Stream of Consciousness in “To the Light House”

Introduction
Virginia Woolf is considered the perfect master of stream of consciousness novel.
The phrase “Stream of consciousness was first used William James in his
“Principles of psychology” in 1890. Three novelists – Marcel Proust in France,
James Joyce in Ireland and M. Richardson in England – were three main architects
of this type of the novel. This new type of novel flourished during the period
between 1915 to 1939, and it was Virginia Woolf who gave this type of novel a
proper shape and adequate refinement
.
Literature is strewn with the wreckage of men
Who have minded beyond reason the opinion of other.

Study of Human Psyche,

The chief object of the stream of consciousness novel is the study of human psyche
or human consciousness

A light here required a shadow there.

The novelists of this technique believe that human actions are determined more by
the sub-conscious and the unconscious than by the conscious. Instead of a tendency
at concentration around a limited issue, those novelists fly off in an eccentric
manner in different directions. They have a tendency in such novels is not known
by what he says or does. He is known by what he thinks in his mind. The action
moves backward and forward freely in time, there is no chronological, forward
movement, but a zigzag, sinuous movement from the past to the present, and from
the present to the past. In place of external action and violent deeds. There is the
interior monologue. This type of monologue is a method or process of recording or
describing the inner experiences of characters.
Changing expression, changing thought.
In the novel, “To the lighthouse”, Woolf reveals consciousness. Mrs. Ramsay’s
character is revealed through her thoughts.

And all the lives we ever lived

and all the lives to be are full
of trees and changing life.

She moves in her mind, from one thought to another without any chronological
order. For example, she sees through window the together movement of Mr. Bank
and Lily and starts thinking about their marriage. Then she looks around the house
and starts thinking of shabbiness of her house. The mat was fading, the wall-paper
was flapping etc. Then her eyes fall on books and she thinks that she has collected
so may books but has not read them. The fourth thought she has of the swish girl-
Minta and her father. Wo we come to know that Mrs. Ramsay is quite domestic
and caring lady.
Association with different characters.
Stream of conscious develops association with different characters. And this
association with others also takes a character into stream of consciousness. For
example, Lily in the last part of the novel, irritated by the pressure of Mr. Ramsay
goes into her past memories and finds association with Mrs. Ramsay. This
association with Mrs. Ramsay then forces her to change her behavior with Mr.
Ramsay and then she is able to complete her painting. Similarly it is the association
of Mrs. Ramsay with Swish girl Minta that she goes into her thoughts and starts
thinking about her and her dying father. Mr. Banks has association with Mr.
Ramsay and thinks about him that he was the friend of his youth.
External action.
External action is another stimulant for the character’s movement into stream of
consciousness. For example, the together movement of Lily and Banks forces Mrs.
Ramsay to think about their marriage. In the third part of the novel. the external
action of different characters’ search for the signs of Mrs. Ramsay takes Lily into
her thoughts and she remembers her frankness, her friendliness and her
sympathetic nature. Similarly, the dinner party which arranged by Mrs. Ramsay
soon floats her into stream of consciousness. She thinks about Mr. Banks’
loneliness. Then she seizes on Minta and Paul and thinks that are engaged.
Emotional Links.
Emotional links also prone a source for the character’s swimming into stream of
consciousness. In the Ramsay family, children have not emotional links with their
father. So Mr. Ramsay’s assertion that there will be no going to the lighthouse as
weather will not be fine, put his son James into angry thoughts against his father so
much that he thinks about killing him with any weapon. But the children have
emotional links with their mother and when Mr. Banks sees Mrs. Ramsay reading
James, he thinks that a love of this kind makes one to feel that there is no barbarity
in the world now and the reign of chaos has ended too in it. While Lily thinks that
people should practice such love in their life. She also feels sad as she is till
unmarried and has not been alike to achieve the reality in life. So she has feeling of
inadequacy with painting, for she does not know exactly what to paint, although
she has keen desire to paint.
Interior Monologues.
Virginia Woolf, in order to bring her characters into their stream of consciousness,
also involves them in interior monologue and through her monologue we come to
know about the story of Minta Doyle that she is fo9nd of going out for walks with
Paul Rayley after lunch. We too come to know through this interior monologue the
desire of Mrs. Ramsay that both should marry because she likes Paul as he is not
very brilliant like Charles Tansley and other intellectuals who write dissertations.
This interior monologue also informs us that Mrs. Ramsay was once accused by a
woman of having robbed her of her daughter’s love. She was also charged for
dominating people, interfering in their affairs and making people act after her own
desires. This is what Minta’s mother had said about her and now she thinks that
she is responsible for Minta to her parents and it is her duty to see that she is well
married. Then she thinks that her favorite children James and Cam should not
grow. Once they lose their childhood, there will be no chance to recover. She feels
extremely happy when she carries a baby in her arms. Life bounds in many
problems- suffering, death and poverty. Still she wants that people should marry
and produce children.
Conclusion
To conclude we can say, Virginia Woolf makes a skillful use of stream of
consciousness technique. She has clearly avoided the drawbacks of this technique
and has given form and coherence to her material