The Reality of Soul： An Explore of Individual Consciousness in the Literary Texts of the Early 20th Century

Abstract：Stream of consciousness serves an important innovative writing technique of the modern fiction， appearing in the early 20th century. It breaks down the traditional concept of time and the chronological order， and form “psychological time”. The importance of this technique lies in the concentration on individual consciousness and the illustration into the complexity and variety of human psychology. So this essay takes Katherine Mansfields Bliss and Virginia Woolfs To the Lighthouse as the examples to study how individual consciousness is presented in this period， especially the female consciousness and its significance.

Key words： female consciousness， Bliss， To the Lighthouse

It was the best of times， it was the worst of times， it was the age of wisdom， it was the age of foolishness， it was the epoch of belief， it was the epoch of incredulity， it was the season of Light， it was the season of Darkness， it was the spring of hope， it was the winter of despair， we had everything before us， we had nothing before us， we were all going direct to Heaven， we were all going direct the other way.

——Charles Dickens

I. A Growing Attention on Individual Consciousness

Originally， Dickens A Tale of Two Cities took the French Revolution as its background， but the classic opening lines can also be used at the juncture of the two centuries intersection， as precarious as a pendulum. The Victorian Age witnessed a great prosperity. About in the 1880s， the leading western powers entered the stage of economic developments and international expansion， particularly for Britain， France and Germany. Industrialization and urbanization accelerated with that， which greatly changed the peoples way of life especially the interpersonal structures of the traditional agriculture society. The idyllic countryside before the 19th century was crowded with the concrete blocks， and peoples value and religious believes were faced with unprecedented impacts and challenges. The individuals in the European and the American societies universally appeared the tendency of alienation， strangeness and loneliness. Besides， the influence of the First World War should not be underestimated which broke the old orders as well as the patriarchal system. The war brought terrible disasters to the Europe and made those sensitive intellectuals， particularly the artists， skeptical of the value and the ethical systems， and rebellious.

In addition， during the whole 19th century， it was Darwins evolution theory and Newtonian mechanical system that dominated the scientific community. In such environment， empiricism and rationalism became the mainstream views which guided the development of literature and arts. However， at the beginning of the 20th century， the birth of the modern physics and the relativity theory greatly unsteadied the classical physics， making the scientific world even more intricate and more complex. The trend inspired people to explore the subtler world， not confined only to physical entities. Freuds psychoanalysis came into being under such circumstances， which paved the way for an innovative writing technique： stream of consciousness.

First appearing during the First World War， this technique serves as an important branch of the modernist fiction. Not only does this writing style break the long-standing tradition since Aristotle， who defined “plot” as the soul of the tragedy in Poetics， but also transfers the attention from the personality of the characters to their conscious activities. Stream of consciousness concentrates its efforts on illustrating into the hearts of men， not mechanical portrays in the realistic life， to uncover the secret inner world， “the reality of the soul”. To achieve this effect， the writers must withdraw from the stories， as Virginia Woolf explained in The Common Reader， taking Jane Eyre as an example： “There is nothing there more perishable than the moor itself， or more subject to the sway of fashion than the ‘long and lamentable blast. Nor is this exhilaration short-lived. It rushes us through entire volume， without giving us time to think， without letting us lift our eyes from the page. So intense is our absorption that if some one moves in the room the movement seems to take place not there but up in Yorkshire. The writer has us by the hand， forces us along her road， makes us see what she sees， never leaves us for a moment or allows us to forget her. At the end， we are steeped through and through with the genius， the vehemence， the indignation of Charlotte Bronte. Remarkable faces， figures of strong outline and gnarled feature have flashed upon us in passing； but it is through her eyes that we have seen them. Once she is gone， we seek for them in vain. Think of Rochester and we have to think of Jane Eyre. Think of the moor， and again there is Jane Eyre. Think of the drawing-room， even， those ‘white carpets on which seemed laid brilliant garlands of flowers， that ‘pale Parian mantelpiece with its Bohemia glass of ‘ruby red and the ‘general blending of snow and fire—what is all that except Jane Eyre？” （Virginia Woolf， 2003：192）

Woolf aimed to prove that it was a very essential task for writers to describe the conscious activities of the inner heart， because without them， the readers would just rush through the stories， left no time to think， to perceive， to form their own insights. The stream of consciousness breaks down the traditional concept of time and the chronological orders in the psychological novels， which combines the past， the present and the future in perceptions together to compose “psychological time”. It usually takes the form of internal monologues to probe into the complexity and variety of human psychology.

