故事始于十六世纪伊丽莎白时代，终于一九二八年伍尔夫搁笔的"现时"，历时四百年。奥兰多先是一位天真无邪的贵族美少年，因深受伊丽莎白女王宠幸而入宫廷。詹姆斯王登基后，大霜冻降临，奥兰多偶遇一位俄罗斯公主，坠入情网，结果失恋亦失宠，隐居乡间大宅。奥兰多从小迷恋文学和诗歌，莎士比亚的身影令他难以忘怀，设法与小有名气的诗人格林相识，不料又受戏弄，加之不堪忍受罗马尼亚女大公的纠缠，遂请缨出使土耳其。在君士坦丁堡的一场大火之后，奥兰多变为女子，离开官场，混迹于吉普赛人之间。再后返回英国，成为上流社会的贵妇，结识一批当时著名文人。进入维多利亚时代，为了继续写作，奥兰多只能与时代精神妥协，并嫁给了一位海船长。到故事结尾，奥兰多已是二十世纪的获奖诗人，回到那贯穿全书、象征传统的大宅，来到大橡树下，回顾她对文学和诗歌的永恒的追求。(The story began in the Elizabeth Era of the Sixteenth Century, ended "Now" when Woolf stopped writing in 1928 and lasted for four hundred years. Orlando was an innocent beautiful young nobleman who entered the palace since he was loved by Queen Elizabeth. After King James ascended the throne, the big frost came. Orlando encountered a Russian princess and fell in love with her. As a result, he was crossed in love and out of favor and finally lived in a countryside mansion. Orlando had been fascinated in literature and poetry since childhood. The figure of Shakespeare made him unforgettable. He managed to be acquainted with the poet Greene. However, he was unexpectedly teased. In addition, he could not bear to be entangled by the Romanian Archduchess. Therefore, he volunteered for going to Turkey as an ambassador. After a big fire in Constantinople, he metamorphosed into a woman. Then she left the official circles and hid her identity among the gypsies. Then she returned to England, became a lady of the upper class and got acquainted with a number of famous scholars of the time. In the Vitoria Era, to continue writing, Orlando can only compromised with the spirit of the era and married a captain. By the end of the story, Orlando was an award-winning poet of the Twentieth Century. She returned to the mansion which ran through the whole book and symbolized the tradition, and came to the Oak Tree to recall her eternal pursuit of literature and poetry.)