Representation Of Moments Of Recollection In Mrs. Dalloway

According to Lessing, art can be classified into visual and spatial,the former based on consecutiveness in time while the latter oncoexistence in space. However, the emergence of the theory of relativityand atomic physics has smashed the boundary between absolute timeand absolute space. Thus, the consecutive representation of mechanicaltime hereafter is no longer the only paradigm for fictional narrative.Modernist writers begin to shift their aesthetic focus from the outerworld to the inner one by emphasizing the representation of humanconsciousness and by investigating the non-linear qualities of theirnarratives, trying to weave a dynamic and multidimensional spatial form.Under such circumstances, Virginia Woolf applies herself to capturingall the moments of being in the stream of consciousness, and, from thesetransient moments with significance she constructs a psychological web,resulting in the violation of the traditional chronological time schemeand the manifestation of a complex spatial form in the fiction.My thesis attempts to explore how, in Mrs Dalloway, Woolfsuccessfully represents the characters' moments of recollection byvarious artistic means. As a great innovation in Woolf's experiments ofstream-of-consciousness novels, the artistic representation of moments of recollection embodies the characters' complicated stream ofconsciousness and reveals their epiphany of life from fragmentaryimpressions and reflections. In Mrs. Dalloway, the manifestation ofWoolf's first maturity in her unique style, she interconnects clock timeand psychological time through the representation of moments ofrecollection, and, accordingly, shows a unique sense of time and space.Woolf's representation of fragmentary moments of recollectionsuccessfully breaks up the traditional narrative and the limit of time andspace. By compressing all the characters' complicated experiences intofifteen hours and prolonging their psychological time with the intrusionof moments of recollection, Woolf offers a unique method of examininghuman consciousness and displays the unlimited tension and cohesion ofstream-of-consciousness novels. The elaborate design in this novelactually portrays the disorderly postwar England and the sense ofalienation of its people, and meanwhile, expresses Woolf's pursuit ofaesthetics when constructing the "higher reality" in herstream-of-consciousness novels.My thesis fits into four chapters. The first one discusses two typesof moments of recollection in Mrs. Dalloway—impressionist momentsand moments of revelation. The former refers to those echoes andsparkles in the characters' minds which are vividly captured in arhythmic and colorful way from the real life; the latter refers to the profound spiritual reflections on the present moments. The secondchapter discusses the "tunnelling" process, the chronological distortionand prolongation of psychological time, through which moments ofrecollection as narrated time are represented. In order to successfullyrepresent moments of recollection in Mrs. Dalloway, the linear depictionof plot is substituted by the faithful display of the character'spsychological time; the narration transcends the clock time and presentsa nonlinear movement, which attracts the reader to the images andstructure of the novel and thus leads him from time to space. Based onthe whole structure of Mrs. Dalloway, the third chapter investigates thejuxtapositions of moments of recollection in terms of scenes and themes.Woolf juxtaposes those seemingly irrelevant moments of recollection,and through their mutual references, she achieves a spatialized narrativewith particular aesthetic tension. This artistic treatment of moments ofrecollection exclusively contributes to the thematic representation infiction. The last chapter deals with the spatiality built by moments ofrecollection and its aesthetic significance. In Mrs. Dalloway, byrepresenting the moments of recollection intersecting in the stream ofcharacters' consciousness, Woolf weaves a spatial web of narration toconnect characters' present time with their past time and to highlight theeffect of spatiality. The spatiality in this novel, on the one hand, givesrise to the aesthetic effect of defamiliarization which decelerates the author's narration and prolongs the reader's aesthetic experience, and onthe other hand, enhances the reader's aesthetic consciousness andinspires him to find out the relationships among those disconnected unitsin the novel.In Mrs. Dalloway, the artistic representation of moments ofrecollection violates the traditional philosophy of time. By setting thepast beside the present simultaneously, Woolf casts off the limitations ofthe traditional paradigm for plot-development and narration. Woolf'sartistic innovation, as a matter of fact, brings the fiction close to thepoetry—intangible, vivid and profound with rich images—andappropriately expresses the author's aesthetic pursuit.