The Waves by Virginia Woolf (Book Analysis) E-Book

Bright Summaries

• Herausgeber: BrightSummaries.com
• Kategorie: Bildung
• Serie: BrightSummaries.com
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 20

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2019

Beschreibung

Unlock the more straightforward side of The Waves with this concise and insightful summary and analysis!

This engaging summary presents an analysis of The Waves by Virginia Woolf, an experimental novel which is considered a key text of the Modernist literary movement. Interspersed with lyrical descriptions of waves breaking against the shoreline, the novel traces the intertwining lives of six friends from childhood to old age, with each character telling their own story in their own words, in the form of extended soliloquies. The novel’s unusual structure, poetic prose and use of the stream of consciousness narrative technique made it groundbreaking for its time, and it is considered a classic of 20th-century English literature.

Find out everything you need to know about The Waves in a fraction of the time!

This in-depth and informative reading guide brings you:

• A complete plot summary
• Character studies
• Key themes and symbols
• Questions for further reflection

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Leseprobe

VIRGINIA WOOLF

ENGLISH WRITER

Born in London in 1882.Died in Rodmell (United Kingdom) in 1941.Notable works:Jacob’s Room (1922), novelMrs Dalloway (1925), novelTo the Lighthouse (1927), novel

Virginia Woolf was one of the most important Modernist authors of the 20th century and a pioneer in the use of many experimental prose devices. She was part of the Bloomsbury group, an artistic and literary group of intellectuals and bohemians who shared ideas about philosophy and the arts and rejected traditional habits. Woolf was also a prominent women’s rights advocate and the founder of the Hogarth Press, through which she published most of her works.

During her literary career, her prose continuously evolved towards more experimental storytelling and narrative devices. For instance, she was a trailblazer in the use of the stream of consciousness technique (a literary device that strives to capture the multitude of thoughts that pass through a character’s mind as part of a non-linear narrative).

Her life and work were affected by her sporadic mental breakdowns: she was institutionalised and attempted suicide on multiple occasions during her lifetime. At the age of 59, having fallen into another bout of depression and feeling anxious about the onset of World War II, she drowned herself in the river Ouse, near Monk’s House, her home in Sussex (United Kingdom).

THE WAVES

WOOLF’S HIGH MODERNIST EVOCATION OF TIME’S EFFECTS ON SIX FRIENDS

Genre: poetic prose, Modernist fictionReference edition: Woolf, V. (2006) The Waves. London: Penguin.1stedition: 1931Themes: time, death, nature, love, aging, reality and illusion

First published by the Hogarth Press in 1931, The Waves was Virginia’s Woolf’s seventh novel, and it is widely regarded as her most experimental. Its rapturous and fragmentary style have made it largely resistant to adaptation; however, in 2006 it was adapted for the stage in a production directed by Katie Mitchell (British theatre director, born in 1964) which played at the National Theatre.

The Waves