62 pages 2 hours read

Virginia Woolf

The Voyage Out

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1915

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Chapters 12-16

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 12 Summary

Susan gets her family’s approval for her engagement to Arthur Venning. The guests of the hotel decide to throw a dance to celebrate the engagement. Rachel and Helen arrive at the dance together, with Rachel feeling diffident because Helen starts dancing with Hewet. Hirst invites Rachel to dance, but neither of them is a good dancer, and they dance so awkwardly together that they soon decide to stop. Hirst and Rachel take a seat to watch the dancing and talk. Their conversation is as awkward and halting as their dance, but Hirst is determined to try, mainly because Hewet has told him that he is no good with women and he wants to prove his friend wrong. He offers to lend Rachel some books by the historian Edward Gibbon, meanwhile claiming that she won’t understand them and letting her know that he intends the books as a test. While Hirst talks at Rachel about the literature he is certain she won’t understand, he can’t stop looking at Helen, whom he finds very beautiful. Offended by how Hirst spoke to her, Rachel goes out to the garden to cry. Hewet joins her and tries to explain that Hirst can be difficult, but whatever he said, he likely meant it as a compliment.

Related Titles

By Virginia Woolf

Study Guide
logo

A Haunted House

Virginia Woolf

A Haunted House

Virginia Woolf

Plot Summary
logo

A Haunted House and Other Short Stories

Virginia Woolf

A Haunted House and Other Short Stories

Virginia Woolf

Study Guide
logo

A Room of One's Own

Virginia Woolf

A Room of One's Own

Virginia Woolf

Study Guide
logo

Between The Acts

Virginia Woolf

Between The Acts

Virginia Woolf

Study Guide
logo

Flush: A Biography

Virginia Woolf

Flush: A Biography

Virginia Woolf

Study Guide
logo

How Should One Read a Book?

Virginia Woolf

How Should One Read a Book?

Virginia Woolf

Plot Summary
logo

Jacob's Room

Virginia Woolf

Jacob's Room

Virginia Woolf

Study Guide
logo

Kew Gardens

Virginia Woolf

Kew Gardens

Virginia Woolf

Study Guide
logo

Modern Fiction

Virginia Woolf

Modern Fiction

Virginia Woolf

Plot Summary
logo

Moments of Being

Virginia Woolf

Moments of Being

Virginia Woolf

Study Guide
logo

Mr. Bennett and Mrs. Brown

Virginia Woolf

Mr. Bennett and Mrs. Brown

Virginia Woolf

STUDY + TEACHING GUIDE
logo

Mrs. Dalloway

Virginia Woolf

Mrs. Dalloway

Virginia Woolf

STUDY + TEACHING GUIDE
logo

Orlando

Virginia Woolf

Orlando

Virginia Woolf

Study Guide
logo

The Death of the Moth

Virginia Woolf

The Death of the Moth

Virginia Woolf

Study Guide
logo

The Duchess and the Jeweller

Virginia Woolf

The Duchess and the Jeweller

Virginia Woolf

Study Guide
logo

The Lady in the Looking Glass

Virginia Woolf

The Lady in the Looking Glass

Virginia Woolf

Study Guide
logo

The Mark on the Wall

Virginia Woolf

The Mark on the Wall

Virginia Woolf

Study Guide
logo

The New Dress

Virginia Woolf

The New Dress

Virginia Woolf

Study Guide
logo

The Waves

Virginia Woolf

The Waves

Virginia Woolf

Study Guide
logo

Three Guineas

Virginia Woolf

Three Guineas

Virginia Woolf