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An English writer and learned man of a wide variety of sciences from the 17th century. Woolf first mentions Browne in the preface, and he is one of the writers she is “perpetually in debt of.” Orlando, too, mentions Browne frequently, especially during his more depressed days spent in his family’s crypt. Browne’s work often involves the theme of death and burial, and this is reflected in Orlando’s own obsession with death. The novel also draws a parallel between Orlando’s own “melancholy,” the four temperaments (sanguine, choleric, melancholic, and phlegmatic) that match the four humors (blood, yellow bile, black bile, and phlegm) that accounted for depression or moroseness in early medicine, and the melancholia of Browne’s work, which he is famously known for.
Sir Thomas Browne Quotes in Orlando
The Orlando quotes below are all either spoken by Sir Thomas Browne or refer to Sir Thomas Browne. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 1 Quotes
Then, suddenly Orlando would fall into one of his moods of melancholy; the sight of the old woman hobbling over the ice might be the cause of it, or nothing; and would fling himself face downwards on the ice and look into the frozen waters and think of death. For the philosopher is right who says that nothing thicker than a knife’s blade separates happiness from melancholy; and he goes on to opine that one is twin fellow to the other; and draws from this the conclusion that all extremes of feeling are allied to madness; and so bids us take refuge in the true Church (in his view the Anabaptist) which is the only harbour, port, anchorage, etc., he said, for those tossed on this sea.
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This quote occurs during Orlando’s relationship with Sasha, in which he falls inexplicably into a deep depression, which the narrator later claims is a direct result of Orlando’s identity as a poet. Throughout the novel, Orlando falls into many “moods of melancholy,” of which there is, at times, no precursor or perceptible cause. Woolf, too, struggled with depression and melancholy for much of her life. She was hospitalized for prolonged periods of time for what she and her family described as her “madness,” and she twice attempted suicide before finally succeeding with her third attempt at the age of 59. Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas. Totam quae corporis. Impedit non ut. Incidunt rerum est. Aperiam doloremque eum. Animi soluta perspiciatis. Ut minima autem. Modi omnis iure. Sint qui qui. Qui si
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Sir Thomas Browne Character Timeline in Orlando
The timeline below shows where the character Sir Thomas Browne appears in Orlando. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Preface
...one can read or write without being perpetually in the debt of Defoe, Sir Thomas Browne, Sterne, Sir Walter Scott, Lord Macaulay, Emily Brontë, De Quincey, and Walter Pater,—to name the...
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Chapter 2
...man or woman, of age or youth?” Putting down the bones, Orlando thinks of Thomas Browne, a writer and Doctor of Norwich, whose books greatly interest Orlando.
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...has been “foully murdered.” When he is through crying, Orlando opens one of Sir Thomas Browne’s books and begins to read. The reader has probably guessed, the narrator says, that Orlando...
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...might remain of them: “A skull; a finger.” Orlando turns the pages of Sir Thomas Browne’s book, and, suddenly, the answer comes to him. Orlando’s ancestors and “their deeds” are nothing...
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...How can this be? Their time is one of great writers—of “Shakespeare, Marlowe, Ben Jonson, Browne, [and] Donne”—how can poetry be dead? These poets are Orlando’s heroes. Surely, Nick must be...
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...can really be said of a man who didn’t live to see 30? “As for Browne,” Nick says to Orlando, “he was for writing poetry and prose and people soon got...
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