English literature
The 19th and early 20th century had to face a reality characterized by social, political and economic issues. Furthermore the World War One dramatically changed the already complex and troubled frame which gave birth to the Modernism. Indeed during the 19th century the traditional Victorian society turned itself into a modern and industrialized society, where cities were growing fast and the old ethical and religious values were rejected. This massive change also involved all the traditional forms of art, literature, architecture, philosophy, science and even all the aspects of the everyday lives.
Salient of the Modernism Era is the Self-consciousness, which flowed into to the Stream of Consciousness, a peculiar style of writing which highlights feelings and thoughts, sensations of every character in the peculiar moment. The flow of ideas comes through the characters’ mind without logical punctuation and the sentences most likely are very long and complex. The flow of ideas may move from a subject matter to another, without any apparent connection between the thoughts expressed before.
Some of the pioneers of the Stream of Consciousness style are James Joyce (Ulysses, 1922); Marcel Proust (In Search of Lost Time, 1913-1927); and Virginia Woolf (To The Lighthouse, 1927). All the modernist authors wanted to portray life as a reality, mainly focusing on characters’ psychic life- in terms of sensations, memories and intuitions- and keeping themselves as authors outside their own work.
I. THE STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS AS FORM OF MODERNISM: PSICHOANALYSIS, FREE ASSOCIATION AND LITERATURE
The Stream of Consciousness could be metaphorically represented as an iceberg, whose peak is the first thing a naked eye could see. On the contrary, in the submerged part of the iceberg lies all the complexity of this stylistic literary technic. Furthermore, Freud’s studies on psychology – in particular on the connection between consciousness and subconscious – were inspiring on the literary works of modernism.
Mind and its subconscious strongly influenced the characters’ consciousness, as Virginia Woolf skillfully highlights in “To the lighthouse”. Subconscious appears to be extremely powerful and as a consequence brings out a flow of thoughts, which become unstoppable once they start to flow. These flows of thoughts become totally alive when the character start to focus mainly on their subconsciousness. Free association is the process Freud, Jung, Lacan and Guattari had been widely investigating. The human psyche is based on three essential factors: memory, senses and imagination.
All the Modernist authors recognized the free association process as fundamental in their work, as that the free association determined the state of mind and the flow of thoughts in every character’s head. Virginia Woolf -as a novelist- turns herself to be very familiar with all the changes and innovations brought by the Modernist movement. The 19th and the early 20th century recrudescence – in terms of science, psychoanalysis, subconscious and individualism and all the new existential studies- proved to have a strong impact on productive, open minded and versatile intellectual minds.
In the current times the stream of consciousness still appears to be one the most popular narrative strategy in modern novelists’ style. It highly attract readers and connect them to the characters thoughts. The Stream of Consciousness and the Modernism Era not only opened the path to new stylistic and literary experiments but also contributed to create a new bond between readers, writers and literature.
II. THE STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS AS ACTUAL AND MODERN FORM OF WRITING: ITS STYLITIC FEATURES.
The Stream of Consciousness as writing style has few specific features which can be considered not only modern but also still in use in the current literary writing style. As a matter of fact, in the modern novelists’ romances the psychological introspective of the characters still constitutes the main part of the novel, independently of the narrative genre. The plot first of all is not linear and chronological. The Realist chronological and precise order - formerly used to describe the daily life and the characters- has been moved to the background. The landscapes and the locations become symbolic and strictly connected to the flow of thoughts and the subconscious of every character involved in the story.
The Indirect Interior Monologue works as a strategic narrative gimmick, since it is the inchoate stage of the flow of thoughts. Indeed the Indirect Interior Monologue is the stage where the primordial content of the mind is generated, and it is not yet at the stadium of the formulated speech. Characters seem to speak to no one but themselves, there are no authors or readers assumed. The characters’ consciousness comes out like a storm of thoughts in all their purity and naivety. Robert Humphrey defines the interior monologue as the psychic process of the character which exists at various levels of conscious before being formulated for formal and literary speech.
