Virginia Woolf’s Between the Acts

Student’s Name
Professor’s Name
Course
Date
Virginia Woolf’s Between the Acts
The history of England dates back to the Anglo-Saxon era when several groups of people united to form a kingdom. In the pageant acted in the Woolf’s Between the Acts, England is depicted as a young girl, weak, and facing many adversities. Phyllis Jones is seen saying, “England am I,” where after she adds, “Now weak and small” (Woolf 42-43). That was an era where England was weakened by her relatively young age and constant wars. This spanned for centuries until relative calm was achieved in the Elizabethan era. This article explores the history of England from the Elizabethan era to the present day. In Between the Acts, Woolf depicts this era by introducing Queen Elizabeth in the pageant (Woolf 46). There seems to be great splendor and happiness during this period as illustrated by the author. On the historic front, this era is otherwise referred to as the golden age of England. The other era of England’s history as depicted in the novel is the Victorian era. This is depicted in the form of a policeman, a role in the pageant played by the publican (Woolf 82). The characters in the novel represent the populace in present-day England. They have been portrayed to view the history of England in different dimensions and contexts. These dimensions have undergone phenomenal changes over the ages as seen in the political, economic, and social and religious history.
Political History
The political landscape of England has gone through radical changes over the ages. During the Elizabethan era, the political system was a hierarchal one whereby the monarch had a lot of authority. The authority of Queen Elizabeth is evident when she commands “play out the play” (Woolf 47). However, as informed by Neighbors, the politics during the era shifted from absolute power to a reliance on popular support and performance (120). The public participated politically by engaging in discourses and criticism of the monarch’s governance policies and international relations (Neighbors 130). Even though there were bitter controversies and power struggles, there was relative peace and political stability during that period (Doran and Jones 32). However, democracy was still not fully unformed despite efforts to make it fully established.
The political structure during the Victorian period was a little different from the Elizabethan one in that the monarch was a constitutional one. During this period the powers of the monarch were annexed and taken up by a parliament that consisted, largely, of aristocrats. In addition, several critical duties were delegated to the prime minister. This was the formative period of democracy in England (Conti 2). This was when England was involved in the Crimean war which was pivotal in shaping British attitudes toward military masculinity (Furneaux 5). According to Woolf, there is no history without an army (Woolf 81). Woolf expresses these sentiments through Colonel Mayhew who muses, “Why leave out the British Army? What’s history without the Army, eh?” (81). Otherwise, the period was characterized by enhanced political tolerance and stability.
Poli...