Discussion Topic

"Examining how 'Mrs. Dalloway' embodies characteristics of Modernist literature."

Summary:

Mrs. Dalloway embodies characteristics of Modernist literature through its stream-of-consciousness narrative style, fragmented structure, and exploration of inner psychological states. Virginia Woolf delves into themes such as time, memory, and the complexities of human consciousness, reflecting the Modernist focus on subjective experience and the breakdown of traditional narrative forms.

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What makes "Mrs. Dalloway" a Modernist novel?

There are several ways in which one can see Mrs. Dalloway as a Modernist novel.  The mose dominant is that the novel's premise marks a "shift" in both content and narrative style.  When Woolf defines Modernism, herself, she does so in a deliberate and pointed manner:  “All human relations shifted,and when human relations change there is at the same time a change in religion, conduct, politics, and literature.”   It is here in which her work can be seen as Modernist in scope. The stream of consciousness style of writing marked a shift in how literature could be constructed.  It was in this where the text become Modernist in scope and in understanding.  In terms of content, Mrs. Dalloway focuses on how the fundamental notion of consciousness- "a whole life in a day"- is part of our being in the world.  This is yet another "shift" in our thinking and in the way "human relations change."  Mrs. Dalloway is not a direct narrative type of protagonist because Woolf believes that this shift which has taken place in both society and intellectual consciousness makes this impossible.  

Clarissa's party features much that marks "an end" to the old and conceives of a new that is fundamentally different than what was in the past.  Clarissa is not a definite social creature.  She does not fully embrace the condition of what women were told to be.  True to this "shift," she articulates a different vision.  War is not seen as nationalistic or patriotic, but rather is "shifted" to be seen as psychologically horrific.    All of these ideas come to represent how the work, itself, is a Modernist one because of the emphasis on this "shift" as an inescapable part of being in the world.

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Using a stylistic approach, examine how "Mrs. Dalloway" exhibits characteristics of a modernist novel.

In 1984 John Barth published an article titled "The Literature of Replenishment" in Friday Book: Essays and Other Non-Fiction (John Hopkins Press)where modern novel is defined, among other things, as:

the adoption of a tone of epistemological self-mockery aimed at naive pretensions of bourgeois rationality; the opposition of inward consciousness to rational, public, objective discourse; and an inclination to subjective distortion to point up the evanescence of the social world of the nineteenth-century bourgeoisie.

All this points to the modernist novel as a break with all the Victorian literature conventions. It particularly breaks with the cut and dry stylistics of realism by using consciousness as a major denominator. Stylistics, as an approach, is the study of language usage in literature as far as its context and tone; it attempts to explain how and why authors choose the way their characters speak: tone, language, accent, prosody, and other traits of the "personality" of language. Stylistics also analyze the overall use of language in the literary work.

Mrs. Dalloway is a beautiful example of the modern novel precisely because of its use of consciousness as the main character's medium of communication with herself and others. Since consciousness dominates the narrative, Woolf has more license to apply unique traits to distinguish Clarissa and the rest of the characters through the use of their states of mind. The way that Woolf tells her story is not through direct nor indirect characterization. She merely collects all the reflections and thoughts of each of the main characters, as well as the reflections and thoughts of what the other characters feel about them. For example, the reader can "hear" Peter's feelings for Clarissa

'her courage; her social instict'; 'her power of carrying things through'; 'her adventurousness'

we can equally hear Lucezia speak of her husband Septimus.

'[he is] so gentle; so serious; so clever'

Moreover, Woolf even changes the voice of the stream from character to character, making slight breaks even within the disparate narrative style of the novel, causing however no detour from the central vein of the novel.

'That's an E', said Mrs. Bletchley- or a dancer'  and 'It's toffee,' murmured Mr. Bowley'

The end result is a collection of thoughts, emotions, sensations, and points of view that co-exist within a "cloud". This cloud, or condensation of thoughts and emotions, is the vessel that moves the action forward in a non-traditional way

The narrative also features some instances of traditional dialogue, to contrast with the indirect discourse, which is what the stream of consciousness basically is. However, there is yet another pattern of narrative that comes in the form of free, indirect discourse. This consist on NOT revealing directly what the characters are feeling, so that the reader can make inferences and draw conclusions. An example would be:

But Lucrezia herself could not help looking at the motor car and the tree pattern on the blinds. Was it the Queen in there – the Queen going shopping?

Here we see that only Woolf herself would know the answer to Lucrezia's state of mind. Lucrezia is the one thinking, but not even she knows her thoughts exactly. The result is vague and conspicuous use of language to elicit curiosity. Therefore, the complexity in tone and narrative of the novel stems from the state of mind of the characters; this is the  what drives the style of the language.

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How is Mrs. Dalloway a Modernist novel?

When Woolf suggests that the essence of Modernism is the idea that "all human relations have shifted," I think that this becomes one of the driving forces behindMrs. Dalloway.  Consider the construction of consciousness in the novel as an example of Modernism.  Clarissa is representative of the modern individual who is a part of a social order, but simultaneously distant from it.  This alienation is highly Modernist in its suggestion that individuals are not always immersed fully in a social group or in a collective entity. Clarissa's sense of consciousness is defined by how she has one foot in a social setting and another that exists entirely on the outside of it.  Such a reality leads to a sense of fragmentation, the very idea that there is no totality.  This is something that Woolf explores in her novel, as well, lending itself to how it represents Modernist ideas.  Woolf's idea of "human relations shifting" leads also to how Woolf sees the world as one of change.  This aspect of social and political change is another element of Modernist thought that presents itself in Woolf's novel.  The construction of self is done in a shifting setting, where political and social ideas are not static, but rather fluid and in flux.  Accordingly, Clarissa's notion of self is not fixed, reflecting another tenet of Modernist philosophy.

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