The Perception of Time in English Literature PDF

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Essay about the perception of time in English literature (James Joyce, Virginia Woolf)...

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LA PERCEZIONE DEL TEMPO - ENGLISH (476 words)! By the end of the XIXth century, William James coined the phrase ‘stream of consciousness’ to define the literary technique which consists in reproducing the free flow of the characters’ thoughts, feelings and sensations. The stream of consciousness technique (or the interior monologue, verbal expression of the former), was used by both James Joyce and Virginia Woolf, who wanted to give a voice to their character’s thoughts. ! ! Joyce employed this technique in all his novels including Ulysses, where he perfectioned the interior monologue, employing both levels of narration: one external to the character's mind and the other internal. Examples of the stream of consciousness technique are Molly’s final dialogue and the extract ‘The Funeral’. ! ! In ‘The Funeral’ the action takes place in Bloom’s mind, where there is no difference between past, present and future. He uses both levels of narration and different points of view. The protagonist attends a funeral, he stands in front of the graves and the atmosphere makes him think about death. Mr Bloom sees several bared heads in front of him and the sight deviates the course of his thoughts. ! ! Meanwhile, Virginia Woolf experimented with the stream of consciousness technique and narrative style in her novel ‘Mrs.Dalloway’.! ! In the extract ‘Clarissa and Septimus’, we can find examples of this technique in both characters. Mrs. Dalloway is shown as she goes outside to buy flowers for her party. Throughout her morning, the stream goes back and forth in time and space to show her thoughts, feelings and memories. Outside the shop, on the road, the explosion of a tire causes Septimus (a shell shocked man) distress, a huge overreaction and a new flow of thoughts.! ! James Joyce and Virginia Woolf are two representative figures of the modernist novel. Both of their stories take place in the course of a single day and both of them use the interior monologue technique, but there’s a difference in the way it’s employed. While Joyce’s characters show their thoughts in an incoherent and sometimes syntactically wrong way, Virginia never lets her characters’ thoughts flow without control and maintains the grammatical structure of sentences. Joyce’s interior monologue expresses the characters’ inner life and psyche, while Virginia uses it to express her characters’ emotions. Another difference is shown in the use of the narrator, which is first person for him and third person for her.! ! The technological progress changed our perception of time. Modern life imposed the idea of quickness on us and we often feel like we don’t have enough time to do everything, we don’t know the true value of patience and slowness. This pandemic suddenly trapped us in time but it also made us appreciate more the things we took for granted before, such as friendships, relationships and the value of solidarity. We realised we’re not invincible and that no one saves themselves on their own.!...