The Voyage Out

Rachel Vinrace embarks for South America on her father`s ship and is launched on a course of self-discovery in a kind of modern mythical voyage. The mismatched jumble of passengers provides Woolf with an opportunity to satirise Edwardian life. The novel introduces Clarissa Dalloway, the central character of Woolf`s later novel, Mrs Dalloway. Two of the other characters were modelled after important figures in Woolf`s life. St John Hirst is a fictional portrayal of Lytton Strachey and Helen Ambrose is to some extent inspired by Woolf`s sister, Vanessa Bell. Rachel`s journey from a cloistered life in a London suburb to freedom, challenging intellectual discourse, and self-discovery very likely reflects Woolf`s own journey from a repressive household to the intellectual stimulation of the Bloomsbury Group.