Virginia Woolf

Who is this Virginia Woolf? On the back of her book, she is compared to Shakespeare. Having read Shakespeare and parts of Woolf I am not sure if they are of equal level at the time of her writing. She writes in manner that many people of the 1900s would consider "unlady-like." For instance, she laughs at a cat without a tail. (Page 13). Also, from my reading she is kind of scatter brain. She is walking around and then all of sudden she is back eating herself. Her sudden transitions make you wonder if Virginia Woolf is not really the "I" referred to in this book. Maybe Woolf is in fact writing about a couple friends. But who every the Marys are, they must have had an impact of Woolf. Mary may be the only women that Woolf met that was free....