Gould 1

Sidney Gould

Mrs. Bradshaw

AP Literature & Composition

19 Feb 2021

Virginia Woolf and The Waves

Authors and their stories often have a strong correlation between lives, personalities, and

beliefs. They may speak the same words, breathe the same rhythms, and direct the same feelings.

They are captured and created through the author’s own experiences, which is exactly what

Virginia Woolf has done in her 1931 experimental novel. Virginia Woolf, one who thrived on

different psychological perspectives, often struggled to come to terms with herself and her

personal life, and in her novel The Waves this idea is thoroughly explored and overall affirms the

correlation between the scenes and six characters present in the novel and Virginia Woolf herself.

Life in general never came easy for Virginia Woolf, especially when growing up. She was

born on January 25th, 1882, to her mother, Julia Stephen, and her father, Leslie Stephen. Both

were married before, so her half-siblings included Gerald, George, Stella, and Laura, while

Vanessa, Virginia, Thoby, and Adrian were the only four born out of that marriage. Due to both

of her parents being creatively promoting people, one a critic and the other a photographer,

Woolf lived quite a freethinking life, spending most of her time reading through the novels in the

family library while also seeking opportunities to skim through her brothers’ Cambridge books

each time they came home from such university (“Who Was”). Her extensive knowledge grew at

a young age, but as life wore on, the gaining number of deaths in her life wreaked havoc on her

mental health. After Woolf had turned 13, her mother became sick with influenza, subsequently

passing shortly after. At 15, Woolf’s older step-sister, Stella, died of a sudden cause while
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returning from her honeymoon, sparking a major mental breakdown for the aspiring novelist.

Once old enough, she decided to move out of the house and in with her new lover, Leonard

Woolf, her brother, Thoby Stephen, and a few other good friends. During this time, Woolf’s

father, Leslie Stephen, died from abdominal cancer, leaving the poor 22-year-old stunned and

overall horrified. Only two years later, Woolf’s beloved brother, Thoby Stephen, passed away

from Typhoid fever, causing yet another mental breakdown (Cawley). Virginia Woolf’s life was

completely shrouded in heartbreak, pain, and disbelief, all of which she portrayed in each of her

novels through symbolism, dialogue, or even through complex thought. She used the emotions

that have weighed her down to crack open the unconscious mind and find out what humans truly

think; using her experimental style, she became the first woman to pioneer such a perspective on

writing, though would sadly not be recognized until the 1970s (“Virginia Woolf’s”). Often this

style was criticized, as she was, for its deviation from the norms of the Victorian society; she was

a woman, one who struggled with numerous complications in her life, taking her place among a

primarily male-dominated field of literature. She was a feminist, believing strongly in women’s

rights, which was also identified in her novels such as A Room of One’s Own (1929), and Three

Guineas (1938), both emphasizing the struggles of women during that period. And although she

stood for these righteous movements, there were moments of her writing which captured the

unruly cruelty of her mind and humanity. “Chaos and dark are apt words to describe Woolf,

whose life was marred by periods of deep depression. But Welty is also correct to point out

Woolf's abiding humanity and her gift for bringing the messiness and struggles and darkness of

life to the page, beautifully rendering its rhythms and complexities” (Levy). She found beauty in

the mad and made an effort to document her struggles through journaling and writing. However

hard one may try, there are moments where these struggles seem endless, and their cruelty may
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get the best of the mind. On March 28th, 1941, Virginia Woolf retreated to an old bridge above a

nearby river, proceeded to stuff her pockets with rocks, and then drown herself in the water

below, leaving a small suicide note in the kitchen for her beloved husband: "I feel certain, that I

am going mad again. I feel we can't go through another of those terrible times. And I shan't

recover this time. I begin, to hear voices, and I can't concentrate. So I am doing what seems the

best thing to do. You have given me the greatest possible happiness...I can't go on spoiling your

life any longer" (Cawley). Suffering a tragic ending, it is her brilliant novels, thoughts, and

overall legacy that will continue to live on to this day.

