Literature

The human society was undergoing numerous changes during the nineteenth century and these changes were reflected in all the aspects of human lives. The scientific advancements were influencing the thinking of the people, as they started to view things from scientific perspective rather than the teachings of the church. This influence was even evident in the field of literature and arts in the form of modernism. The modernist writers aimed to differ from the realist writers by utilizing new concepts into their writings. New ideas were being explored by the modernist writers through their writings. One such writer, whose works stand as perfect examples of modernist literature, was Virginia Woolf. Virginia Woolf was known for her innovative writing techniques which included stream of consciousness. Instead of focusing on the plot, she attached significance to the emotions of the characters and their psychology. In this paper we will analyze the use of stream of consciousness in Woolfs writings in context of two of her novels Mrs. Dalloway and To the Lighthouse.

Mrs. Dalloway
    The term stream of consciousness is used to define a literary technique, which places more importance on the emotions and psychology of the characters than the plot of the story. The thoughts and emotions of the characters provide the reader with an insight to their inner workings of their mind and their lives. Stream of consciousness is characterized by a flow of thoughts and images, which may not always appear to have a coherent structure or cohesion. The
plot line character or further along a timeline to incorporate the lives (and thoughts) of

characters from other time periods. (Lombardi). In her novel Mrs. Dalloway, Woolf utilizes the technique of stream of consciousness to bring forth the emotions and psychology of the characters in the story. Although the novel depicts only a day in the life of Mrs. Dalloway, the protagonist, it presents the past lives of all the characters in the course of the accounts of the days happenings. The thoughts and experiences of Mrs. Dalloway, a married woman belonging to an upper middle class and Septimus, a war veteran are similar, as both of them are disconnected from the society they are living in. In accordance to modernist literature, the manner in which time and space is depicted in the novel makes the reader to feel as if heshe is stuck as far as the time and space in the novel is concerned. In course of the description of a single day in the life of Mrs. Clarissa Dalloway, the novel presents the inner feelings, emotions, psychology and past lives of the characters. The novel keeps on shifting from the present lives of the characters to their past lives, as the streams of consciousness are depicted in the novel through the thinking of its characters, especially that of Clarissa and Septimus. The narration in the novel includes both forms of narration direct and indirect speech but both these forms keep overlapping each other. The psychological process undergoing in the minds of Clarissa and Septimus are portrayed in the novel.
Mrs. Dalloway belongs to an upper middle class, and as is the norm in the upper middle class, she frequently throws parties. On the day depicted in the novel, she is preparing for a party that is about to take place in the evening in her house. She decides to pick flowers for the evening party herself and so ventures out for shopping. When she returns, she finds an expected guest waiting for her in her house. The guest was Peter Walsh, an individual who had proposed Mrs. Dalloway years before she was married to her present husband, Richard Dalloway.

Although Mrs. Clarissa Dalloway refused to marry Peter, she is never able to stop herself from thinking about him. The thoughts of Peter keep coming back to her even though she is leading
her life with Richard. For they might be parted for hundred of years, she and Peter, she never wrote a letter and his were dry sticks, but suddenly it would come over her, If he were with me
now what would he say (Woolf 6). She keeps thinking whether she would have been happier if she had married Peter. The loneliness experienced by Clarissa is revealed through the depiction of her thoughts in the novel. Clarissa seems to be lonely in the company of other people also, for she is physically present there but her mind is wandering somewhere else. Even when she is among people, she thinks about how one has to face hisher life alone. During her shopping trip, she is walking in the streets which are filled with people her mind is filled with thoughts of loneliness. She had a perpetual sense, as she watched the taxi cabs, of being out, out, far out to sea and alone she always had the feeling that it was very, very dangerous to live even one day. (Woolf 6). As she feels that humans have to face their problems alone, she tries to hide her worries and apprehensions from other people. She always portrays herself before the society as a woman who is in control of her life and feelings.
    Similarly, Woolf focuses on the thoughts of Septimus and through these thoughts brings forth his pessimistic view towards life. Septimus is a war veteran who is affected by his experiences at the war. He is not related to Clarissa in anyway but still he resembles her in thoughts and attitude towards life.  Septimus belonged to the working class and his physical appearance suggested that he was in constant fear. Septimus Warren Smith aged about thirty, pale-faced, beak-nosed, wearing brown shoes and a shabby overcoat, with hazel eyes which had that look of apprehension in them which makes complete strangers apprehensive too. (Woolf

