The Use of Stream-of-Consciousness Narration

Throughout Mrs. Dalloway, I’ve been aware of the unique style of narration that Woolf uses. Stream-of-consciousness writing is not especially common, which makes it that much more interesting to read. Instead of the classic writing style that typically accompanies fiction (i.e. a description of a character and relaying of their thoughts through a narrator), stream-of-consciousness writing allows for a direct line between the mind of a character and the reader. It gives the advantage of having access to the main character’s unfiltered thoughts and emotions, and allows us to be able to perceive the world as they do. 

I’ve mentioned this in previous blog posts, but this writing style is especially advantageous for a book like Mrs. Dalloway, in which the main character would ordinarily have some filter on what they expressed. Clarissa is a woman who doesn’t especially fit the norm for Victorian society, since she is attracted to the same sex. Without stream-of-consciousness writing, we would have to rely on what she outwardly expressed, rather than her actual thoughts. Since the book takes place over the course of one day, it relies on the amount of thoughts that run through Clarissa’s head to fill the pages - without this style, the book would be entirely different. 

The sprawling paragraphs of text that make up the book are thanks to Woolf’s utilization of this narration style. She uses long sentences and many semicolons to illustrate the thoughts running through Clarissa’s head realistically. They aren’t especially organized, just as real thoughts aren’t, and simply ebb and flow. Throughout the book there are countless examples of this style being utilized, one of my favorites so far reading: 

“Since she was lying on the sofa, cloistered, exempt, the presence of this thing which she felt to be so obvious became physically existent; with robes of sound from the street, sunny, with hot breath, whispering, blowing out the blinds. But suppose Peter said to her, "Yes, yes, but your parties--what's the sense of your parties?" all she could say was (and nobody could be expected to understand): They're an offering; which sounded horribly vague. But who was Peter to make out that life was all plain sailing?--Peter always in love, always in love with the wrong woman? What's your love? she might say to him. And she knew his answer; how it is the most important thing in the world and no woman possibly understood it. Very well. But could any man understand what she meant either? about life? She could not imagine Peter or Richard taking the trouble to give a party for no reason whatever” (121-122). 

I could have taken a much longer passage from this book, as this section of narration goes on and on. It is similar to the other stream-of-consciousness narrations in what it offers, but I think that this one shows all the different benefits of it: the descriptions are beautiful, it reads like how thoughts are processed (as they come, not in a specific sequence) and says things that ordinarily would not be said aloud. What Clarissa thinks about Peter in this section is something that likely she wouldn’t express to others as bluntly as she said it here, if at all. 

While stream-of-consciousness can be eloquent like the passage above, I also love how simple and blunt it can be. People's thoughts aren’t always a literary masterpiece, so I appreciate how Woolf’s writing reflects that. It makes the characters seem much more real, as if they are actual people and not just fictional characters. 

The quote “She had met him too! Well, he was getting absolutely intolerable. Buying Evelyn necklaces; fatter than ever; an intolerable ass” (118). Here, Woolf refers to a character Hugh, who is clearly not well-liked (especially since this is the second time in the book that he has been referred to as an “intolerable ass”). 

Woolf’s writing style plus the decision to write this book in a stream-of-consciousness narration style makes it a lot of fun to read. It’s easy to get invested in the book and empathize with the characters, since you are experiencing all of their thoughts and feelings firsthand. 

This was a shorter blog post, but I want to keep talking about the use of stream-of-consciousness writing in my later posts as well, since I am sure that it will continue to be an integral part of the book.