With her 1931 novel, The Waves, Virginia Woolf solidifies this legacy and proves her

literary prowess through a poetic scope and into the psychological bases of the mind. In this

book, she focuses on the mental processes of six main characters, Bernard, Neville, Louis, Susan,

Jinny, and Rhoda, all using monologues to explain their inner feelings—some of which they

were unaware of. Each crevice of personal experience was explored through a different lens with

a different personality; love, hate, embarrassment, passion, pain, sadness, all of which were

beautifully coated with rhythmic poetry and lined with a different reaction. “Bernard is the leader

and unifier; Jinny is an extrovert, Rhoda an introvert; Louis wanted desperately to succeed;

Neville is a poet; Susan loves the country life” (“The Waves”). Due to their innate differences,

one’s feelings on a subject may change throughout the book depending on which character may

be speaking at the time, proving Woolf’s knowledge of human thought. “She was highly aware

of the mental and material realm of ‘reality.’ The material realm is the present outside in the

shape of Nature and Society, whereas the mental realm is inside the consciousness that shores the

impressions, and significant instances of existence” (“Virginia Woolf’s”). Although she may not

have a background in psychology, Woolf was extremely interested in the unconscious mind and
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portraying the thoughts one might not say out loud onto the rim of their sleeve. She had

significant knowledge of the complex characters present in the novel, closely following their

different stories as the plot progresses. The characters were children at their first meeting, simply

close friends who attended the same school, all brought together by a mysterious seventh

character, Percival. They modeled all the different colors of innocence, with distinct personalities

which carried with them as they aged. Time in the novel was symbolized by one day, and the

place of the sun in the sky during that day depicts how old the characters have turned; often does

this day foreshadow something important by the way nature responds: the movement of the

grass, calling of the birds, or the crashing of the waves. Once they’ve grown older and have

separated, Woolf trails the characters’ different experiences, occasionally detailing their small

get-togethers to show how each one has changed. Often was Percival explained by the other

characters, as he never received the chance to give his own monologue, but overall he was loved

and respected. When he dies halfway through the novel, the plotline takes a dark twist and

unfolds how each character copes with the loss and grief that follows. Eventually, as the story

draws to a close, Bernard explains the inevitable death that waits ahead, ending the lives of these

personas by the sun setting along the horizon.

Percival, as stated before, was fairly mysterious throughout the novel, and although he

was a very crucial character, bringing the six personas together, he was given no monologue;

instead, he was explained by the other characters which inevitably formed him into this

charming, egotistical, trustworthy friend. He was the primary character who thrusted the plot

forward, gruesomely dying at the climax which led to the various reactions of each of the

personalities left. Percival was not necessarily connected to Woolf, but rather created a base for

which the other characters were created. He was the ideal (“The Waves”).
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The same character who explained this somber yet calming ending, Bernard, was the

main illustrator of this story, using his long dialect to display his thoughts of each character and

even the inner thoughts of himself. Using all of his unique rolls—a husband, father, provider,

friend—Bernard overall becomes the one to sum up the characters all together (The Waves). He

symbolizes the writing aspect of Virginia Woolf through a way with words and passion, as well

as emphasizes her own understanding of the people around her and the empathy he shares.

Originally seeing himself as a failure, Bernard quickly learns of his ability to become anyone he

wants to be just by changing himself—less did he begin to care and instead focused on the

presence of others (The Waves). Woolf showed similar properties. Although struggling with

mental illness most of her life, she saw herself as someone who can be who she wants and

understand the differences between each person. In his deep, poetic monologue, Bernard speaks

about his creative virtues, cutting into such crucial detail that it almost seems as if Woolf was

speaking herself, “My book will certainly run to many volumes embracing every known variety

of man and woman. I fill my mind with whatever happens to be the contents of a room or a

railway carriage as one fills a fountain-pen in an inkpot. I have steady unquenchable thirst”

(Woolf 67-68). With such shocking description, this quote almost breaks the fourth wall,

seemingly talking about Woolf’s book The Waves in its content. In this, Bernard shares close

similarities with the author herself, bringing her own empathy outward and onto the page.

