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The Marriage of Heaven and Hell
A respected psychiatrist, a long-time student of the works of Virginia Woolf, offers a revealing exploration of Woolf's long struggle with manic depression and madness, discussing its effects on her writing and on her life.
225 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1999
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
February 4, 2008
This book infuriated me. He completely minimized the sexual abuse Woolf suffered as a child, even said that some of the things her step-brother did might have made her more comfortable with sex!!! Yeah right!!!!!!!! And this guy is a professional, either a psychologist or psychiatrist, I don't remember which. It was informative yes. And totally idiotic whenever he stopped telling what happened and started offering his own opinion. And I don't like bios of Woolf that beatify Leonard. He was not a saint. He wasn't a villian, but he was not a saint.
February 27, 2019
I found this an intriguing and illuminating examination of Virginia Woolf’s fragile mental state throughout her adult life. Written by a psychiatrist, it explores the ups and down of her mental health and offers causes and origins. I am aware that the book has made many people very cross and that they refute the author’s conclusions, but you can read something with interest without necessarily taking everything for the truth, and for me, whether Peter Dally is correct or not, I gained much insight into Woolf’s mental processes from the book and gained a deeper understanding of how she coped – or on occasion didn’t - with the world. Bi-polar, manic-depression, madness – the labels change over time but the suffering remains and this book certainly succeeds in describing that. It’s also a competent biography and an overview of the Bloomsbury set, with some analysis of Woolf’s writing, and overall for me it was a useful and thought-provoking addition to my reading about this most troubled and talented woman.
October 14, 2016
Everyone who knows me or my reading habits is aware that I will eagerly devour all of the Virginia Woolf biographies which I can get my hands on. I downloaded this from Netgalley; whilst I was unsure when I began it as to whether it would be a useful text for my thesis, it sounded interesting, and I wanted to read it regardless. In The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, Dally writes largely about her battle with manic depression.
He does make some rather broad claims; for instance, that Laura, Virginia's half sister, was autistic. I have seen no other evidence to suggest this; yes, she was sent to an institution, where she spent much of her life, but her condition has not been named in any other biography which I have read to date.
The Marriage... is unlike any other Woolf biography in that its writing tends to be quite simplistic. It strikes me as probably a good book to source if you want a general introduction to Woolf and/or her mental state; whilst Dally states in his introduction that her manic depression is his focus, there are quite a few generalised chapters too. The Marriage... is rather an easy book to read, and it is thorough, despite not being the largest biography of the great woman in the world.
He does make some rather broad claims; for instance, that Laura, Virginia's half sister, was autistic. I have seen no other evidence to suggest this; yes, she was sent to an institution, where she spent much of her life, but her condition has not been named in any other biography which I have read to date.
The Marriage... is unlike any other Woolf biography in that its writing tends to be quite simplistic. It strikes me as probably a good book to source if you want a general introduction to Woolf and/or her mental state; whilst Dally states in his introduction that her manic depression is his focus, there are quite a few generalised chapters too. The Marriage... is rather an easy book to read, and it is thorough, despite not being the largest biography of the great woman in the world.
January 17, 2016
How immensely egotistical of Peter Dally to undertake this work...to presume he knows, without question, not only Virginia's, but those she knew throughout her life, motivations. What God-like character is Dally to know the reasons for people's actions and feelings.
This book is maddening. I see that is was first published in 1999 which is very surprising considering the "medical knowledge" contained within comes across as antiquated and outdated gibberish that has long-sense been debunked. I kept waiting for Dally to bring up Virginia's unbalanced humors but was disappointed.
The presumptuousness of Dally in writing this book, putting out there that he knows and understands Virginia's every thought, feeling, and action is astonishing.
This book is maddening. I see that is was first published in 1999 which is very surprising considering the "medical knowledge" contained within comes across as antiquated and outdated gibberish that has long-sense been debunked. I kept waiting for Dally to bring up Virginia's unbalanced humors but was disappointed.
The presumptuousness of Dally in writing this book, putting out there that he knows and understands Virginia's every thought, feeling, and action is astonishing.
October 8, 2020
The Marriage of Heaven and Hell: Manic Depression and the Life of Virginia Woolf by Peter Dally is a psychiatrist's examination of Virginia Woolf, decades after she ended her life. Dally was the senior consultant psychiatrist at the Westminster Hospital, London, until his retirement in January 1988. His previous books include Elizabeth Barrett Browning: A Psychological Portrait, and Anorexia Nervosa. Although a general psychiatrist, his professional outlook was eclectic and he had particular interests in manic depression and anorexia nervosa. Virginia Woolf first aroused his interest when, as a student, he read Mrs. Dalloway. He subsequently became absorbed in her diaries, which give a wider and deeper picture of manic depression than any textbook.
