". . .she could not resist sometimes yielding to the charm of a. . .woman confessing, as to her they often did, some scrape, some folly. And whether it was pity, or their beauty, or that she was older, or some accident - like a faint scent, or a violin next door. . .she did undoubtedly then feel what men felt" (Woolf 31-32).
In her novel, Woolf explores sexuality in ways far ahead of her time. As noted in "An Introduction to The Bloomsbury Group," Woolf demonstrated her sexual freedom in various affairs over her lifetime, with both males and females. Woolf also wrote the book Orlando, a tale of a man who then becomes a woman, as if able to see into the future when sex reassignment surgeries are possible.
In Mrs. Dalloway, Clarissa Dalloway often reminisces on when she was in love with Sally Seton; the most interesting part of the love affair was that it was almost completely based on character. In this quote, Clarissa notes that the only times she has really felt sexual it was brought on by a woman. Because women were still so sexually repressed in Woolf's days, she was making a statement about where she believes a person can find love.
Turner, Edwin. "Orlando - Virginia Woolf." Biblioklept. Web. 05 June 2012. <http://biblioklept.org/2011/04/19/orlando-virginia-woolf/>.
"An Introduction to The Bloomsbury Group." The Bloomsbury Group. Web. 05 June 2012. <http://bloomsbury.denise-randle.co.uk/intro.htm>.
Woolf, Virginia, and Francine Prose. Mrs. Dalloway. Orlando: Harcourt, 2003. Print.
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