Mr. Bennett and Mrs. Brown
by Virginia Woolf (1882–1941)
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- 30 min read
- Reading level: 7th grade
"Mr. Bennett and Mrs. Brown" by Virginia Woolf is an essay published in 1924 that explores the arrival of modernism in literature. Written as a rebuttal to critic Arnold Bennett's dismissal of her work, Woolf argues that human character fundamentally changed around 1910, requiring writers to evolve their methods. She challenges Bennett's notion of "reality" in fiction, contrasting traditional Edwardian approaches with new Georgian sensibilities. Through the imagined figure of Mrs. Brown, Woolf defends modernist writing as impressionistic truth-telling for a transformed world.
- Characters and characteristics in literature
- English fiction · 20th century · History and criticism
- Bennett, Arnold, 1867-1931 · Knowledge · Literature
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MR. BENNETT AND
MRS. BROWN
VIRGINIA WOOLF
1924
MR. BENNETT AND
MRS. BROWN[1]
It seems to me possible, perhaps desirable, that I may be the only person in this room who has committed the folly of writing, trying to write, or failing to write, a novel. And when I asked myself, as your invitation to speak to you about modern fiction made me ask myself, what demon whispered in my ear and urged me to my doom, a little figure rose before me—the figure of a man, or of a woman, who said, "My name is Brown. Catch me if you can."
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About this edition
This free edition of Mr. Bennett and Mrs. Brown by Virginia Woolf comes from Project Gutenberg eBook #63022, released 2020-08-23. It is in the public domain in the United States, so you can read it here in full at no cost, on any phone, tablet or computer. Genre: Essays, Letters & Speeches.
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