal, a new notebook, which Joan Didion and Virginia Woolf both wrote about. A blog.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lily-koppel/there-is-something-so-hopeful-about-a-diary-a-journal-a-new-notebook/) [Lily Koppel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lily-koppel/) > [Like my hero Virginia Woolf, I do lack confidence. I always find that the novel I'm finishing, even if it's turned out fairly well,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cunningham/like-my-hero-virginia-woolf-i-do-lack-confidence-i-always-find-that/) [Michael Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cunningham/) > [I've always loved my own little office spaces no matter what they were like. It's the Virginia Woolf, room of one's own concept, it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lena-dunham/i-ve-always-loved-my-own-little-office-spaces-no-matter-what-they/) [Lena Dunham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lena-dunham/) > [I fell in love with Virginia Woolf in college. I especially admire how well she writes about daily life, how she captures so much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-thompson-walker/i-fell-in-love-with-virginia-woolf-in-college-i-especially-admire-how/) [Karen Thompson Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-thompson-walker/) > [“I put the odds on a psychic deathmatch between Attila the Hun and Virginia Woolf at fifty-fifty.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-bechdel/i-put-the-odds-on-a-psychic-deathmatch-between-attila-the-hun-and/) [Alison Bechdel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-bechdel/) > [Virginia Woolf's literature really transformed my own ideas about how to formally represent the passage of time and how time affects us. Specifically, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-lowery/virginia-woolf-s-literature-really-transformed-my-own-ideas-about-how/) [David Lowery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-lowery/) > [Each had his past shut in him like the leaves of a book known to him by heart; and his friends could only read…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-lloyd-wright/each-had-his-past-shut-in-him-like-the-leaves-of-a-book-known-to-him/) [Frank Lloyd Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-lloyd-wright/) > [Frank Morley, who had worked in London at Faber and Faber, was the new head of Harcourt Brace, and he hired me to start…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-giroux/frank-morley-who-had-worked-in-london-at-faber-and-faber-was-the-new/) Robert Giroux ## More by Victoria Glendinning > [Winterson has her own unmistakeable voice, tuned to express her obsessional preoccupation with sexual passion raised to the power of revealed religion. (...) The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victoria-glendinning/winterson-has-her-own-unmistakeable-voice-tuned-to-express-her/) [Victoria Glendinning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victoria-glendinning/) > [“….unable to find a title for her last published novel, she wrote six lines which included her eventual title The Birds Fall Down. These…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victoria-glendinning/unable-to-find-a-title-for-her-last-published-novel-she-wrote-six/) [Victoria Glendinning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victoria-glendinning/) > [Science, or para-science, tells us that geraniums bloom better if they are spoken to. But a kind word every now and then is really…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victoria-glendinning/science-or-para-science-tells-us-that-geraniums-bloom-better-if-they/) [Victoria Glendinning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victoria-glendinning/) > [The facts of life are to the biographer what the text of a novel is to the critic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victoria-glendinning/the-facts-of-life-are-to-the-biographer-what-the-text-of-a-novel-is/) [Victoria Glendinning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victoria-glendinning/) > [There's no greater bliss in life than when the plumber eventually comes to unblock your drains. No writer can give that sort of pleasure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victoria-glendinning/there-s-no-greater-bliss-in-life-than-when-the-plumber-eventually/) [Victoria Glendinning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victoria-glendinning/) [Explore all 6 Victoria Glendinning quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victoria-glendinning/) ## More Virginia quotes > [The old charters of Massachusetts, Virginia, and the Carolinas had given title to strips of territory extending from the Atlantic westward to the Pacific.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-bushnell-hart/the-old-charters-of-massachusetts-virginia-and-the-carolinas-had/) [Albert Bushnell Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-bushnell-hart/) > [ \[Virginia Madsen\] big part in that movie \['Class'\] required her shirt to get ripped off, and looking back, it couldn't be a more egregious,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-lowe/virginia-madsen-big-part-in-that-movie-class-required-her-shirt-to/) [Rob Lowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-lowe/) > [My older sister Nikki went to Hampton music school in Virginia, then to another school later in New York.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debra-wilson/my-older-sister-nikki-went-to-hampton-music-school-in-virginia-then/) [Debra Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debra-wilson/) > [Virginia Woolf was one example. She was called the "Lover of 100 Gangsters."](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sergio-leone/virginia-woolf-was-one-example-she-was-called-the-lover-of-100/) [Sergio Leone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sergio-leone/) > [From day one, our goal has been to make Virginia the best place to live, work, and raise a family.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glenn-youngkin/from-day-one-our-goal-has-been-to-make-virginia-the-best-place-to/) [Glenn Youngkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glenn-youngkin/) > [The day the army of Virginia allows a negro regiment to enter their lines as soldiers they will be degraded, ruined, and disgraced.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-toombs/the-day-the-army-of-virginia-allows-a-negro-regiment-to-enter-their/) [Robert Toombs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-toombs/) > [In the summer of 1964, my sister and I went to South Ballston, Virginia, to stay with my aunt and her kids. They passed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-p-jones/in-the-summer-of-1964-my-sister-and-i-went-to-south-ballston-virginia/) [Edward P. Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-p-jones/) > [“The November evening had a bite; it nibbled not-quite-gently at her cheeks and ears. In Virginia the late autumn was a lover, still, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-aleksandr-wootton/the-november-evening-had-a-bite-it-nibbled-not-quite-gently-at-her/) [J. Aleksandr Wootton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-aleksandr-wootton/) > [Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-pharcellus-church/yes-virginia-there-is-a-santa-claus-he-exists-as-certainly-as-love/) [Francis Pharcellus Church](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-pharcellus-church/) > [In West Virginia, the most vulnerable people we have are people who get up every morning and go to work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-manchin/in-west-virginia-the-most-vulnerable-people-we-have-are-people-who/) [Joe Manchin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-manchin/) > [My first job was at an amusement park in Virginia. It was the worst. I loved the park but once I'd worked there all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/danny-mcbride/my-first-job-was-at-an-amusement-park-in-virginia-it-was-the-worst-i/) [Danny McBride](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/danny-mcbride/) > [My off-the-cuff remarks at the University of Virginia were with regard to global macro traders, who are on-call 24/7 and of whom there are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-tudor-jones/my-off-the-cuff-remarks-at-the-university-of-virginia-were-with/) [Paul Tudor Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-tudor-jones/) > [The supply chain industry in our Commonwealth continues to gain momentum, in large part due to The Port of Virginia's unparalleled infrastructure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-northam/the-supply-chain-industry-in-our-commonwealth-continues-to-gain/) [Ralph Northam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-northam/) > [“By the close of the nineteenth century her studies with her father were being supplemented by tuition in the classics from Dr Warr of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-goldman/by-the-close-of-the-nineteenth-century-her-studies-with-her-father/) [Jane Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-goldman/) > [“consciousness. Elizabeth Gaskell’s Mary Barton (1848) and North and South (1855), Charlotte Brontë’s Shirley (1849), George Eliot’s Silas Marner (1861) and many other such…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-hegarty/consciousness-elizabeth-gaskell-s-mary-barton-1848-and-north-and/) Neil Hegarty [Browse all 553 Virginia quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/virginia/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Elizabeth disliked the tragic, martyred image of Virginia Woolf which grew up after her death. 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