Record Number: 17811
Reading Experience:
Evidence:
Virginia Woolf to Molly MacCarthy, 20 June 1921: 'I am reading the Bride of Lammermoor -- by that great man Scott: and Women in Love by D. H. Lawrence, lured on by the portrait of Ottoline [Morrell] which appears from time to time [...] There is no suspense or mystery: water is all semen: I get a little bored, and make out the riddles too easily. Only this puzzles me: what does it mean when a woman [Gudrun] does eurythmics in front of a herd of Highland cattle?'
Century:1900-1945
Date:Between 1 Jun 1921 and 20 Jun 1921
Country:England
Timen/a
Place:county: Sussex
Type of Experience(Reader):
silent aloud unknown
solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown
(Listener):
solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown
Reader / Listener / Reading Group:
Reader: Age:Adult (18-100+)
Gender:Female
Date of Birth:25 Jan 1882
Socio-Economic Group:Professional / academic / merchant / farmer
Occupation:Writer
Religion:n/a
Country of Origin:England
Country of Experience:England
Listeners present if any:e.g family, servants, friends
n/a
Additional Comments:
n/a
Text Being Read:
Author: Title:The Bride of Lammermoor
Genre:Fiction, History
Form of Text:Print: Book
Publication Detailsn/a
Provenanceunknown
Source Information:
Record ID:17811
Source:Virginia Woolf
Editor:Joanne Trautmann Banks
Title:Congenial Spirits: The Selected Letters of Virginia Woolf
Place of Publication:London
Date of Publication:1989
Vol:n/a
Page:134
Additional Comments:
n/a
Citation:
Virginia Woolf, Joanne Trautmann Banks (ed.), Congenial Spirits: The Selected Letters of Virginia Woolf, (London, 1989), p. 134, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=17811, accessed: 06 February 2026
Additional Comments:
Source ed. notes that in Women in Love, 'Lawrence drew an unpleasant portrait of Ottoline Morrell, his friend and patroness, in the character of Hermione Roddice' (p.134 n.1 in source).
