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Time Period: the 16th century
Monarch: Queen Elizabeth I

"By shortcuts known to him, he made his way now through the vast congeries of rooms and staircases to the banqueting hall, five acres distant on the other side of the house (Woolf 21)."

It is here in Orlando's family home that Orlando enjoys nature and begins his first manuscript (1586). The Knole House that Woolf based the setting around is a historic Elizabethan property. It was owned by Edward Sackville West. His only daughter, Vita Sackville West is the figure to whom Orlando is dedicated. Sackville West hoped to inherit the property but was inhibited by laws that dictate properties could only be passed along to sons.

Here is where Orlando's family receives Queen Elizabeth I, he attracts her favor and becomes a member of her court at Whitehall. However it's clear that this is near the end of the Queen's reign, as the ascension of King James moves us along in the story. Go to the pin at Greenwhich to continue the story.

Photo Credit: Geograph
https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/kent/knole/vita-sackville-west-and-knole

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Time Period: 17th century
Monarch: King James I

"The Great Frost was, historians tell us, the most severe that has ever visited these islands (Woolf 33)."

"The Court was at Greenwhich, and the new King seized the opportunity that his coronation gave him to curry favour with the citizens. He directed that the river, which was frozen to a depth of twenty feet and more for six or seven miles on either side, should be swept, decorated and given all the semblance of a park or pleasure ground, with arbours, mazes, alleys, drinking booths, etc., at his expense (Woolf 35)."

At Greenwhich Orlando meets Sasha, the daughter of an ambassador to the Moscow Embassy. Due to the freeze, her and her family will remain in England until the harbor melts. They share an evening ice skating on the Thames in the middle of the night, and even plan to run away together. However, first love is left unrequited. Although Orlando was in waiting, Sasha never arrives to make their escape, and when the Frost ends she returns to Russia, never to be seen by Orlando again.

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Time Period: 17th century
Monarch: King James I

"In the summer of that disastrous winter which saw the frost, the flood, the deaths of many thousands, and the complete downfall of Orlando's hopes--- for he was exiled from Court; in deep disgrace with the most powerful nobles of his time; the Irish house of Desmond was justly enraged; the King had already trouble enough with the Irish not to relish this further addition--- in that summer Orlando retired to his great house in the country and there lived in complete solitude (Woolf 65-66)."

Heartbroken, with the harbors melted and the climate back to normal and all the ambassadors gone back home, Orlando returns to his family home and spends his time either in long sleeping spells or contemplation. He is privileged enough to own and read the manuscripts of others and works on his own poem, "The Oak Tree."
Eventually he invites publisher Nick Greene to his home to review a play he wrote. Nick Greene in turn writes a review of it mocking Orlando. He feels rejected, and is then confronted by a character called "The Archduchess Harriet," who proceeds to confess her love for him. This unwanted affection in the aftermath of a heartbreak is enough to make Orlando need a change of scenery. Go to modern day Istanbul to continue the story.

Photo Credit: Photo Credit: legeia*2 Flikr

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Time Period: 17th Century
Monarch: King Charles I

"Thus realizing that his home was uninhabitable, and that steps must be taken to end the matter instantly, he did what any other young man would have done in his place, and asked King Charles to send him as Ambassador Extraordinary to Constantinople (Woolf 118)."

As ambassador, Orlando fulfills his role, fulfilling them so well that King Charles nearly awards him his own dukedom, changing his title from ambassador to duke. After a long night of celebrating, Orlando is found asleep in his room. He doesn't awaken for multiple days. On the final day of his sleep, Orlando is approached by three ladies; Purity, Modesty, and Chastity. They dance around the bed and when they leave Orlando awakens as a woman. Disoriented by this realization, Orlando decides to return to England, tagging along with a nomadic group of peoples in order to leave Constantinople. Go to Bursa to continue the story.

Photo Credit: legeia*2 Flikr

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Time Period: 17th Century
Monarch: King Charles II*

*We can assume King Charles II is the monarch while Orlando is in Constantinople because when she returns as a woman, reference is made to a plague that is infamously associated with his rule.

"The rode for several days and nights and met with a variety of adventures, some at the hands of men, some at the hands of nature, in all of which Orlando acquitted herself with courage. Within a week they reached the chief camping ground outside Broussa which was then the chief camping ground of the tribe to which Orlando had allied herself (Woolf 140)."

It is described that the Roumani peoples that Orlando joins have their main campsite in the mountains of Broussa, modern day Bursa. She enjoys her lack of ambassadorial responsibilities and learns how to tend to animals and do more domestic activities. She is appalled that the tribe she has joined has no interest in the written word. The only paper she has on her is her manuscript of "The Oak Tree," and she fills up all the margins, using the ink she can get from berries. She parts ways with the Roumani group due to a difference of opinion. Luckily there is a British merchant ship station in Broussa that is leaving immediately. Go to the coast of Italy to continue the story.

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Time Period: 18th century
Monarch: Queen Anne Boleyn

"With some of the guineas left from the sale of the tenth pearl of her string, Orlando had bought herself a complete outfit of such clothes as women then wore, and it was in the dress of a young Englishwoman of rank that she now sat on the deck of the Enamoured Lady (Woolf 153)."
"[...] the sails came tumbling on deck, and she perceived (so sunk had she been in thought, that she had seen nothing for several days) that the ship was anchored off the coast of Italy."

