Other editions of book Night and Day

Virginia Woolf had been writing about the plight of the young unmarried middle-class woman since her earliest works such as the short story Phyllis and Rosamund (1906). She continued to develop her observations and criticisms about women’s education and their role in society in her non-fiction polemic A Room of One’s Own (1929) and these ideas were further developed into her wholesale attack on the patriarchal nature of British society in Three Guineas (1938). Katharine Hilbery has not been educated or trained to do anything useful except live at home with her parents. She feels oppressed by the family and its illustrious history, and her only possibility of change is the option of marriage, which is why she initially feels doomed to accept William Rodney’s offer when it comes along. Katherine is very conscious of being cut off from the world of work – and she actively wishes she had a job. She sees this as an antidote to the somewhat pointless life she leads as an unmarried young woman living at home where she ‘helps’ her mother in the vanity project of writing her grandfather’s biography.

Virginia Woolf's second novel is both a love story and a subversive comedy which questions the role of women in society. Contemplating their futures, five single people in their late 20s and early 30s are immobilized by indecision. Questions like who, when, and whether to marry, the changing roles of men and women in a rapidly changing world, and matters of independence versus family obligations come to the fore. The protagonists include the wealthy Katharine Hilbery, torn between the poet William Rodney and the passionate Ralph Denham; Katharine's mother, Margaret; and the women's rights activist Mary Datch.

It was a Sunday evening in October, and in common with many other young ladiesof her class, Katharine Hilbery was pouring out tea. Perhaps a fifth part of her mindwas thus occupied, and the remaining parts leapt over the little barrier of day whichinterposed between Monday morning and this rather subdued moment, and playedwith the things one does voluntarily and normally in the daylight. But although she wassilent, she was evidently mistress of a situation which was familiar enough to her, andinclined to let it take its way for the six hundredth time, perhaps, without bringing intoplay any of her unoccupied faculties. A single glance was enough to show that Mrs.Hilbery was so rich in the gifts which make tea-parties of elderly distinguished peoplesuccessful, that she scarcely needed any help from her daughter, provided that thetiresome business of teacups and bread and butter was discharged for her.

A bold experiment in modernist fiction, Virginia Woolf's novel Night and Day is a study in contrasts. The narrative ricochets between the lives and thoughts of two friends, Katharine Hilbery and Mary Datchet, using the stark differences and points of similarity between them to construct an engrossingly complex and detailed portrait and social commentary.

Katharine Hilbery is beautiful and privileged, but uncertain of her future. She must choose between becoming engaged to the oddly prosaic poet William Rodney, and her dangerous attraction to the passionate Ralph Denham. As she struggles to decide, the lives of two other women - women's rights activist Mary Datchet and Katharine's mother, Margaret, struggling to weave together the documents, events and memories of her own father's life into a biography - impinge on hers with unexpected and intriguing consequences. Virginia Woolf's delicate second novel is both a love story and a social comedy, yet it also subtly undermines these traditions, questioning a woman's role and the very nature of experience.

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The attempts of a group of upper-middle-class young people to find their rightful marriage partners within the stilted conventions of courtship in Edwardian England form the substance of Night and Day. The plot, which covers a nine-month period from October to the following June, has many of the elements of dramatic farce. There are chance meetings, overheard conversations, misinterpretations, and comic figures, but all difficulties are happily resolved in the traditional comic ending.The novel opens with Katharine Hilbery pouring tea at an afternoon party at her parents’ house. (Many of the key events and conversations in the novel take place over that peculiarly English convention, afternoon tea.) A late guest at the tea party is Ralph Denham, a young solicitor who has recently contributed an article to the review edited by Katharine’s father. At first meeting, Katharine and Denham take a slight dislike to each other: He is unimpressed by her aristocratic heritage (she belongs to one of the most distinguished families in England), and she finds him dull.

Virginia Woolf's 1919 novel "Night and Day", her second novel, is an examination of the relationships of its four main characters: Katharine Hilbery, Mary Datchet, Ralph Denham, and William Rodney. The granddaughter of a distinguished poet, Katherine Hilbery, is struggling with the expectation that she will be a great writer. She is torn between the prospect of marrying either William Rodney, a budding poet who attempts to impress her with his mediocre verse, and Ralph Denham, a lawyer who occasionally has articles published by Katharine's father. Mary Datchet, a champion for woman's suffrage, is the character whom the others in the novel often seek out to confess their true feelings with regard to their own love or anguish. Woolf's "Night and Day" is considerable one of her most traditional works. While it lacks the stylistic flair that fans of her later works will be accustomed to, it dramatically explores the issues of woman's suffrage and the struggle of women in modern society to balance endeavors of love, marriage, and vocation.