Being the best friend of Bernard, Neville was also depicted as a highly intelligent creative

influencer, becoming famous throughout his life for his skillful poetry. Unlike Bernard, Neville

was extremely organized and tidy, throwing a frenzy whenever one left a coffee stain on his

wooden table. He understood very little of the people around him, being socially awkward and

having a stinging personality, yet could create beautiful stanzas from the comfort of his simple
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home. He was himself. Virginia Woolf shared this with Neville, for she had little care of what

others thought of her as well. Her style had few complexities, and faintly did she care about the

way she dressed or acted; she was an outcast (Cawley). Although Neville cared for his

appearance, it was the idea of individualism that aided their personalities; they were both quite

stern, having been through a lot in their lives, yet turned a blind eye to others. Their eyes instead

were fixed on poetry, one of the major talents they shared. Neville mainly cared about his

writings, and so did Woolf, choosing to write to a rhythm rather than to a plot (Levy). Woolf

formed a close bond with Neville just by sharing her love for the creative arts, making him not

just a part of the story, but a part of the author.

Louis was probably one of the most intricate characters to analyze in The Waves. Not

only was he a soft-spoken, awkward outcast, but one who barely stepped out of his social

boundaries unless it was for business. He had an internal fear of not fitting in, thus conforming to

the society around him and subsequently leading himself down a path of loneliness. “The day has

been full of ignominies and triumphs concealed from fear of laughter. I am the best scholar in the

school. But when darkness comes I put off this unenviable body - my large nose, my thin lips,

my colonial accent - and inhabit space” (Woolf 52-53). Louis portrayed a fierce, bull-headed

personality, making others uncomfortable, concealing his emotions, never truly finding himself.

The only character he bonded with was Rhoda, another social outcast and one of the six main

personas; this bond was made through that shared isolation, which eventually led to their

marriage, discourse, and, ultimately, divorce (“The Waves”). Woolf held some of these principles

in her own life, often having a sort of irritation with those wishing to be social, finding herself

isolated for days at a time, or playing the general part of an outcast. She was successful, like

Louis, yet was not happy. They were alone.

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Susan was portrayed in the novel as the nature-loving simpleton, having very few

complexities in her life; she simply wanted to live in a rural house with a loving husband and

children. Through this dream, Susan developed a keen sense of empathy, emotion, and overall

tenderness. She was often explained through nature analogies, strengthening her bond with the

small things in the world and emphasizing the importance of peace in the novel. “At this hour,

this still early hour, I think I am the field, I am the barn, and this young hare who leaps, at the

last moment when I step almost on him” (Woolf 97). Woolf gifted such empathy, such emotion,

because she too felt that same connections. She was strong with words and had a vigorous

understanding of how others thought. Unlike Susan, her mind was complex but continued to

share the same thoughtfulness for others.

Focusing on external beauty, Jinny was the symbol of sexuality and romance, painting

her presence in the story as one of grace and femininity. She lacked the emotion of Susan and the

intelligence of Neville, ultimately leading her to live a life brimming with the art of attraction.

“He makes towards me. This is the most exciting moment I have ever known. I flutter. I ripple. I

stream like a plant in the river, flowing this way, flowing that way, but rooted, so that he may

come to me” (Woolf 102). Seemingly obsessed with the excitement of love, Jinny passed through

lovers one by one, eventually growing old and grim with physical flaws; in her standards, she

was no longer beautiful. Through Jinny, Woolf condemns the lifestyle of plastic beauty, directing

to her audience the importance of internal charm. Jinny also symbolized the passion in a time of

Woolf’s life or a moment where she explored her sexuality with Vita Sackville-West while being

married to Leonard Woolf. This affair went on for three years, and all the while the two married

women kept decent relations with their husbands and with each other; Woolf explored love, as
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Jinny did, and found a new way to live life (Cawley). Although Woolf may condemn some of

Jinny’s acts, it may be because of the era in which Woolf sees herself in such a person.