11). Septimus is so affected by his experiences at war that he views all the things in the world from a negative perspective. Even a motor car appears to him as a dangerous thing. Owing to his war experiences Septimus has lost the ability to feel sorrow and pain. Even the death of his friend, Evans during the war fails to stir his sorrow. After surviving the war and returning to the society, for which he had fought in the war, he found it difficult to fit within the society. He was immersed in his own world which differed from the real world. 
 Lucrezia, his wife makes him to look at things in the park as suggested by Dr, Holmes. Look, she implored him, for Dr. Holmes had told her to make him notice real things, go to a music hall, play cricket-that was the very game, Dr. Holmes said, a nice out-of-door game, the very game for her husband. (Woolf 19). But Septimus views those things differently. His mind is filled with thoughts of loneliness and suffering. He desires to free himself from the trap of loneliness and suffering, which has been developed within himself owing to the horrors that he had experienced during the war. He is haunted by the memories of his dead friend, Evans. The war experiences have led him to his insanity, as he saw and imagined things which were not existent in the real word. He came to regard human beings as ruthless animals, For the truth is (let her ignore it) that human beings have neither kindness, nor faith, nor charity beyond what serves to increase the pleasures of the moment. They hunt in packs. Their packs scour the desert
and vanish screaming into the wilderness. (Woolf 78).  The same English society, for which he had fought in the war, now seems unworthy to be preserved. 
    Through the depiction of the thoughts of Clarissa and Septimus, Woolf takes the reader into the world of these characters, a world which was far different from the real world. Although both these characters were surrounded by human beings, they were gripped by loneliness. 

Clarissas loneliness even when she is amidst people is similar to Septimus tendency of living in his imaginary world which differed from the real world. Clarissa withheld her true feelings from the society which she belonged to she acted and behaved in manner which was acceptable in her society. The real Clarissa differed in many ways from the Clarissa who appeared before the people. Clarissa and Septimus lived in a society where they had to repress their feelings.

To the Lighthouse
    The other novel, in which Woolf utilizes the technique of stream of consciousness, is To the Lighthouse. The novel, which is divided into three parts, begins with the description of a single day spend by the Ramsay family at their summer house and ends with their trip to the lighthouse. The first part of the novel opens with an account of the day, which was spent by the Ramsay family members in their summer house. James, the son in the family is eager to visit lighthouse which is visible from their summer house. Mrs. Ramsay provides an assurance to James by telling him that he would be taken to the lighthouse the next day. But Ramsay rejects the possibility of visiting the lighthouse next day for he thought that the weather would be rough the next day.  This opinion of Mr. Ramsay points towards the tension in the relation of Mr. and Mrs. Ramsay. It also showed that Mr. Ramsay was having strained relations with his son. With the arrival of Ramsay familys friends and colleagues at their summer house, the character of Lily Briscoe is introduced in the novel. Lily Briscoe, a young painter is trying to paint a portrayal of Mrs. Ramsay with her son, James. But she doubts her ability to do so, owing to the opinions of Charles Tansley, a guest at the summer house. Charles Tansley proclaimed that women cannot write and paint. In the second part of the novel, Woolf writes about the lives of the characters in

course of the ten years after their visit to the lighthouse. She mentions about the death of Mrs. Ramsay, Andrew and Prue. The summer house of the Ramsay family is in ruins, as no one has visited it in the course of these ten years. The third and last part of the novel depicts the trip of Mr. Ramsay to the lighthouse accompanied by his son, James and daughter, Camilla. During the trip Mr. Ramsay is able to overcome the tensions in his relationship with his son and daughter, as they come to understand each other. Lily succeeds in completing her painting owing to the inspiration provided by the memories of Mrs. Ramsay.
    With the absence of an omniscient narrator in the first and third part of the novel, it is through the stream of consciousness of the characters that plot of the novel is revealed to the reader. The views and perspectives of the characters in the first part are the only sources through which the readers can know about the characters and their attitudes. The conversations that take place among the characters during their stay in the summer house disclose their feelings and emotions. The thoughts of the characters reflect their attitudes towards life.  The descriptions of the thoughts of Mrs. Ramsay bring forth her nature. It partook . . .  in the face of the flowing, the fleeting, the spectral, like a ruby so that again tonight she had the feeling she had had once today, already, of peace, of rest. Of such moments, she thought, the thing is made that endures. (Woolf  105). Even the opinions of other characters regarding the nature of Mrs. Ramsay aids the reader in understanding Mrs. Ramsay and her relation with her family members. The following words of Lilly bring forth her confidence, It was her instinct to go, an instinct like the swallows for the south, the artichokes for the sun, turning her infallibly to the human race, making her nest in its heart. (Woolf 94). The reader begins to understand the character of Mrs. Ramsay owing to the depiction of her own perspectives and the views of other characters regarding her personality.

Within a span of a single day at the summer house, Woolf succeeds in capturing the varying moods, feelings and emotions of the characters in the first part of the novel.
    In the second part of the novel, the author takes the place of the narrator as she goes on to narrate the events which occurred in course of the ten years after the visit of the Ramsay family to their summer house. But the narration is focused on the time rather than the characters, for the events are depicted in a manner which point towards their relation with time. The narrator seems to be a person who is not related to the characters in any way. The depiction of time in the novel varies according to the needs of style of the novel. The long period of ten years is mentioned in the few paragraphs of the second part of the novel whereas a single day stretches over a number of pages in the first section of the novel. The third part of the novel delves on the trip undertaken by Mr. Ramsay to the lighthouse along with his son and daughter. In this novel also, the past and present lives merge with each other, as the novel depicts a decade in the lives of the characters. The streams of consciousness that run throughout the novel in the form of moods, emotions, thoughts and perspectives of the characters are more significant in the novel than its plot.