The Man at the Gate is a short story by Virginia Woolf, first published in the collection Monday or Tuesday in 1921. The story follows a man who is standing at the gate of a large estate. He is a stranger to the area, and he is looking for a job. He is taken in by the estate's owner, who is a kindly old man. The man is given a job as a gardener, and he quickly becomes a part of the family. The man is content with his life, but he is haunted by a mysterious figure who appears at the gate every night. The figure is a woman, and she is searching for something. The man is determined to find out what she is looking for, and he eventually discovers that she is searching for her lost love. The man helps the woman find her lost love, and in the process, he finds his own happiness. The story ends with the man and the woman embracing at the gate, and the man is content with his life.
By Virginia Woolf · First published 1940 · Genre: Modernist Literature, Fiction, Short Story