Asking the Right Questions, A Guide to Critical Thinking, 8th Ed

Are There Rival Causes? 139
The Pervasiveness of Rival Causes
On the afternoon of March 28, 1941, Virginia Woolf wrote two letters, sealed
them, and placed them on the mantle. She quickly put on her coat, grabbed
her walking stick, and headed outside. She crossed the meadows to the river
Ouse, where she put large stones into her coat pocket and threw herself into
the river, committing suicide.
Authors have offered numerous hypotheses to explain this event, including
the following:
1. Virginia Woolf had a fear of impending madness. She had a history of mental
illness and depression. Also, given the recent outbreak of World War II and her
history of an inability to deal with aggression, Virginia decided it would be best if
she took her own life. 1
2. Some psychologists argue Virginia Woolf had an intense attachment with her
father. The attachment was so strong that Virginia developed to be much like her
father in many significant ways. One important event in Virginia's life, therefore, was
watching her father's deteriorating health when Virginia was in her early twenties.
She never forgot about her father's suffering and deterioration. So, when Virginia
was 59 years old and feeling that her writing was beginning to deteriorate, she took
her life in order to avoid identifying with, and in essence becoming, her dying father. 2
3. Virginia Woolf was disillusioned with her marriage to Leonard Woolf. The two
had a sexless marriage, and Virginia found companionship in an extra-marital
lesbian relationship. Virginia's homosexuality put tremendous strain on the marriage
that was in turn only made worse by the fact that Leonard probably had several
affairs. Virginia was a very jealous person and did not take lightly to these affairs.
Her dissatisfaction with the condition of her marriage led her to take her life. 3
Woolf s own writing leads to any number of possible causes for her suicide.
Now, let's leave Virginia Woolf's suicide for a moment and examine a
different event in need of explanation—the findings of a research study.
A researcher reported that eating celery helps curb aggression. 151 women were
surveyed, and 95 percent who reported eating celery on a regular basis also
reported low levels of aggression, or overall irritability. Of the portion of women
who do not eat celery on a regular basis, 53 percent reported frequent feelings
of irritability, agitation, and aggression.
'Alma Halbert Bond, Who Killed Virginia Woolf: A Psychobiography (New York: Human Sciences
Press, 1989): 15-19.
2 Ibid., pp. 59-63.
3 Ibid., pp. 62-63.