The symbolism of Virginia Woolf : a study of the progressive use of symbol in Virginia Woolf's Night and day, To the lighthouse, and The waves
Date
1990
Authors
Markham, Kathy Lynn
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Abstract
Virginia Woolf is recognized for her innovative contributions to the literary world of the early twentieth century. Although her work is often approached according to pre-determined perspectives--Feminism, Freudianisrn, Bloomsbury, and so on--Woolf's diaries and essays indicate that for her, one of the most ongoing concerns was technique. Many stylistic and formal changes mark Woolf's development as a novelist, but none, perhaps, is as arresting as her use of symbol. The focus of this thesis is the progression of Woolf's use of symbol from the early stages of her career through to a short story written Just before her death.
The introduction establishes the definitive scope and range of the word "symbol" as it is used in the thesis. The basis of this definitive focus is Woolf's diary, and particularly the excerpt in which Woolf distinguishes between her earliest symbols, which she classifies as "set pieces," and her more mature technique where the stress falls upon the suggestive and associative powers of the symbol as it relates to Woolf's concept of "vision." In the former, the symbols serve much the same purpose as props and scenery serve in a dramatic production. They point up character traits, emphasize atmosphere, perhaps enhance theme, and so on. As for the later use of symbol, it is less-defined and more impulsive, but decidedly more important. In Woolf's later novels, the symbol is central.
Chapter one discusses Woolf's use of symbol in her early novel Night and Day, focusing on the definition of "set pieces" established in the introduction. Weather and landscape are considered as symbolic vehicles which comment upon various characters' states of mind, and character props (clothing, personal items, accessories) are examined as symbols which provide comedy. Night and Day is examined as the first step to Woolf's more mature technical art.
The second chapter examines To the Lighthouse as the first novel in which the symbol is central. Because of this shift in importance, it becomes necessary to re-define the phrase "set pieces," and to consider Woolf's character props without the comic framework of Night and Day. The focus in this chapter, however, is the two dominant symbols employed in To the Lighthouse--the Lighthouse and Lily Briscoe's painting--and their relationship to the central question which is, "What is the meaning of things?" The two central symbols are seen as vehicles of reconciliation which, when realized or attained, produce a sense of unity and give the novel a celebratory ending.
Chapter three examines The Waves as the novel which carries Woolf's symbolic art to its peak in importance. Set pieces and character props are again re-defined slightly, and the central question has narrowed to "Who am I?" but the focus, as in chapter two, is the novel's central symbol· the waves. More powerful than the Lighthouse or Lily Briscoe's painting, the waves advance a more negative vision, suggesting that symbols are, perhaps, inadequate iv in the final analysis. Rather than unity and reconciliation, the waves advance a frightening sense of relentlessness, such that the novels ending seems ominous.
The conclusion to the thesis considers all three novels, and particularly the ending of The Waves , in light of Woolf's short story "The Symbol," published shortly before her death. It is suggested that though Woolf admits the inadequacy of symbol, she is more concerned with the fact that the symbol exists at all, and that it exists to be challenged.