I became a fan of Virginia Woolf just a few years ago. I have read her fiction, letters, and diaries along with Vita Sackville-West's letters. The problem, for me, was I was just looking at the information she released or could have known would be public. There are gaps in her diary and letters. Those closest to her protected her. There has been a book or two exploiting Virginia Woolf's illness, but they seemed to sensationalize the illness. Dally presents a big picture of Virginia Woolf's illness to include those close to her.
Looking at Virginia Woolf's family, varying degrees of depression and cyclothymic disorder are present. Virginia's sister also suffered from depression. Dally looks at the family history as well as her closest friends. He seems initially to make atheism and homosexuality a bigger than necessary issue along with the sexual and lack of sexual relations with the married couples. For example, Leonard Woolf's only experience with physical contact was with Sri Lankan prostitutes.
Virginia Woolf's cyclothymic disorder is documented through the years as well as her writing. Much of what Virginia Woolf's life reflects is in her writing. As a child, she said the birds were speaking in Greek to her. Later in Mrs. Dalloway, Septimus Warren Smith, a WWI veteran suffering from shell shock also claims to hear birds speaking in Greek. Smith, like Woolf, takes his own life. Dally credits Leonard Woolf for his support and near saint-like patience with Virginia success as a writer. Without him, she would not have had the encouragement and support to continue as a writer. She also seemed to suffer a postpartum effect with completing her books much like her sister experienced with childbirth.
One wonders how with modern treatment Virginia Woolf would have fared. Treatment could have lessened or controlled the effects of her depression and possibly saved her from committing suicide. Would she have been the writer she turned out to be with treatment? Her style and her material may have been, and very much seems to be, a result of her illness. Dally uses all the information he can find and completes a psychiatric profile on someone he has never met or interviewed. It is a difficult task and may not have been a practical one either. All the major people had been dead for nearly forty years by the time this book was written. The personal lives of those around Virginia Woolf, although fairly well documented, were kept away from public view. Supporting evidence is weak. Dally does try his best to make his case with the available evidence, but is it enough and is it accurate?
I became a fan of Virginia Woolf just a few years ago. I have read her fiction, letters, and diaries along with Vita Sackville-West's letters. The problem, for me, was I was just looking at the information she released or could have known would be public. There are gaps in her diary and letters. Those closest to her protected her. There has been a book or two exploiting Virginia Woolf's illness, but they seemed to sensationalize the illness. Dally presents a big picture of Virginia Woolf's illness to include those close to her.
Looking at Virginia Woolf's family, varying degrees of depression and cyclothymic disorder are present. Virginia's sister also suffered from depression. Dally looks at the family history as well as her closest friends. He seems initially to make atheism and homosexuality a bigger than necessary issue along with the sexual and lack of sexual relations with the married couples. For example, Leonard Woolf's only experience with physical contact was with Sri Lankan prostitutes.
Virginia Woolf's cyclothymic disorder is documented through the years as well as her writing. Much of what Virginia Woolf's life reflects is in her writing. As a child, she said the birds were speaking in Greek to her. Later in Mrs. Dalloway, Septimus Warren Smith, a WWI veteran suffering from shell shock also claims to hear birds speaking in Greek. Smith, like Woolf, takes his own life. Dally credits Leonard Woolf for his support and near saint-like patience with Virginia success as a writer. Without him, she would not have had the encouragement and support to continue as a writer. She also seemed to suffer a postpartum effect with completing her books much like her sister experienced with childbirth.
One wonders how with modern treatment Virginia Woolf would have fared. Treatment could have lessened or controlled the effects of her depression and possibly saved her from committing suicide. Would she have been the writer she turned out to be with treatment? Her style and her material may have been, and very much seems to be, a result of her illness. Dally uses all the information he can find and completes a psychiatric profile on someone he has never met or interviewed. It is a difficult task and may not have been a practical one either. All the major people had been dead for nearly forty years by the time this book was written. The personal lives of those around Virginia Woolf, although fairly well documented, were kept away from public view. Supporting evidence is weak. Dally does try his best to make his case with the available evidence, but is it enough and is it accurate?
October 8, 2020
The Marriage of Heaven and Hell: Manic Depression and the Life of Virginia Woolf by Peter Dally is a psychiatrist’s examination of Virginia Woolf, decades after she ended her life. Dally was the senior consultant psychiatrist at the Westminster Hospital, London, until his retirement in January 1988. His previous books include Elizabeth Barrett Browning: A Psychological Portrait, and Anorexia Nervosa. Although a general psychiatrist, his professional outlook was eclectic and he had particular interests in manic depression and anorexia nervosa. Virginia Woolf first aroused his interest when, as a student, he read Mrs. Dalloway. He subsequently became absorbed in her diaries, which give a wider and deeper picture of manic depression than any textbook.