It was a Sunday evening in October, and in common with many other young ladies of herclass, Katharine Hilbery was pouring out tea. Perhaps a fifth part of her mind was thusoccupied, and the remaining parts leapt over the little barrier of day which interposedbetween Monday morning and this rather subdued moment, and played with the thingsone does voluntarily and normally in the daylight. But although she was silent, she wasevidently mistress of a situation which was familiar enough to her, and inclined to let ittake its way for the six hundredth time, perhaps, without bringing into play any of herunoccupied faculties. A single glance was enough to show that Mrs. Hilbery was so rich inthe gifts which make tea-parties of elderly distinguished people successful, that shescarcely needed any help from her daughter, provided that the tiresome business ofteacups and bread and butter was discharged for her.Considering that the little party had been seated round the tea-table for less than twentyminutes, the animation observable on their faces, and the amount of sound they wereproducing collectively, were very creditable to the hostess. It suddenly came intoKatharine’s mind that if some one opened the door at this moment he would think that theywere enjoying themselves; he would think, “What an extremely nice house to come into!”and instinctively she laughed, and said something to increase the noise, for the credit of thehouse presumably, since she herself had not been feeling exhilarated. At the very samemoment, rather to her amusement, the door was flung open, and a young man entered theroom. Katharine, as she shook hands with him, asked him, in her own mind, “Now, do youthink we’re enjoying ourselves enormously?”... “Mr. Denham, mother,” she said aloud, forshe saw that her mother had forgotten his name.That fact was perceptible to Mr. Denham also, and increased the awkwardness whichinevitably attends the entrance of a stranger into a room full of people much at their ease,and all launched upon sentences. At the same time, it seemed to Mr. Denham as if athousand softly padded doors had closed between him and the street outside. A fine mist,the etherealized essence of the fog, hung visibly in the wide and rather empty space of thedrawing-room, all silver where the candles were grouped on the tea-table, and ruddy againin the firelight. With the omnibuses and cabs still running in his head, and his body stilltingling with his quick walk along the streets and in and out of traffic and foot-passengers,this drawing-room seemed very remote and still; and the faces of the elderly people weremellowed, at some distance from each other, and had a bloom on them owing to the factthat the air in the drawing-room was thickened by blue grains of mist. Mr. Denham hadcome in as Mr. Fortescue, the eminent novelist, reached the middle of a very long sentence.He kept this suspended while the newcomer sat down, and Mrs. Hilbery deftly joined thesevered parts by leaning towards him and remarking:“Now, what would you do if you were married to an engineer, and had to live inManchester, Mr. Denham?”

It was a Sunday evening in October, and in common with many other young ladies of her class, Katharine Hilbery was pouring out tea. Perhaps a fifth part of her mind was thus occupied, and the remaining parts leapt over the little barrier of day which interposed between Monday morning and this rather subdued moment, and played with the things one does voluntarily and normally in the daylight. But although she was silent, she was evidently mistress of a situation which was familiar enough to her, and inclined to let it take its way for the six hundredth time, perhaps, without bringing into play any of her unoccupied faculties. A single glance was enough to show that Mrs. Hilbery was so rich in the gifts which make tea-parties of elderly distinguished people successful, that she scarcely needed any help from her daughter, provided that the tiresome business of teacups and bread and butter was discharged for her.

Night and Day is a novel by Virginia Woolf first published on 20 October 1919. Set in Edwardian London, Night and Day contrasts the daily lives and romantic attachments of two acquaintances, Katharine Hilbery and Mary Datchet. The novel examines the relationships between love, marriage, happiness, and success. Dialogue and descriptions of thought and actions are used in equal amount, unlike in Woolf's later book, To the Lighthouse. There are four major characters, Katharine Hilbery, Mary Datchet, Ralph Denham, and William Rodney. Night and Day deals with issues concerning women's suffrage, if love and marriage can coexist, and if marriage is necessary for happiness. Motifs throughout the book includes the stars and sky, the River Thames, and walks. Also, Woolf makes many references to the works of William Shakespeare, especially As You Like It.