The Mystical Orientation of Virgina Woolf: Some General Comments
Graduation Date
Summer 1975
Document Type
Master's Thesis
Document Form
Degree Name
Master of Arts
Program Name
Humanities
Abstract
This paper will be a modestly circumscribed one. I am going to examine Virginia Woolf's attitudes towards the mystery of transcendence, towards mysticism and towards death, first as she shows it in her own person through her diary and through a few comments of her husband and friends. Then, because even a cursory examination of A Writer's Diary shows us how inextricably interwoven were her life and art, I will examine in detail major characters from her major novels, those who seem to present more especially than other characters Mrs. Woolf's own view of reality, life and death. I will take these characters in order of their deepening perceptions about life. Certain essays of Mrs. Woolf's and numerous diary notations mention "moments" of vision." A number of her characters experience similar exalted moments. I think that these states of consciousness point to a significant spiritual stance on Mrs. Woolf's part.