Discussion Topic
Virginia Woolf's use of stream of consciousness in To the Lighthouse
Summary:
Virginia Woolf uses stream of consciousness in To the Lighthouse to delve deeply into the characters' inner thoughts and emotions. This technique allows readers to experience the characters' perceptions and memories in a fluid, nonlinear manner, mirroring the complexities of human consciousness.
How does Virginia Woolf use stream of consciousness in To the Lighthouse?
Virginia Woolf employs the stream of consciousness technique in To the Lighthouse when she enters into her characters' minds and follows their thoughts and through her use of shifting points of view. Let's look at this in more detail.
Stream of consciousness is a technique that an author uses to get right into a character's mind. We read all of the character's thoughts, following them as they jump from topic to topic rather randomly and often illogically. Sometimes an author will also shift from character to character to allow us access to several points of view throughout the story.
In To the Lighthouse , Woolf brings us directly into her characters' stream of consciousness. Look, for instance, at Mrs. Ramsay as she wonders what she has been doing with her life even as she hosts a dinner party. She does not know what her husband is frowning at, she thinks....
Unlock This Answer Now
Start your 48-hour free trial and get ahead in class. Boost your grades with access to expert answers and top-tier study guides. Thousands of students are already mastering their assignments—don't miss out. Cancel anytime.
Already a member? Log in here.
Then she reflects that she no longer knows why she ever felt any affection for the man. She then thinks about her displeasure with him. She is aware that she would never say these things aloud, so if we did not have access to her mind, we either would not know them or a narrator would have to tell us. Here we get Mrs. Ramsay's feelings straight from her.
After a while, though, the point of view jumps to that of Lily Briscoe, who is thinking that Mrs. Ramsay looks old and worn and remote. Charles Tansley's thought intervenes for a moment, and then Lily takes back over as she watches Charles. Then the story shifts back to Mrs. Ramsay's view. Here we get several characters' thoughts in a short span. While this can be confusing, it certainly allows us to know exactly what Woolf's characters are thinking and feeling.
Define stream of consciousness narration and its application in To the Lighthouse.
Stream of consciousness is a narrative technique in which the author presents a character’s mental processes, including both conscious thoughts and emotional responses. With many different layers of consciousness presented almost simultaneously, the technique conveys reflections, memories, and incidental associations along with logical thought.
In To the Lighthouse, Virginia Woolf uses stream of consciousness narration for numerous characters, often shifting between characters with little or no initial indication that such a change is occurring. Within a given scene, the author may focus primarily on one character’s mental state or she may offer the varied, sometimes highly contrasting perspectives of several characters. One example conveys Lily Briscoe’s shifting sensations.
To follow her thought was like following a voice which speaks too quickly to be taken down by one's pencil, and the voice was her own voice saying without prompting undeniable, everlasting, contradictory things.
Another example shows Mrs. Ramsay thinking about her lapsed affection for her husband as she observes him while she serves a meal.
She had a sense of being past everything, through everything, out of everything…. Raising her eyebrows at the discrepancy—that was what she was thinking, this was what she was doing—ladling out soup—she felt, more and more strongly, outside that eddy.
Woolf’s approach gives a sense of fluidity that moves the novel along even in sections where little current action is occurring. The reader must follow along each character’s train of thought to gain an understanding of their personality and concerns, including their relationships with the other characters and how those relationships change over time.