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Situational Irony
Definition of Stream of Consciousness
Stream of consciousness is a style or technique of writing that tries to capture the natural flow of a character's extended thought process, often by incorporating sensory impressions, incomplete ideas, unusual syntax... read full definition
Stream of consciousness is a style or technique of writing that tries to capture the natural flow of a character's extended thought process, often by incorporating... read full definition
Stream of consciousness is a style or technique of writing that tries to capture the natural flow of a character's... read full definition
Chapter 5
Explanation and Analysis—The Narrator's Anecdote:
Along with James Joyce and William Faulkner, Virginia Woolf is perhaps most recognized in the canon of English literature for her consistent use of stream of consciousness. Orlando is no exception, and Woolf regularly employs the stream of consciousness style to freely express Orlando's thoughts and feelings in a languid, uninterrupted manner. For example, in Chapter 5 when Orlando and Shel fall in love and become engaged, the narrator pauses the action to explore Orlando's specific tone of voice when addressing Shel:
“Tell me, Mar,” she would say (and here it must be explained, that when she called him by the first syllable of his first name, she was in a dreamy, amorous, acquiescent mood, domestic, languid a little, as if spiced logs were burning, and it was evening, yet not time to dress, and a thought wet perhaps outside, enough to make the leaves glisten, but a nightingale might be singing even so among the azaleas, two or three dogs barking at distant farms, a cock crowing—all of which the reader should imagine in her voice)—"Tell me, Mar," she would say, "about Cape Horn."
This lengthy parenthetical relates directly to just three words spoken by Orlando, ("Tell me, Mar"), yet Woolf manages to draw it out into a detailed anecdote. The narrator references "the reader" directly, encouraging the reader to follow the narrator's stream of consciousness. This stream of consciousness provides incredible scenic and internal detail, which would not have been obvious from Orlando's words to Shel. At this point in the novel, English courts officially declare Orlando a woman, and the Countesses and Marchionesses treat her as if she is royalty. Shel enchants Orlando, and Woolf expands upon the vastness of her mood when she spends time with Shel. Although the narrator comments on their own use of parenthetical asides, the narrator nonetheless affords Orlando’s internal dialogue immense poetic attention.
Full of imagery and nearly empty of periods, this passage displays the unique tone that Woolf’s writing adopts when she utilizes stream of consciousness. Readers gain access to the narrator’s thoughts about Orlando's inner world—once again indicating that the narrator themselves is a character in Orlando.
Related Themes:
