Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Semester of Degree Completion

1982

Thesis Director

Robert F. White

Abstract

Virginia Woolf is one of the eminent stylists of the twentieth century. This paper, "Virginia Woolf: A Study in Style", is an exploration of the use of stylistic technique in Mrs. Woolf's two most outstanding novels, Mrs. Dalloway and To the Lighthouse. The basic assumption of the paper is that the meaning of a work, especially the works of Mrs. Woolf, is as accessible through the study of style as it is through the more traditional study of content. Taking its cue from the works of Norman Holland and his "reader-response" criticism, the paper details four techniques of style which provide insight into Mrs. Woolf's novels, and, through this means, the paper seeks to show how the two novels in question can be better understood.

In addition to opening sections in which the paper's perspective and the meaning of style are defined, the paper contains sections on contrast, repetition, metaphor, and sentence structure. In each of these sections, numerous passages are cited to illustrate the contention that these techniques are not mere handmaidens of content, but are, in fact, equally as revelatory of Mrs. Woolf's thought as are studies of character, plot, and setting. The section on contrast uses examples which place relatively unlike items together in a pattern which conveys a meaning different than that of the items taken singly. The repetition section cites examples which use similar words, descriptions, or parts of speech to move the reader rhythmically toward an overarching perspective. In the section on metaphor, the cited passages are examples of the way in which Mrs. Woolf gets beneath the surface of events to reveal their connections on the mythic and imagistic levels. This same burrowing technique is shown in the section on sentence structure in which the examples show a separation of parts of the sentence by intervening details which expand the meaning of the sentence. Each of these sections attempts to show Mrs. Woolf's concern with the connections which exist in a world made up of seemingly disparate parts.

The paper makes no apologies for the subjectivity of its tone, claiming, rather, that such subjectivity is the right and proper duty of the critic as he or she attempts to understand the meaning of a work and make it accessible to other readers. The numerous cited passages, however, allay any fear that the novels have not been carefully researched, for the paper is directed as much to the scholar who would delve deeply into Mrs. Woolf's works as it is to the reader who would read them only for the sheer pleasure of their beauty.

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