Vita Sackville West is a well-known name among the people who are related to literature. She was an English writer known for her several incredible works. Besides, she also had a keen interest in Garden designing. She uses to write diaries and novels and was also a renowned journalist in her time. Besides, she is also known for her homosexual relationship with Virginia Wolf. However, she was much more than just a lady lover, yet, people mostly talk about this aspect of her life. If you want to learn more about the important aspects of her life, reading this post until the end can be helpful for you.
Who Was Vita Sackville West?
Vita Sackville-West was a social disruptor and one of the best writers of the twentieth century. It’s absurd that one of the finest writers in the English literary canon is remembered as a Virginia Woolf fan who refuses to accept her work. The world’s interest in her has been reignited as a result of the release of the films Vita and Virginia, starring Gemma Arterton and Elizabeth Debicki, respectively. At the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival, the film had its international premiere. The film Vita, and Virginia, directed by Chanya Button and adapted from a play by Eileen Atkins, appears to have thrown light on the woman who was so beloved by Virginia.
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Vita Sackville West Early Love Affairs
Before finally getting married to her soulmate Harold, she had been in several homosexual relations. Some of them are short, yet some of them were really intense. However, she was not gender bias when it comes to falling in love and feeling a strong desire for her loved ones. Her relationship with Virginia Wolf was one of the most intense and intimate bonds that she ever shared with someone apart from her husband. Below are some of her early life relations:
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Orazio Pucci
Her love life started in 1910 when she was charmed by a man for the first time. It was Orazio Pucci who belonged to a renowned family. It was the first time when she felt the hearty affection. Also, it was the beginning of her love that had several additions later. It was a short relationship with him and on its termination, she reaches out for love with several other men and women.
Geoffrey Scott
Geoffrey Scott was a well-known English poet and scholar. Besides, he was also a historian of architecture. He was divorced from her wife. In the same year, Vita came into his life. He had a strong influence on her presence in his life that also influenced his future works of writing.
Rosamund Grosvenor
Rosamund Grosvenor was the first homosexual relationship of the Vita Sackville West. They started seeing each other very early age. They visit each other’s places and also attended their classes together. Rosamund was probably the one who influenced her for her homosexuality. They used to share a bed on Knole.
Violet Trefusis
One thing common about the most relationships of Vita is that they all were somehow related to the literature and writing. Violet was also one of them who was an English author and lady love of Vita.
Henry Lascelles
Henry was a male lover of the Vita and their bond lasted for a few years. Virginia Wolf has a special place for him in her novel Orlando, tributing to his love for Vita.
Hilda Matheson
The lady love of the Vita was not a mystery for the world. Her quest to find true love drives her to Hilda who was talk show producer at the BBC. She was also a lesbian and they were in intimate relation with each other for quite a while.
Relationship With Virginia Wolf
After several relationships, Virginia Wolf enters her life, who was also a lesbian. It was the most popular relationship between the two ladies and they spent a great time together. In January 1926, they exchanged letters, which was one of the popular ways of communication at that time. In the mid-twenties, the two began an affair that inspired Woolf’s novel Orlando. These letters were of their post-breakup; their relationship ended in 1929. Original punctuation and spelling have been preserved. These letters depicted the dynamics of their relationship and how intensely they loved each other.
Her Love For Gardening
Vita had a great love and passion for gardening and she was a successful gardener as well. Also, there is a poem on her garden love “The Garden.” She and her husband purchased Sissinghurst Castle, a wrecked Elizabethan manor house, in 1930 and worked for years to create a garden that would be a homage to their love and a visible reflection of their personalities.
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Harold Nicolson designed the architectural framework for his wife’s beautiful abundance of flowering plants. He favored strong classical lines, which he incorporated into the garden’s general design. The modestly colored and casual planting techniques looked great in this context.
They desired a garden with a formal structure and expansive views, as well as a sense of privacy and intimacy. This was accomplished by splitting the garden into distinct enclosures and constructing various gardens, including Rose, Orchard, and others.
Vita’s Health
It was 1961 when she developed stomach cancer. She struggled for one year and finally died at the age of 70. Her love for gardening remained intact in the last years of her life. In the last decade, she published one novel and a biography. She was diagnosed with stomach cancer and fought for one year with it. When she lost this battle against cancer, her burial occurred in the Sackville family vault. People remember her as a rebel who defies the norms of society and advocates the things that were way ahead of her time. Her works are an incredible literary reference to the literature of her period.
Final Words!
This post elaborates on the life, work, and relationships of the English author and gardener. She is famous for her incredible literary works and incredible gardening skills. Besides, she was bisexual and had several relations with men and women until she found her soulmate in Harold Nicolson who was also homosexual. She stated herself in a state of divided attractions towards the relationships. She had a soft corner for the soft and feminine aspects of women. On the other hand, she also liked strong, masculine, and dominating men. If you liked this post, then visit our blog section to find more biographies and interesting life stories of renowned personalities.