World War II Era
Personal
Final Letter to Leonard
From: Virginia Woolf
To: Leonard Woolf
March 28, 1941
Sussex
Letter Content
Dearest,
I feel certain that I am going mad again. I feel we can't go through another of those terrible times. And I shan't recover this time. I begin to hear voices, and I can't concentrate. So I am doing what seems the best thing to do.
You have given me the greatest possible happiness. You have been in every way all that anyone could be. I don't think two people could have been happier till this terrible disease came. I can't fight any longer.
I know that I am spoiling your life, that without me you could work. And you will I know. You see I can't even write this properly. I can't read. What I want to say is I owe all the happiness of my life to you. You have been entirely patient with me and incredibly good. I want to say that - everybody knows it.
If anybody could have saved me it would have been you. Everything has gone from me but the certainty of your goodness. I can't go on spoiling your life any longer.
I don't think two people could have been happier than we have been.
V.
Historical Context
Virginia Woolf's suicide note to her husband Leonard, written before she drowned herself in the River Ouse. She had battled mental illness throughout her life and feared another complete breakdown during the stress of World War II.
Significance
A deeply moving document of mental illness and the profound love between the Woolfs. The letter is both heartbreaking and tender, revealing the inner torment of one of the 20th century's greatest writers while expressing gratitude and love for her devoted husband.