A Research On Techniques Of Stream Of Consciousness Employed In To The Lighthouse

Virginia Woolf (1882-1941), the famous British authoress, makes outstanding contributions on both creation and literary criticism. She is one of the three famous stream of consciousness writers of the world and also the pioneer of feminism. Her greatest contribution is her technical innovations in novel writing, especially her development of stream of consciousness narrative. By adopting quiet original and unique literary techniques, she succeeds in enabling the reader to see the flashes at the cockles of her characters'consciousness. As a result, she is admired as a master of the stream of consciousness novel.To the Lighthouse,which was written in the prime period of her literary career,is usually considered as her best work in which her writing techniques come to perfection. Therefore,the study is designed to explore the stream of consciousness techniques of Virginia Woolf's famous novel To The Lighthouse. This research would explore the way that the author made use of stream of consciousness techniques to support the theme of the novel. The thesis analyzes the writing techniques of this novel concerning interior monologue, shuffle of time and space, free association, multiple viewpoints, symbolism and other writing techniques etc, especially Virginia Woolf's unique writing style and unique use of symbols. Among them, the most outstanding are"window, mirror and picture"which combined the work into a whole perfectly, developing the plot apparent transparence, which is modulated in various points with reflection, to achieving an overall harmony, revealing the theme of the novel. Especially the tension exist in the character oneself and between the characters. By close study of examples from the fiction, the paper proceeds to show how Virginia Woolf depicts her characters' inner world by making use of such techniques. With the wide use of the techniques, Woolf fully reveals the content and process of human consciousness to the reader.This thesis throws new light on the originality and uniqueness of the literary techniques Virginia Woolf adopts in her stream of consciousness novel. Virginia Woolf will always be remembered as one of the most famous woman modernist writers in England, and also will encourage later generations for ever.