I became a fan of Virginia Woolf just a few years ago. I have read her fiction, letters, and diaries along with Vita Sackville-West’s letters. The problem, for me, was I was just looking at the information she released or could have known would be public. There are gaps in her diary and letters. Those closest to her protected her. There has been a book or two exploiting Virginia Woolf’s illness, but they seemed to sensationalize the illness. Dally presents a big picture of Virginia Woolf’s illness to include those close to her.
Looking at Virginia Woolf’s family, varying degrees of depression and cyclothymic disorder are present. Virginia’s sister also suffered from depression. Dally looks at the family history as well as her closest friends. He seems initially to make atheism and homosexuality a bigger than necessary issue along with the sexual and lack of sexual relations with the married couples. For example, Leonard Woolf’s only experience with physical contact was with Sri Lankan prostitutes.
Virginia Woolf’s cyclothymic disorder is documented through the years as well as her writing. Much of what Virginia Woolf’s life reflects is in her writing. As a child, she said the birds were speaking in Greek to her. Later in Mrs. Dalloway, Septimus Warren Smith, a WWI veteran suffering from shell shock also claims to hear birds speaking in Greek. Smith, like Woolf, takes his own life. Dally credits Leonard Woolf for his support and near saint-like patience with Virginia success as a writer. Without him, she would not have had the encouragement and support to continue as a writer. She also seemed to suffer a postpartum effect with completing her books much like her sister experienced with childbirth.
One wonders how with modern treatment Virginia Woolf would have fared. Treatment could have lessened or controlled the effects of her depression and possibly saved her from committing suicide. Would she have been the writer she turned out to be with treatment? Her style and her material may have been, and very much seems to be, a result of her illness. Dally uses all the information he can find and completes a psychiatric profile on someone he has never met or interviewed. It is a difficult task and may not have been a practical one either. All the major people had been dead for nearly forty years by the time this book was written. The personal lives of those around Virginia Woolf, although fairly well documented, were kept away from public view. Supporting evidence is weak. Dally does try his best to make his case with the available evidence, but is it enough and is it accurate?
I became a fan of Virginia Woolf just a few years ago. I have read her fiction, letters, and diaries along with Vita Sackville-West’s letters. The problem, for me, was I was just looking at the information she released or could have known would be public. There are gaps in her diary and letters. Those closest to her protected her. There has been a book or two exploiting Virginia Woolf’s illness, but they seemed to sensationalize the illness. Dally presents a big picture of Virginia Woolf’s illness to include those close to her.
Looking at Virginia Woolf’s family, varying degrees of depression and cyclothymic disorder are present. Virginia’s sister also suffered from depression. Dally looks at the family history as well as her closest friends. He seems initially to make atheism and homosexuality a bigger than necessary issue along with the sexual and lack of sexual relations with the married couples. For example, Leonard Woolf’s only experience with physical contact was with Sri Lankan prostitutes.
Virginia Woolf’s cyclothymic disorder is documented through the years as well as her writing. Much of what Virginia Woolf’s life reflects is in her writing. As a child, she said the birds were speaking in Greek to her. Later in Mrs. Dalloway, Septimus Warren Smith, a WWI veteran suffering from shell shock also claims to hear birds speaking in Greek. Smith, like Woolf, takes his own life. Dally credits Leonard Woolf for his support and near saint-like patience with Virginia success as a writer. Without him, she would not have had the encouragement and support to continue as a writer. She also seemed to suffer a postpartum effect with completing her books much like her sister experienced with childbirth.
One wonders how with modern treatment Virginia Woolf would have fared. Treatment could have lessened or controlled the effects of her depression and possibly saved her from committing suicide. Would she have been the writer she turned out to be with treatment? Her style and her material may have been, and very much seems to be, a result of her illness. Dally uses all the information he can find and completes a psychiatric profile on someone he has never met or interviewed. It is a difficult task and may not have been a practical one either. All the major people had been dead for nearly forty years by the time this book was written. The personal lives of those around Virginia Woolf, although fairly well documented, were kept away from public view. Supporting evidence is weak. Dally does try his best to make his case with the available evidence, but is it enough and is it accurate?
December 24, 2023
I love reading about Virginia Woolf's life but this is definitely not the type of biography I would recommend reading. It stinks like patriarchal writing.
January 17, 2024
Reasonably competent, this biography focuses on the role of mental health disorder in Woolf's creative life, though that argument really only comes together expressly in the appendix.
September 2, 2016
My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for a free review copy of this book.
When I first entered the library of the University of Plymouth's Exmouth campus it brought forth joys I could have little imagined. One of my most prominent, and perhaps obscure discoveries was the extraordinary life of Virginia Woolf. Bizarrely I read biographies, letters, and diary entries before I even picked up any of her works of fiction.
