"CARLYLE'S HOUSE": VIRGINIA WOOLF, LESLIE STEPHEN AND THE SHADOWS OF THE PAST

Taking the cue from the intellectual relationship between Virginia Woolf and her father, the historian and biographer Leslie Stephen, the essay intends to illustrate Carlyle's role in Woolf's formative years, considering that her father regarded the Scottish philosopher as one of the Great Men of the century. In light of this genealogical link, it is no exaggeration to maintain that Virginia's exclusive connection with Carlyle's works can be compared to that of no other thinker. In this sense, although she strove to reject the thinking of author of Hero and Hero-Worship, it is evident that Carlyle was a ghost from the past that the reader can still detect in many Woolfian novels.