버지니아 울프의 『댈러웨이 부인』에 나타난 에로스와 타나토스, 그리고 결정적 순간

Abstract

Mrs. Dalloway is a modernist masterpiece that was written by Virginia Woolf in her prime years. Woolf’s artistic excellence in constantly exploring the meaning of life and the functions of art and her incorporation of these themes into her unique narrative style make this book outstanding. Bresson's concept of a “decisive moment” enables a unique reading of Mrs. Dalloway because Woolf’s narrative reveals the flows of the intersubjective consciousnesses of various individuals in a single moment. All humans encounter Eros and Thanatos simultaneously. However, Thanatos heightens Eros among artists, engaged in creative activities and acts as a driving force that triggers certain epiphanies. Eros is the will of art, but it is accompanied by constant skepticism and doubt, a form of Thanatos. Artists must crucially and completely embrace Eros and Thanatos with maturity in their literary works. Like Picasso, Woolf interweaves impressions of objects from diverse perspectives. The decisive moment captures the consciousnesses evoked in multiple agents in a fleeting moment and represents the world by connecting these discrete perceptions. Woolf’s work shows that the contents of novels are inseparable from their narrative styles or forms.