Introduction
Everyday realism and deep immersion in the characters’ images are unique features of Virginia Woolf’s writing style, a classic of English literature from the early 20th century. Her works, filled with inner feelings and plots that raise questions of human interaction in the face of life’s difficulties, occupy a significant place in the history of world literature. One of these works is Woolf’s novel To the Lighthouse, which can be considered an example of everyday realism.
The story of one large family and their environment, set in the period before the start of World War I, also known as the Great War, and after its end, affects numerous characters and their interactions. In this novel, one can see how the author herself perceived violence and loss, and how her perception of time and the world around her influenced her literary style and language. Woolf’s representation of consciousness is shaped by emotional upheaval, and the story in To the Lighthouse confirms the indelible impact of the war on the author’s creative work.
Woolf’s Attitude Towards Time and Nature
The theme of growing up, as depicted through the gradual changes in time and circumstances surrounding the characters, is a significant element of Woolf’s writing style. Using the example of the Ramsay family, the author illustrates how some life circumstances have changed, while others have remained the same. For instance, Woolf describes the thoughts of James, one of the sons, now an adult, who “sat staring at his father in an impotent rage” (148).
The comparison between the children’s early experiences with their father and their later communication is a clear example of how time and surrounding events influence perceptions of reality. Viewing the father as an egoist and adamant person who does not want to meet others halfway, the children gradually lose respect for him. This transformation of perception is a characteristic feature of Woolf’s representation of time, who, as Basirizadeh et al. note, always used the horizontal storytelling method (68). The gradual shift in views during the war clearly reflects shifts in priorities and values, and this description flexibility is a unique authorial technique that allows her to convey reality.
The novel’s unique feature is its analysis of nature as an entity in proximity to humans. Through growing up and the gradual death of several characters, Woolf asks a rhetorical question: “What power could now prevent the fertility, the insensibility of nature?” (116). The changes in events and historical epochs are inevitable, and by comparing humans and nature, the author demonstrates the latter’s inflexibility in relation to the former.
In her critique of Woolf’s creative approach, Penner compares Woolf’s and Faulkner’s styles, noting that Woolf’s method differs in her open call to nature, whereas Faulkner’s emphasizes responsibility (62). People are unable to change the laws of nature, including the aging process, but they have the right to reflect on why life cycles end, and the environment remains static, albeit with some changes. The events of the Great War show that violence does not eradicate the ability to reflect in people but provokes changes in consciousness when previously unusual and seemingly unacceptable actions and situations become clear. Thus, Woolf’s silent questions can be considered the result of a negative experience that profoundly altered the author’s perspective.
Woolf’s Experiments with Language and Literary Form
The atmosphere of a continuous stream of consciousness, dynamic and flexible, is a feature of Woolf’s writing style, in which the author employs a distinctive literary form of storytelling. According to Ansari, she “represents the poetisation and musicalisation of the English novel” by using vivid metaphors, symbols, and poetic images (419).
The narrative’s rhythm often resembles that of poetry. Although the plot is presented in prose, the intensity of the lyrical digressions is not typical of the traditional novel. The absence of a specific narrator suggests that Woolf employs third-person observation, allowing the reader to form their own perception of the events presented. When mentioning the death of Andrew, the author casually mentions the reason, namely, participation in hostilities and the shell explosion that led to the tragedy (Woolf 112). This intentional detachment from emotional evaluation enables Woolf to convey the tragedy of war and its inhuman nature more deeply, a reality that spares no one and should not be romanticized or portrayed as valiant. As a result, the style of narration combines lyrical digressions and hard facts.
A clear description of the moment and time presented within the dialogue of the characters is a feature of Woolf’s style. The novel’s traditional completeness is not fully conveyed by the author’s creative style, thereby reflecting her unique approach to describing events. As Salisbury notes, Woolf seeks to match individual emotional states with historical situations, which, in turn, is achieved not through detailed descriptions but through condensed contexts (103). The armed conflict, mentioned in passing, serves to reflect on the coexistence of humans and war and to highlight the unhealthy nature of such a life.
The novel’s division into several parts, each depicting different periods in the life of one family and its environment, enhances this effect. Violence, as a phenomenon that is unnatural to everyday human life, is shown separately, and the losses presented naturally and alienated emphasize the inadmissibility of human neighborhoods with war. Therefore, the tragedy of hostilities, which is not directly discussed but is integral to the novel’s context, clearly reflects Woolf’s position, including in her style.
Representation of Consciousness
The continuous stream of consciousness is a literary approach that reflects perception in Woolf’s work, as seen in To the Lighthouse. Basirizadeh et al. analyze this feature of her writing style and state that “she would write of consciousness instead of being a storyteller” (67). The absence of direct interpretations of specific events and the assessment of what is happening from the perspective of individual characters allow for the conveyance of the unique thoughts of different people.
This method demonstrates similarities and differences in how the corresponding life challenges and incentives are understood. In one of the final scenes, Woolf describes Cam’s thoughts as she sails to the lighthouse with her brother and father, presenting a continuous stream of consciousness filled with questions about her future fate (153). This form of interaction with the reader, in which the author retreats into the shadows, reflects the writer’s thoughts and demonstrates how the Great War influenced her acceptance of human experience.
The emotionality that does not manifest directly, but rather through the characters’ stream of consciousness, is primarily related to the context of rejecting violence. As Ansari states, just as the house that had long been silent and lonely during the war, people have changed (420). All that remains for them is to think and dream, building images and models of existence amid constant problems and experiences.
Woolf’s reasoning goes far beyond the described events, manifesting itself, as already mentioned, in the form of metaphors and symbols. Her thoughts are varied and consistently return to the theme of life and death. For instance, when describing autumn trees, she almost immediately jumps to images of “how bones bleach and burn” (Woolf 107). This representation of consciousness clearly reflects the war’s significant impact on the author’s writing style and her inevitable return to plots that convey death and hopelessness.
Conclusion
The influence of violence and endless loss on Virginia Woolf’s creative style is evident, as exemplified in To the Lighthouse, which depicts a consciousness constantly leaning towards sadness and disappointment. The author’s literary techniques and language are unconventional for the novel genre and resemble those found in poetry. The concepts of time and nature are also affected by the context of the Great War. The writer demonstrates the inflexibility of the laws of nature before human existence, and in To the Lighthouse, this is shown through the story of one family and its environment.
Works Cited
Ansari, Mohammad Shaukat. “Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse as a Novel from a Poet’s Pen: A Critical Study.” Research Journal of English Language and Literature, vol. 7, no. 1, 2019, pp. 417-425.
Basirizadeh, Fatemeh Sadat, et al. “Concept of Time in Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse: Bergsonian Study.” LingLit Journal Scientific Journal for Linguistics and Literature, vol. 2, no. 2, 2021, pp. 67-74.
Penner, Erin. Character and Mourning: Woolf, Faulkner, and the Novel Elegy of the First World War. University of Virginia Press, 2019.
Salisbury, Laura. “‘Between-Time Stories’: Waiting, War and the Temporalities of Care.” Medical Humanities, vol. 46, no. 2, 2020, pp. 96-106.
Woolf, Virginia. To the Lighthouse. Vintage Classics, 2019.