Virginia Woolf’s Struggles in The Mark on the Wall

Abstract

Virginia Woolf (1882—1941) is a prominent British female writer in the twentieth century. As one of the representatives of modernism, stream of consciousness technique is a major feature of Woolf’s work. The Mark on the Wall, published in 1917, is the first stream of consciousness short fiction written by Woolf. Struggles are the theme of this novel. Therefore, based on the study of The Mark on the Wall, the purpose of this thesis is to discuss the causes for the formation of Woolf’s struggles, and then to analyze how she makes resistance in The Mark on the Wall. 

In order to achieve the above objectives, this paper is divided into four chapters. The first chapter illustrates Woolf’s struggles in her life with two sections: the individual factor and the external factors of Woolf’s struggle. The second chapter analyzes the “radial structure” of the novel: the definitions of “radial structure” and the embodiment of “radial structure” in the novel. The third chapter is composed of four sections: the definitions of the stream of consciousness, the use of inner monologue, free association and time montage in this novel to analyze Woolf’s resistance to literary writing at that time. The fourth chapter is the critical reflections of the core of the struggles. It explores the phenomenon of the abuse of the war, the hypocritical human nature, the ignorance of the inner feelings and the prejudice of gender at that time. Through the analysis of the previous four chapters, the conclusion is that Woolf expresses her opposition to war, encourages people to explore the essence of the world, pursues both the physical and spiritual freedom and seeks for the gender equality in her novel.  

Key words: Virginia Woolf; The Mark on the Wall; struggles; stream of consciousness