Orts, scraps and fragments : the elusive search for meaning in Virginia Woolf's fiction / by Lisa Coughlin McGarry.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

McGarry, Lisa Coughlin, 1963-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Woolf, Virginia, 1882-1941--Criticism and interpretation.

Woolf, Virginia.

Woolf, Virginia, 1882-1941.

Women and literature.

Criticism and interpretation.

Genre:

Academic theses.

Physical Description:

vi, 171 p ; 23 cm

Other Title:

The elusive search for meaning in Virginia Woolf's fiction

Place of Publication:

Lanham, Maryland : University Press of America, [2007]

Summary:

This work explores a central question of the human condition: how do we find meaning in human experience? Virginia Woolf's novels give us insight into the Modernist's response, one that reacts to the devastation of war, advances in the sciences, and a deeper understanding of human consciousness. Orts, Scraps, and Fragments contends that the social constructs of religion, marriage, and communication fail to provide the meaning and interpersonal connection that society invests in them. Instead, Woolf's characters struggle within these constructs and ultimately find themselves disillusioned, unfulfilled, and isolated. Through a close reading, Dr. McGarry analyzes the ways in which characters such as Clarissa Dalloway, Mrs. Ramsay, Giles and Isa Oliver, and Jacob Flanders attempt to work through the realization that meaning is elusive. However, Woolf's few artistic characters have the ability to transcend this darkness. Through their struggle for creative expression, they glimpse, if only briefly, a larger, unifying meaning. For Lily Briscoe, Miss LaTrobe, and Bernard, this momentary hint of universal meaning provides sufficient motivation to continue the artistic process and life itself. For Woolf, art, not imposed social constructs, sustains life.

Contents:

Chapter 1 Seeking Meaning in Virginia Woolf's Fiction: Shifting Perspectives in the Modern Age 1

The Effects of the Modern Age on Woolf and her Contemporaries 3

I From Modernity to Modernism 3

II The Destructive and Irrevocable Effects of World War on Modernist Writers 9

Chapter 2 God Inventors and Detractors: Religion and Skepticism Converge 19

I Questioning Doctrine and Losing Faith 19

II The Privacy of the Soul: Protection through and from Conversion 22

III Shadow and Darkness Counter the Light 31

IV Fact or Faith: "One-Making" in Between the Acts 35

V The Unseizable Force of Life 46

VI The Ebb and Flow of The Waves: Accepting or Surrendering to Chaos 51

Chapter 3 In Relationship: Woolf's Vision of Marriage, Friendship, and the Needs of the Self 67

Chapter 4 Speaking of Failures: Problems with Verbal and Non-Verbal Constructs 97

I The Inadequacy of Language: Hackneyed Phrases, Inaccurate Words, and Questionable Meanings 98

II He Said, She Said: Gender Issues in Language 114

III Interrupted and Incomplete Speech 123

IV Silent Communication Versus Incommunicative Silence 130

Chapter 5 Art: A Glimpse of Light, Color, and Shape in the Inexhaustible Darkness and Chaos of Life 143.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 161-165) and index.

ISBN:

9780761837503

0761837507

OCLC:

144552164