Concentric Circle Structure

Virginia Woolf (1882-1941) is one of the most important English novelists as well as the most celebrated English woman writer of the 20th century. Her experimental techniques known as"the stream of consciousness"has been absorbed into the mainstream of fiction. Even after her death, the interest of the intellectual world in her has never faded away. To the lighthouse, one of the many outstanding creations by Virginia Woolf, features ingenious representation of"stream of consciousness", in which the author applied her literary proposition of subjective realism, whose first object is human consciousness so impressively to uncover the inner world of personal feelings and probe into the nature of human souls, that the novel's content and form got mingled together perfectly. In particular, Woolf employed psychological time which is different from traditional physical time to construct the frame of its plots.In To the Lighthouse,"concentric circle structure"was also adopted to deal with the relationship between clock time and psychological time so as to form a cyclic construction and an alternating rhythm of narration which hinge on the theme closely. To treat psychological time in To the Lighthouse, an often used technique which allowed Woolf to inject multifarious consciousness into the characters is the exploitation of retrospective memories in which the novel's motif took root deeply that is to recall the past, recollect the lost memory, and preserve the truth of life.The thesis is divided into 5 parts:Chapter One: IntroductionFirstly, Virginia Woolf's life experience and the comment of her creation will be introduced. Then the theme of the thesis will be pointed out, that is, focus on the concentric circle structure of the work.Chapter Two: Concentric Circle StructureThe structure has the features such as circular and concentric. The lighthouse and Mrs. Ramsey are the center of the two circles. Because of the double time structure, the clock time restrict the psychological time.Chapter Three: Concentric Circle Structure of To the LighthouseThe concentric circle structure as revealed in"the window","time passes"and"the lighthouse".Chapter Four: Function and Effect of Concentric Circle StructureThe narrative significance of concentric circle structure. It leads to pause and scenery, flashback and association. It brings pictorial and musical effect, makes the work beautiful and harmonious. Chapter Five: ConclusionTo the lighthouse fully displays Woolf's extraordinary artistic skill through its perfect and harmonious form, at the same time, the perfection of To the Lighthouse proves another successful innovation on the problem of time in the novel.