Graduation Year
2010
Publication Date
Spring 2010
Abstract
In a 1919 essay, Virginia Woolf wrote that “[f]or the moderns ‘that,’ the point of interest, lies very likely in the dark places of psychology.” For Woolf, this assertion represented a career-long interest in the mind and consciousness; she made a project of describing and explaining the mystery of subjective experience in her fiction. In my paper, I argue that specific, turn-of-the-century psychologists’ and scholars’ theories of consciousness influenced and inspired Woolf to integrate their ideas into her fiction. Further, through an in-depth exploration of Woolf’s middle fiction (Jacob’s Room, Mrs. Dalloway, To the Lighthouse, and The Waves), I demonstrate that Woolf proactively interrogated consciousness theory in her novels, ultimately rejecting the reigning models and, in The Waves, forming her own unique conceptualization of consciousness. Finally, I critique Woolf’s innovative theory in terms of contemporary, 21st century consciousness theory, concluding that Woolf’s aesthetically-developed theory of consciousness, in fact, predicted and draws many similarities to current consciousness scholarship.
Disciplines
English Language and Literature
Recommended Citation
Martin, Linda, "The Dark Places of Psychology: Consciousness in Virginia Woolf's Major Novels" (2010). Honors Projects. 25.
https://digitalcommons.iwu.edu/eng_honproj/25
Comments
Research Adviser: Dr. Wes Chapman