Being one of the quietest, most overlooked characters of the story, Rhoda had very few

words, but a lot to say. She suffered not only from depression, but debilitating anxiety as well,

keeping herself away from large gatherings, strangers, or even long-time friends. Each

monologue she spoke was lined with doubt, hatred, and anger within herself, only escaping to

her imagination. “I am thrust back to stand burning in this ill-fitting body, to receive the shafts of

his indifference, and his scorn, I who long for marble columns and pools on the other side of the

world where the swallow dips her wings” (Woolf 105). In this social scenario, Rhoda desperately

longs to fit in but realizes that she will never belong, receiving the scorn of a man who offered to

dance due to her intensely awkward response; she yearned to be on the other side of the world,

shrouded in her imagination where it was safe from cruelty. It is said that Rhoda was almost a

replica of Virginia Woolf herself. Both suffered from dark mental struggles such as self-hatred,

loneliness, and anxiety, and both ended up committing suicide. It was also noted that some

believe Woolf suffered from manic depression, or a disorder where patients receive a “...distinct

period of abnormally and persistently elevated, expansive or irritable mood, lasting at least one

week or any duration if hospitalization is necessary'' (“Mood Disorders” 994). They seemingly

walked the same path, and while looking at Virginia Woolf’s suicide note to her husband, the

similarities of these mindsets are apparent: "I feel certain, that I am going mad again. I feel we

can't go through another of those terrible times. And I shan't recover this time. I begin, to hear

voices, and I can't concentrate. So I am doing what seems the best thing to do. You have given

me the greatest possible happiness...I can't go on spoiling your life any longer" (Cawley). Feeling
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to be a deep burden to the few they loved, these lonely souls ended their lives, leaving Rhoda to

be the avatar of the author and, ultimately, the most important character.

The correlation between Virginia Woolf’s personality and those of her characters is

intensely strong, especially when witnessing their reaction to certain events and comparing it to

those of Woolf’s life. She took parts of herself to ultimately create her 1931 masterpiece known

as The Waves, shocking critics for generations with her emphasis on the psychological

perspective. Overall, she skillfully captured six personalities through her own thoughts,

reactions, and experiences while tying them together into a rhythmic story of time.
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Works Cited

Cawley, Janet. “Virginia Woolf: Genius and Madness.” Biography, vol. 6, no. 12, Dec. 2002, p.

88. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=b6h&AN=8506776&

site=brc-live.

Levy, Lisa. "Virginia Woolf." Bookmarks, March, 2003. SIRS Issues Researcher, https://explore

.proquest.com/sirsissuesresearcher/document/2250435138?accountid=67042.

“Mood Disorders.” Magill’s Enclyclopedia of Social Science: Psychology, Volume 3. Edited by

Nancy A. Piotrowski. Salem Press, Inc, 2003, pp. 991.

The Waves. By Virginia Woolf, Masterpieces of World Literature, Edited by Frank N. Magill,

Harper & Row Publishers, 1952, pp. 943-945.

“Virginia Woolf's Writing Style and Short Biography: LitPriest.” Lit Priest, 21 Apr. 2020,

litpriest.com/authors/virginia-woolf/#:~:text=The novel, like The Waves, Virginia

Woolf, uses, rhythms change after every hour of the day. Accessed 2 Feb. 2021.

“Who Was Virginia Woolf? Everything You Need to Know.” Edited by TheFamousPeople.com,

Facts, Childhood, Family Life & Achievements of English Writer,

www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/virginia-woolf-30.php.

Woolf, Virginia. The Waves. Harcourt, Inc., 2019.