Although the description of Orlando's time passing through Italy is vague, Woolf might be paying homage to the older literary tradition of Orlando. During the Renaissance, two epic poems were produced: Orlando Innamorato by Matteo Maria Boiard and Orlando Furioso by Ludovico Ariosto. Both were Italians of the Ferrarese dialect and the originals of both of these epics are true to this language. The plots of these poems were meant to satirize the culture of knighthood that had formed during the crusades. The two epics were later translated to the more standardized Florentine dialect, which would become the state dialect of Italy. It is from this dialect that our English versions are translated. Go to Blackfriars, London to see what awaits Orlando on her return back to England.

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Matteo-Maria-Boiardo-Conte-di-Scandiano#ref231189

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ludovico-Ariosto#ref281734

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons

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Time Period: 18th Century
Monarch: Queen Anne Boleyn

"That, then was the dome of St. Paul's which Mr. Wren had built during her absence. Near by, a shock of golden hair burst from a pillar--- Captain Bartolus was at her side to inform her that that was the Monument; there had been a plague and a fire during her absence, he said (Woolf 165)."

"But now Orlando was to learn how little the most tempestuous flutter of excitement avails against the iron countenance of the law; how harder than the stones of London Bridge it is, and the lips of a cannon more severe. No sooner had she returned to her home in Blackfriars than she was made aware of a succession of Bow Street runners and other grave emissaries from the Law Courts that she was a party to three major suits which had been preferred against her during her absence [...] The chief charges against her were  (1) that she was dead, and therefore could not hold any property whatsoever; (2) that she was a woman, which amounts to the same thing; (3) that she was an English Duke who had married one Rosina Pepita, a dancer; and had had by her three sons, which sons now declaring that their father was deceased, claimed that all his property descended to them (Wool 167-168)."

Here, Orlando returns to England with minor difficulties regarding her identity. She is sued for trying to claim her London property and returns back to her country house. From there she makes frequent trips from Kent into London and becomes acquainted with the new conventions of dress and manners that a woman in her age would be expected to be familiar with. She tries to participate as a member of British high society. Go to Arlington House to continue the story.

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons

# data[].attributes.location_name
Arlington House Apartments, Arlington Street, London, UK

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Time Period: 18th Century
Monarch: Queen Anne Boleyn

"The occasion was the 16th of June, 1712; she had just returned from a great ball at Arlington House; the dawn was in the sky, and she was pulling off her stockings (Woolf 195)."

In this part of the novel, Orlando continuously makes reference to visiting a structure known as "Arlington House." In this era she attends many balls and social events. When you search Arlington House in London, however, you don't find a structure with a luxurious history, but rather quite the opposite. Contrasting Knole House, the historic Arlington House was opened in 1905 as a hostel for homeless men. Since the 1980s the building became privatized housing, changing from Arlington House to Arlington House apartments.

It's in this era of the novel, Orlando tries to acclimate to the social circles of London at the time. She wears proper dress, and learns manners, and how to conduct small talk. Orlando contemplates the meaning of life, and whether these new experiences she's had constitute a life. "Lovers she had in plenty, but life, which is after all of some importance in its way, escaped her (Woolf 195)." She condemns the ladies and lords of these events by saying they couldn't handle more than three witty statements in the course of a lifetime. While she's attending these events it becomes obvious that they don't make her very happy at all, and she gives it a rest, requiring solitude back at the country home in Kent. Go back to Knole House to continue the story.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arlington_House_(London)

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Time Period: 19th Century
Monarch: Queen Victoria

"All was dark; all was doubt; all was confusion. The Eighteenth century was over; the Nineteenth century had begun (Woolf 226)."

Orlando has entered the Victorian Period. She experiments with the costume of the time, most particularly the crinoline, and wonders why she isn't yet married. The narration describes the Victorian as being a damp and fertile age, so fertile that even Queen Victoria herself was pregnant many times. She goes out into the fields around her home saying she will be natures bride. It's here that she meets Marmaduke Bonthrop Shelmerdine, Esquire.

"Her ankle was broken. she could not rise. But there she lay content (Woolf 248)."
"'Madam,' the man cried, leaping to the ground, 'you're hurt!'
'I'm dead Sir!' She replied.
A few minutes later they became engaged (Woolf 250)."

Moments after they're married, Shelmerdine returns on his mission through Cape Horn. Go to Cape Horn, Chile to continue the story.

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Time Period: 20th Century
Monarch: King George V

"Where was he bound for?
'For the Horn," he said briefly, and blushed. It was only by dint of great pressure on her side and the use of much intuition that she gathered that his life was spent in the most desperate and splendid of adventures--- which is to voyage around Cape Horn in the teeth of a gale (Woolf 252)."

The reference to Shelmerdine going to Cape Horn is of a colonial nature, although this is not explicit in the text. The discovery of Cape Horn by Europeans in 1616 greatly increased the ability to conduct international trade, becoming a path from Europe to East Asia or vice versa. Previously there was only the strait of Magellan, which was controlled by the Dutch East India Company. This new route allowed other companies to accumulate power without having to consult with the aforementioned company.

While Shelmerdine is away, Orlando gives birth to her eldest child. She finally wins her lawsuit and is able to have access to her properties. The age quickly shifts from the 19th century to the 20th. In the 20th century Orlando goes to London once again and runs into Nick Greene (See Knole house #3), who is also apparently timeless. This time she hands up the manuscript to her poem, "The Oak Tree." Greene loves it and takes it to be published immediately. Woolf goes back to the country home and waits for Shelmerdine to return, once again contemplating anything and everything. The novel ends on the 11th of October, 1928. Congragulations! You have completed the story.

https://www.hurtigruten.com/en-us/expeditions/stories/cape-horn-history/
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