Orlando · Chapter
Chapter VI explained
Orlando completes her poem 'The Oak Tree' and, feeling the world's indifference, decides to seek readers in London.
What happens
Orlando completes her poem 'The Oak Tree' and, feeling the world's indifference, decides to seek readers in London. She experiences the disorienting speed of modern life as she travels by train, and upon arriving in the bustling Strand, she is overwhelmed by the cacophony and chaos of the city, reflecting on the multiplicity of selves within her.
Themes in this chapter
Creativity and Writing
Orlando completes her poem and feels a deep connection to her manuscript, which seems to have a life of its own, driving her to seek readers.
Time and Mortality
Orlando reflects on the world continuing after her death, and the disorienting experience of rapid travel and the multiplicity of selves across time.
The Spirit of the Age
The chapter captures the transition to the Victorian era, with its technological innovations and urban chaos, contrasting with Orlando's earlier, more pastoral life.
Characters to notice
- Orlando
Completes her poem, travels to London, and grapples with the many selves that constitute her identity.
- Marmaduke Bonthrop Shelmerdine
Invoked as one of Orlando's many selves, associated with crocuses in autumn woods.
- Sasha
Referenced as part of Orlando's past selves, the young man who fell in love with Sasha.
- Marched Basket
Appears as the servant who informs Orlando of the train schedule.
- Lady R.
Mentioned as a potential destination for reading the poem, though Orlando doubts the literary taste there.
- Mr. F. L. Lucas
Referenced in passing as part of the social circle Orlando considers.
Key passages
“Life, Life, Life! cries the bird, as if he had heard, and knew precisely, what we meant by this bothering prying habit of ours of asking questions indoors and out and peeping and picking at daisies as the way is of writers when they don't know what to say next.”
The bird seems to mock the writer's endless questioning about the meaning of life, a habit that arises when inspiration falters.
Reflects Orlando's (and the narrator's) existential musings on life's purpose.
“And if I were dead, it would be just the same!”
Orlando realizes that the world continues indifferently regardless of her existence or achievements.
Highlights her sense of insignificance and the theme of mortality.
“For if there are (at a venture) seventy-six different times all ticking in the mind at once, how many different people are there not—Heaven help us—all having lodgement at one time or another in the human spirit?”
The narrator suggests that a person contains multiple selves, each tied to different moments and contexts, far more than a biography can capture.
Introduces the concept of the multiplicity of identity, central to Orlando's character.