Abstract
The modernist period ushered forth numerous scientific and philosophical theories that had a notable influence on art, literature, psychology, and philosophy. Discoveries such as Einstein’s general theory of relativity inspired theologians, philosophers, and psychologists to focalize new concepts of self, identity, time, reality, and human experience. These shifts in contemporary human understanding developed in concurrence with increased global travel and intellectual exchange between Western and Eastern countries. As a result, writers, philosophers, and artists became more interested in Buddhism and other Eastern philosophical beliefs. Virginia Woolf, while being a self-proclaimed atheist, was deeply influenced by Eastern philosophy and well versed in contemporary scientific theories. Drawing on literary and biographical criticism of Virginia Woolf, I trace the intersections of Eastern philosophical beliefs and Western scientific theories through the stream of consciousness narration of Mrs. Dalloway by analyzing both what and how things are experienced by individual characters. In the novel, the integration of each character's stream of consciousness fabricates a dissonant medium in which singular moments in the present time are experienced through the minds of multiple characters, while they simultaneously navigate past spans of time within their individual narrative consciousness. Through the analysis of narrative form and narrative consciousness in Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway, it is possible to track the impact of Eastern philosophies and Western scientific theories in the novel’s exploration of external and internal perceptions of reality.
Highlights
Peer Review This work has undergone a double-blind review by a minimum of two faculty members from institutions of higher learning from around the world
Woolf’s alteration of narrative perspective coincided with major scientific breakthroughs in quantum mechanics and quantum physics that induced shifts in visual, philosophical, and scientific perspectives represented in art and literature during the early twentieth century
Because many of the Western scientific discoveries were moderately compatible with traditional Buddhist beliefs concerning identity, consciousness, and perceived reality, Western theologians, psychologists, and philosophers began to engage with Eastern Buddhism
Summary
Along with the globalization and secularization of Eastern Buddhism, the early twentieth century was saturated with major scientific revelations such as Einstein’s theory of relativity, Bohr’s theory of the atom, and Schrodinger’s wave particle theory. Einstein’s general theory of relativity suggests that the fabric of space and time are constantly being distorted by objects that contain mass; that time and space are subject to change, depending on the frame of reference. From this theory, a multitude of Western philosophical and psychological ideas were further popularized. Woolf’s narrative form utilizes the theory of relativity to present how different characters perceive a subjective physical reality She applies this principle through the use of multiple transitioning narratives, which create distinct frames of reference, as phenomena are perceived inwardly by each individual character. Akin to Woolf’s narrative form, Georges Braque’s Bottle and Fishes (Figure 1) illustrates how Cubism visualizes shapes and surfaces of still objects from different perspectives, creating a multifaceted experience of a physical space or object
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