As important as the interior monologue is the Free Association, which is strictly connected to the thoughts and their constant change. In Modernist novelists –such as in actual novelists- the psychological and mental free association represents a big challenge for the readers. Most of the times the characters’ mental free association turns itself to be extremely hard to follow. Especially in James Joyce’s Ulysses or in Marcel Proust’s In Search of Lost Time.
Time is always fluid and infinitely extended. One singular thought may last forever, since the characters’ consciousness patterns have no chronologic and logic order at all. Furthermore one singular thought is leading to another one and so on, in such a quickly and chaotic modality. Since consciousness in psychology is considered to be dynamic and never static, it should be a natural, mental and psychological process. It is a process that in Modern narrative overturns all the features of the classic narrative. In the current times, the modern narrative seems to literary benefit of the inner world and sensations - derived by consciousness- as a powerful stylistic weapon.
The reality blends itself with the abstract, as much the physical and the ideal confuse with each other. The inner and personal experience is the key, is the instrument which shapes and remoulds every thought, moment and action of each character. Virginia Woolf in “To The Lighthouse” skillfully highlights the power of experience, stream of consciousness and subconscious creating a masterpiece of her times, which still has a great influence on the actual narrative.
III. TO THE LIGHT HOUSE MASTERPIECE OF THE STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESSS
Virginia Woolf is recognized to be one of the great authors who contributed to create the modern novel. Like Jane Austen she contributed to give prestige to the English literature, being one the most talented exponent of her time. Her writing is quite different though. As a matter of fact Virginia Woolf explores philosophic concept of time and memories, subconscious and human perceptions. Inner world acquires more importance than the external world, and themes typical of the Victorian age are outdated. In “To The Lighthouse” external events are secondary, as the real engine of the story is characters’ inner life and their inner world and perceptions. “To The Lighthouse” skillfully manipulates time, psychological elements and language. The plot is not important, as the novel is more concerned with philosophical introspection. Indeed there are very few dialogues and almost no action. On the contrary locations are very important because they have a symbolic role like the house where the Ramseys spend their holiday, since it recalls the house where Virginia Woolf herself was used to spend her own family holidays. To The Lighthouse is an autobiographical work, as the characters are a metaphor of her family.
Time has been structured on two levels. The time according the structure of the novel and the time according the characters and their subconscious. There are three chapters: The Window, Time Passes, The Lighthouse. The Window opens just before The World One, with the Ramsey family spending their holiday in the house. James, one of the eight children of the Ramsey family, desperately asks to go to the lighthouse the next day, but his father replies very harshly that it would not be possible because of the weather. James’ resentment brings his mind to imagine to kill his father if only he had the chance. Then James’ mind starts a vortex of thought based on resentment against his father, perceived as cruel with his children.
In the second chapter times passes more quickly - ten years after the World War One- two of the Ramsey children die but even more important Mrs Ramsey passes away. After ten years – during the last chapter- James finally manages to go to the lighthouse, but everything is already dramatically changed and the family is not the same anymore.
The most interesting characters are Mrs Ramsey, Mr Ramsey and the painter Lily Priscoe who represents the opposite side of Mrs Ramsey. Indeed Mr. Ramsey represents the Victorian cold father, Mrs Ramsey the conventional femininity dedicated to marriage and family. Instead Lily Briscoe is the only modernist character since she rejects Mrs Ramsey conventional values, embracing art as the key of her personal satisfaction and achievement. At the end Lili Priscoe will find her purpose of life in art –finally terminating the painting- whereas Mrs and Mr Ramsey fail in their giving a purpose to their lives. If Mr Ramsey will never become a great philosopher, Mrs Ramsey will die too soon. The modernism represented by Lily Priscoe defeated the old Victorian values.
