Aesthetics in Virginia Woolf's _The Waves_
Date Issued
2010
Date
2010
Author(s)
Lin, Yi-Zhen
Abstract
The thesis intends to explore the aesthetic importance of The Waves. It argues that the feature of a modern artist is his or her ability to dissolve the egoistic subjectivity in the creation process. The term subjectivity in the context of Woolf’s aesthetics refers to the state of mind, the writer’s self-ego. In The Waves, Bernard’s egoistic subjectivity dissolves; his consciousness is completely occupied by the flashing images showing up in his mind. By the end of the novel Bernard is able to transform into numerous selves. Using Schopenhauer’s term, Bernard has become a “pure subject of knowing.” In conclusion, the narration of The Waves conveys Woolf’s aesthetic ideas. Its protagonist, Bernard, can be regarded as a prototype of a modern artist.
There are three chapters in my thesis. The first chapter situates Virginia Woolf in the intellectual background of the Bloomsbury Group. The chapter is divided into three parts. The first part begins with an introduction of the fundamental spirit of the Bloomsbury Group. The second part addresses Roger Fry’s art theory. The third part discusses Clive Bell’s idea of Significant Form.
Chapter 2 selects three major concepts and employs Woolf’s essays to elaborate their meanings. The first idea is life and reality. Woolf contends that reality is fluid. It appears in human psychology. She attacks the traditional realistic novels which overemphasize the outer appearances but seriously ignore human’s inner thoughts and feelings. The second idea discusses the mental state of a modern artist. Woolf highly values an author’s psychological activity. She claims that the introspection of an artist is the beginning of authentic inspiration. Through such inspiration, an artist can give birth to a great work of modern art. The third section explains the dissolution of subjectivity. When an artist’s emotion is elevated by the aesthetic pleasure, he or she concentrates on the object more and more deeply. At the same time, the artist’s egoistic subjectivity starts to dissolve. They temporally forget the flesh and blood body. At the same time, they materialize the aesthetic emotion into a work of art, such as a book or a painting.
Chapter 3 provides a textual analysis of The Waves. It explores how Bernard transforms from a normal writer into a modern artist. Among the 6 characters, only Bernard displays the ability to observe and understand his friend’s thoughts and their feelings. After the third interlude, Bernard grows into a more mature writer. He takes the method of exercising his imagination in his creative process, a method different from that of traditional realistic authors. Like Virginia Woolf, Bernard constantly experiments with various stories. Both of the two share the same spirit of adventure and experimentation. The thesis concludes that Virginia Woolf conveys her aesthetics by describing the transformation of Bernard as a prototype of modern artist in The Waves.
Subjects
Virginia Woolf
aesthetics
modern novel
the Bloomsbury Group
Arthur Schopenhauer
Type
thesis
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