II.The Reality of Soul： Individual Consciousness in Literary Texts

Virginia Woolf and Katherine Mansfield have provided a model to apply this writing technique to the literary creation. By studying their texts， it can be seen how individual consciousness is presented in this period， especially the female consciousness. Compared with the consciousness itself， the more significant lies in what the writers try to convey by depicting such activities.

i.Katherine Mansfield： a blossoming pear tree

At the mention of Katherine Mansfield， Bliss， as one of her most important representative works， can never be skipped. In this short story， Mansfield spoke out the female voice from the female angle and their unique way of experience. And it should also be noticed that such stream of consciousness works are usually mixed up with certain images， the fiddle， the mirror and the pear tree in this story.

Just like a photographer， Mansfield offered her readers the life photos of Bertha， the heroin：

Although Bertha Young was thirty she still had moments like this when she wanted to run instead of walk， to take dancing steps on and off the pavement， to bowl a hoop， to throw something up in the air and catch it again， or to stand still and laugh at—nothing—at nothing， simply. （Katherine Mansfield， 2006：145）

Mansfield abandoned the traditional writing method： portray the characters face， but focused on a serious of actions. This fragment gestures toward Mansfields generalization of her characters： express the common feelings based on individuals experience. Bertha is the representative of individuals， while a serious of actions， which can be found out easily from a young girl on the streets of London， speaks for the generalization. However， it is the generalization feature that illustrates into the complexity and variety of the characters and presents sort of reality more affluent of content， the reality of soul. Located in specific background， the reality is the psychological states of women at the moment of social changes in the late 19th and early 20th century： they were no longer satisfied with their living conditions of the ideal type in the Victorian age： felt at ease at the mercy of men， just like the fiddle. Bertha “shouted”： “Oh， is there no way you can express it without being ‘drunk and disorderly？ How idiotic civilization is！ Why be given a body if you have to keep it shut up in case like a rare， rare fiddle？” （Bliss 145） Bertha was a girl-like woman， although in her thirties， and she grew desperate for being released from the bondage： “Bertha threw off her coat； she could not bear the tight clasp of it another moment.” （Bliss 145） The coat was burden both on the body and spirit.

As a particular image， the mirror appears in literary texts frequently， which reflects the living conditions or even existence status in real life. The author intended to present Berthas marginal position in the family and the bliss illusion through the cold mirror. On the surface， she had everything： “She was young. Harry and she were as much in love as ever， and they got on together splendidly and were really good pals. She had an adorable baby. They didnt have to worry about money. They had this absolutely satisfactory house and garden. And friends—modern， thrilling friends， writers and painters and poets or people keen on social questions—just the kind of friends they wanted.” （Bliss 148） But the fact was that she had to suffer from nurses temper when she wanted to care about her own baby girl. And she even did not have courage to raise requests： “Bertha wanted to ask if it wasnt rather dangerous to leg her clutch at a strange dogs ear. But she did not dare to. She stood watching them， her hands by her side， like the poor little girl in front of the rich little girl with the doll.” （Bliss 146） As a mother， Bertha could not take care of her own child， but had to entrust the baby to the nurse. The image of mother has been alienated， and there is no warm and love between the mother and the child. How strange the mother become！ While when she flew to her husband， Harry who treated her as the housekeeper only and rudely rejected her wish to “get in touch with him for a moment”， which effectively carried the indifference between the husband and the wife from the page. Bertha had to lay her passion on Miss Fulton. However， she found out that Miss Fulton should have an affair with Harry.

The conscious activities， Berthas bliss form a huge contrast with the reality on the opposite side of the mirror. The author discloses the puzzlement the female faces that they have been deprived of her rights as a mother， a wife， and been marginalized. Then， whether Mansfield should be regarded as a feminist writer？ As Rhoda B. Nathan explained， “It would be a mistake to place Mansfield in the company of twentieth-century feminist writers [...] even though she frequently presents the woman as the victimized partner in the union. Rather， she should be seen as a transitional writer in the context of her changing time， perhaps a residual romantic with a touch of submerged lesbianism [...]. Mansfield never addresses herself to hard issues in feminist thought such as education， equality of opportunity， economic independence， or true equality between the marital partners.” （Rhoda B. Nathan， 1988： 86） However， no matter Mansfield was a feminist or not， she explored individual consciousness of the female and uncovered their life puzzlement with no doubt.

ii.Virginia Woolf： an adamant feminist

If Mansfield was an ambiguous feminist， Woolf would certainly be an adamant one. To the Lighthouse， her own parents taken as the prototype， is a representative work to explore individual consciousness of this period， full of variety of characters， both the male and the female.