Just a bit of background for you, putting this particular offering into context. I have read just about any book on Virginia Woolf going! So this one had a lot to live up to, hence why this review may seem a little harsh, but it didn't tell me anything I didn't already know.
Having read Virginia's diaries, I know from her own confessions that she could be clingy and needy and that if you were a sympathetic person she would latch onto you, but I felt, maybe ignorantly, that too much of this aspect of her personality was attributed to her mental health condition. She seemed to constantly have people around her that would pander to her, consoling and petting her almost, yet this wasn't factored into her condition. If these people hadn't given in to her would she have had the strength of mind not to emotionally leech the people around her?
I don't know maybe I need to be writing my own book on Virginia Woolf! This is something that wasn't given enough credence in the book and it seemed to be more about the people around Virginia and how they were affected by her behaviour than about Virginia herself, and that is who I'm really interested in.
You offer me a book about Virginia Woolf, and I'm there, I will read it. However, considering it was written by a psychologist, this one didn't go into as much depth as I would have liked. Interesting for those who haven't read any biographies on Virgina Woolf before but for a seasoned reader like me, pretty run of the mill, and maybe just a little unfair on Virginia herself.
Average. 3 stars.
When I first entered the library of the University of Plymouth's Exmouth campus it brought forth joys I could have little imagined. One of my most prominent, and perhaps obscure discoveries was the extraordinary life of Virginia Woolf. Bizarrely I read biographies, letters, and diary entries before I even picked up any of her works of fiction.
Just a bit of background for you, putting this particular offering into context. I have read just about any book on Virginia Woolf going! So this one had a lot to live up to, hence why this review may seem a little harsh, but it didn't tell me anything I didn't already know.
Having read Virginia's diaries, I know from her own confessions that she could be clingy and needy and that if you were a sympathetic person she would latch onto you, but I felt, maybe ignorantly, that too much of this aspect of her personality was attributed to her mental health condition. She seemed to constantly have people around her that would pander to her, consoling and petting her almost, yet this wasn't factored into her condition. If these people hadn't given in to her would she have had the strength of mind not to emotionally leech the people around her?
I don't know maybe I need to be writing my own book on Virginia Woolf! This is something that wasn't given enough credence in the book and it seemed to be more about the people around Virginia and how they were affected by her behaviour than about Virginia herself, and that is who I'm really interested in.
You offer me a book about Virginia Woolf, and I'm there, I will read it. However, considering it was written by a psychologist, this one didn't go into as much depth as I would have liked. Interesting for those who haven't read any biographies on Virgina Woolf before but for a seasoned reader like me, pretty run of the mill, and maybe just a little unfair on Virginia herself.
Average. 3 stars.
August 27, 2016
A fascinating look at the life of writer Virginia Woolf through the life, so to speak, of her depressions and mental illness. This re-release of Dally's work summarises the salient points of the influences on Woolf's life, going into the mental lives of her parents, Leslie Stephen with his demanding personality and Julia, with her propensity to melancholia and her tendency care for others at the expense of herself and her own health. Dally writes clearly and perceptively of Woolf's cyclothymic depression in which moods swing between short periods of mild depression and hypomania, unpacking the disorder and the effect on Woolf. He delves into her marriage to Leonard, a celibate union, but one which allowed her to the peace of mind to produce the works that were so seminal to post-Modernism.
October 5, 2011
When I excitedly began this book awhile ago, I was incredibly disappointed in it at first. I didn't think it was well written and had a rather disjointed feel- sort of like someone being forced to write about a subject they aren't interested in. After continuing on I think the book did a much appreciated turn around and I could at least 'hear' the author's voice. I learned some interesting details all in all and appreciated the emphasis on Woolf's mental illness even though the writing is a bit dry and there was much personal conjecture on Peter Dally's part. Woolf is such a fascinating subject, though. I wish there were 'half stars' as I would want to give it a 2 1/2.
August 2, 2013
A fascinating exploration of the life and work of Virginia Woolf from the perspective of her "brain" with a life of its own. A "brain" burdened and dominated by manic depression. Virginia and her protectors constantly monitor "brain" trying to anticipate its next action and next bout of madness. Virginia was very aware that "brain" had a life of its own: "to write my book which as usual darts into my brain" "an idea came". Abnormality can often give us a clue as how "normal" works so it follows that to a degree we all have "brains" with a life of its own. This idea I have explored in a novella/fiction- THE brain AND I -Liz Brown
May 9, 2008
What kind of writer (or woman) would she have been with today's modern medicine? Instead of sending her off somewhere and cutting her off from all social contact, a psychiatrist prescribes something ... what would've happened?
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