Another great example of the stream of consciousness is William Bankes’ thoughts about Mr. Ramsey. Mr. Bankes goes back to the old times, when him and Mr. Ramsey shared a strong friendship terminated after Mr. Ramsey marriage. All the flashbacks and the reflections going into Mr. Bankes’ mind describe a man suddenly changed with a cold nature. The difference among the two man is highlighted by Lily Priscoe, who in a very long flow of thoughts shows her appreciation for Mr. Bankes, even though Mr. Bankes is not representing the perfect Victorian mentality and behavior.
IV. CONCLUSION
The Stream of Consciousness, as Virginia Woolf shows in her novel To The Lighhouse, is a very modern and complex style of writing. It is extremely hard to represent with words the chaotic disorder of the stream of consciousness. Yet language and interior monologues turn themselves to be efficient and dynamic stylistic choices. The story telling may appear confused and interspersed with a lot of thoughts and improbable elements. Still the subconscious, strictly connected to psychology, makes the Stream of Consciousness a unique and actual style of writing, which is still inspiring also in modern times. In this sense, To The Lighthouse opened the path to the modern narrative.
NOTES
1. Lončar-Vujnovićm, Mirjana, “Stream Of Consciousness Technique and Modern Novel: Psychological and Methodological Perspectives on Language Learning”, in IOSR Journal of Research & Method in Education (IOSR-JRME)e-ISSN: 2320–7388,p-ISSN: 2320–737X Volume 2, Issue 2 (Jul. –Aug. 2013), Web. Page 5
2. Lončar-Vujnovićm, Mirjana, “Stream Of Consciousness Technique and Modern Novel: Psychological and Methodological Perspectives on Language Learning”, in IOSR Journal of Research & Method in Education (IOSR-JRME)e-ISSN: 2320–7388,p-ISSN: 2320–737X Volume 2, Issue 2 (Jul. –Aug. 2013), Web. Page 4
3. Lončar-Vujnovićm, Mirjana, “Stream Of Consciousness Technique and Modern Novel: Psychological and Methodological Perspectives on Language Learning”, in IOSR Journal of Research & Method in Education (IOSR-JRME)e-ISSN: 2320–7388,p-ISSN: 2320–737X Volume 2, Issue 2 (Jul. –Aug. 2013), Web. Page 4
4. Humprey, Robert. (1954). Stream of Consciousness in the Modern Novel. Berkeley: University of California Press. p.24, p.43.Print
5. Sang, Xantia, “An Analysis of Stream-of-Consciousness Technique in To the Lighthouse”, in Asian Social Science, Vol. 6, No. 9 (September 2010). Web. Page 4
6. Woolf, Virginia, To The LighHouse, Hertfordshire: Wordsworth Editions, 2002, page 50.Print
7. Woolf, Virginia, To The LighHouse, Hertfordshire: Wordsworth Editions, 2002, page 75.Print
8. Woolf, Virginia, To The LighHouse, Hertfordshire: Wordsworth Editions, 2002, pp. 90-92.Print
9. Woolf, Virginia, To The LighHouse, Hertfordshire: Wordsworth Editions, 2002, pp. 98-100.Print
WORKS CITED
Lončar-Vujnovićm, Mirjana, “Stream Of Consciousness Technique and Modern Novel: Psychological and Methodological Perspectives on Language Learning”, in IOSR Journal of Research & Method in Education (IOSR-JRME)e-ISSN: 2320–7388,p-ISSN: 2320–737X Volume 2, Issue 2 (Jul. –Aug. 2013),Web.
Humprey, Robert. (1954). Stream of Consciousness in the Modern Novel. Berkeley: University of California Press. Print
Woolf, Virginia, To The LightHouse, Hertfordshire: Wordsworth Editions, 2002, print
Sang Yanxia, “An Analysis of Stream-of-Consciousness Technique in To the Lighthouse” in Asian Social Science, (September 2010) Vol. 6, No. 9. Web.
