Jinny

Character Analysis

If Rhoda is the character who lives most in her mind, Jinny is the one who lives most in her body. She revels in sensualism and physicality, and she spends a lot of her narration celebrating her body's power and her physical connections with others.

Even before she reaches adulthood, it is clear that Jinny is obsessed with her own body, particularly its beauty and propensity for movement. Characters make frequent references to her dancing and pirouetting around, regardless of whether such shenanigans are going to get her in trouble. She imagines her life as a popular socialite and the attractions she will hold for the opposite sex.

When she leaves school, those dreams come true: she becomes a gorgeous socialite who immediately commands the attention of an entire room when she enters. Though Woolf keeps things PG, it's clear that Jinny celebrates her own sensuousness and enjoys connecting—physically and otherwise—with a large number of men.

Unlike Susan and Neville, who are known for their intense monogamy, Jinny refuses to be tied down to one person, choosing instead to meet and experience as many different people as possible, and reveling in her power to attract enough attention to do so. Therefore, she represents a freedom and sensuality that the other characters lack.

As she progresses further into adulthood, Jinny starts to get a little freaked out about aging and fears that she will lose her powers when her physical beauty wanes:

It was only for a moment, catching sight of myself before I had time to prepare myself as I always prepare myself for the sight of myself, that I quailed. It is true; I am not young—I shall soon raise my arm in vain and my scarf will fall to my side without having signalled. I shall not hear the sudden sigh in the night and feel through the dark someone coming.  (7b.18)

Nonetheless, Jinny ultimately retains her confidence in her body's power to attract and connect with men, and decides to press on, declaring, "I will not be afraid" (7b.19). Get it, gurl.