Mrs. Ramsay， the heroin， occupied a large chunk of the story. From her own as well as others inner activities， the image of Mrs. Ramsay grew alive from the page， an angel-like woman. She was a gorgeous lady， although in her fifties already： Charles Tansley “felt the wind and the cyclamen and the violets for he was walking with a beautiful woman for the first time in his life.” （To the Lighthouse 11）； Mr. Bankes also praised her beauty. Besides， she was kind and full of love， always concerned about the little boy of the Lighthouse keeper， who suffered from a tuberculous hip， so she knitted stockings for him. However， Mrs. Ramsay turned from a new woman to a victim of the patriarchy-centered culture. On one hand， she began to consider social issues during her charity activities：

When she visited this window， or that struggling wife in person with a bag on her arm， and a note-book and pencil with which she wrote down in columns carefully ruled for the purpose wages and spendings， employment and unemployment， in the hope that thus she would cease to be a private woman whose charity was half a sop to her own indignation， half a relief to her own curiosity， and become， what with her unstrained mind she greatly admired， an investigator， elucidating the social problems. （To the Lighthouse 7）

However， on the other hand， trapped in the household drudgery， she relied the happiness of life only on her husband and family， and sometimes was very humble：

They came to her， naturally， since she was a woman， all day long with this and that； one wanting this， another that； the children were growing up； she often felt she was nothing but a sponge sopped full of human emotions. Then he said， Damn you. He said， It must rain. He said， It wont rain； and instantly a heaven of security opened before her. There was nobody she reverenced more. She was not good enough to tie his shoe strings， she felt. （To the Lighthouse 24）

Another female character Woolf leaned heavily on was Lily Briscoe， an “alternative woman”. Compared with Mrs. Ramsay， she was a full-grown feminist， who possessed both the maternal principles of Mrs. Ramsay and the masculine ones of Mr. Ramsay， which gave her a special identity of androgyny， a vital term for Woolf. “Androgyny” should be perceived fairly and correctly： it never means an asexual condition， but has a realistic significance in seeking the cultural and social harmoniousness between males and females. On the surface， Lily was reserved and could not integrate into the social life； but in fact， a large part of the psychological changes and the essence of life were conveyed from Lilys perspective in the book， especially in the third part. During her pursuit as a painter， she experienced a trial of womens value， from the doubt at the beginning to the resistance against patriarchy， and finally obtained androgyny， a harmonious state. In this sense， Lily was the real heroin， even more important than the Ramsays. She spoke for the new women in the post-Victorian stage， who judged the elder generation in a new light and at the same time constructed ones own identity. Woolf once criticized Charlotte Bronte： “She does not attempt to solve the problems of human life； she is even unaware that such problems exist； all her force， and it is the more tremendous for being constricted， goes into the assertion， ‘I love， ‘I hate， ‘I suffer.”. （Virginia Woolf， 2003：192） Therefore， Lily serves as the embodiment of Woolf herself.

III.Conclusion

Stream of consciousness serves just as kind of writing technique； the significance lies in what has been exposed beneath the conscious activities. No matter Berthas bliss or Mrs. Ramsays affection， their half independence from and half reliance on the patriarchal culture destined the tragic destiny. While Lily， after experiencing the puzzlement and pain， finally comprehended the true essence of female liberation， so she drew a decisive mark on her painting when the Ramsays achieved the lighthouse. The mark， fulfilled her long-cherished wish， and also signified the transcendence of herself： the highest level of art does not exist in the binary opposition between men and women， but only the harmony of two genders can create extraordinary art.

Works Cited

[1]Woolf，Virginia.To the Lighthouse. Hertfordshire： Wordsworth Editions， 1994

[2]Mansfield，Katherine.Katherine Mansfields Selected Stories. London： W.W. Norton & Company， Inc， 2006

[3]Woolf，Virginia.The Common Reader. London： Vintage Classics， 2003

[4]Rhoda B.Nathan，Katherine Mansfield. London： Continuum， 1988

作者簡介

紀嘉瑩（1992年7月-- ），女，漢族，吉林省延邊朝鮮族自治州生人，大學學歷，現就讀于吉林大學外國語學院，研究方向：英美國家文學。