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Abstract：The paper aims to make the abstract and even profound writing techniques of stream-of -consciousness concrete and easy-understanding as well as to demonstrate its functions in novel writing with illustration of the famous work To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf who successfully employs this writing technique. The writing techniques involved are indirect interior monologue montage， free association and multiple-point-of view. The application of these approaches attributes greatly to better exposing the inner world of the characters and uncovering the motif of the novel.
Key words：stream of consciousness To the Lighthouseinterior monologue free associationmontagemultiple-point-of-view
The stream-of-consciousness works are not easy to be understood especially the most outstanding novelist James Joyce’s encyclopedia masterpiece Ulysses， because the writing techniques it employs make the novels seem in disorder and lack of a clear plot compared with other traditional novels like realism novels. But one of the most famous stream of consciousness novelist Virginia Woolf really makes full advantage of stream of consciousness in her works with a poetic language especially in To the Lighthouse， which， to some extend， is not a novel but a prose， not only to make such a novel easy-understanding and worth-reading but also to clearly reveal the inner world of the characters and display the motif of the novel. In this paper， I am making my efforts to present a better and clear and full spectrum of stream-of-consciousness works’ writing techniques with illustration to Woolf’s To the Lighthouse.
Ⅰ. Background Presentation
To fully comprehend the stream-of-consciousness work， it is essential to get familiar with its historical and cultural background and the development of it. The concept of stream-of-consciousness was first advocated by American psychologist and philosopher William James in his book Principles of Psychology. （1890）. James asserted that the first fact for us is that thinking of some sort goes on. He uses the word thinking for every form of consciousness in discriminately. And said if people could say in English ’it thinks"， ’it rains’ or ’It flows， they should be stating the fact most simply and with minimum of assumption. To make it vivid and visual， the word ’chain’ or ’train’ may be used and a ’river’ or a ’stream’ can be the most appropriate metaphor to describe it naturally.And later this concept was developed theoretically by Henri Bergson and Sigmund Frend who believed that one’s present was the sum of his past， present and future， and that the whole truth about human beings existed in the unique， isolated， and private world of each individual. With its introduction to literacy field， stream of consciousness has become one of the most important schools of literature in the modernism of the 20th century. During the first three decades of this period， to stimulate the technical innovation of novel creation， writers like Dorothy Richardson， James Joyce and Virginia Woolf concentrated all their efforts on digging into the human consciousness. They had created unprecedented stream-of-consciousness novels such as Pilgrimage （1915-1938） by Richardson， Ulysses （1922） by Joyce， and Mrs. Dalloway （1925） by Woolf.
Interior monologue can be divided into the direct one and indirect one that refers to the unspoken psychological language in the characters’ mind expressed through free direct or indirect speech. In direct interior monologue， the character is regarded as the first person to convey what happening in their mind. Without the apparent intervention of the narrator， the thoughts flow out freely and faithfully. It is more genuine in terms of reappearance of the character， but there lies a defect： it will make the reader puzzled. The novel Ulysses is a typical instance of this kind， which makes the novel inaccessible to common readers. In contrast， indirect interior monologue or narrated monologue is often directed with the parenthesis like " he thought" "he realized" "he feels". With the narrator’s partly interference， the psychological consciousness is easier to mingle with the whole narrative discourse， which make the contents more clear. Woolf employs the indirect interior monologue in To the Lighthouse to uncover the characters’ inner world with harmony between actions and words.
They must find a way out of it all. There might be some simpler way， some less laborious way， she sighed. When she looked in the glass and saw her hair grey， her cheek sunk， at fifty， she thought， possibly she might have managed things better-her husband； money； his books. But for her own part she would never for a single second regret her decision， evade difficulties， or slur over duties. （The first chapter in part one： The window）
In the above part， the author serves as the leading reader with the parenthesis she sighed， and she thought. That is， while Mrs. Ramsay’s thought flows， the author’s words intervene to guide the readers her wishes. And the sentence when she looked in the glass and saw her hair gray， her cheek sunk changes into the omniscient angle to provide the surrounding background. It also better displays， at the most beginning， Mrs. Ramsay’s personality to represent the female principle as a serene and maternal wife， mother and hostess
B. Montage
Montage is originally the basic cinematic technique referring a rapid succession of different images or shots by juxtaposing or superimposing many pictures or designs in movie making. In stream-of-consciousness works， it consists of time montage and space montage which means that the writers make the characters’ life experiences in different stages and the changes of their consciousness overlap and interlock within a certain limited time and place， thus to make the consciousness go beyond the time and space limits and freely moves between the past， present and the future. It is an effective approach to reveal the interior thoughts and enlarge the capacity of time and space in the novel as well as reach a three-dimensional effect.
In To the Lighthouse， the three sections - The Window， Time passes， The Lighthouse - covers the physical time of about 10 years between 1910 and 1920， but the time in most part of the novel only comprises one evening or one morning. For example， part one describes the event happened in the evening when Mrs. Ramsay and James were willing to visit the lighthouse， and part three tells the morning while Mr. Ramsay took his family To the Lighthouse eventually with ten years passing and Mrs. Ramsay dying. It is consistent with Woolf’s idea that time is not the mechanical walk of the clock legs， but a river of past， present and future； it is silent， but continues to flow. This application of montage can also be seen in part two； Woolf condenses the decade of bitterness and happiness into only less than six thousands words.
The arrangement of the plot also contributes greatly to Woolf’s success in disposal of time in subtlety. It is clear that part one and part three echoes each other in good harmony. That is： part three resolves all the questions the readers have in mind in part one. For instance， in part one， James really got a hatred to his father for he wanted to visit the lighthouse but Mr. Ramsay always thought the weather would be not fine. And Mrs. Ramsay tried to comfort him. And lastly in part three， the family accept Mrs. Ramsey visited the lighthouse with Mr. Ramsay praised James’ expert steering skills which changed his attitude to his father. Moreover， shortest part two brides the gap between part one and three and makes the novel in great wholeness and coherence. The application of montage also better exposing the theme of the novel-the conflict between male and female principles.
C. Free association
Free association is another technique Woolf uses frequently in her novel To the Lighthouse. This approach is often mingled with the application of montage. It means， in novel writing， the characters’ consciousness flows with no rules and only stay shortly in one question or matter， changing with the occurrence of other objective things. Moreover， anything in front of the character can burst in the thoughts and activate new consciousness and association， releasing a series of images and feelings. This kind of consciousness seems aimless and illogical. It interweaves the past， the present and the future together； it concentrates sometimes on external reality， sometime imagination and sometimes the internal reality， flowing to and fro between them. Because the above features， the use of free association often make the reader lost. But Woolf artfully avoids this defect and completely unveils the nature of human being. Here is a good example of it in chapter ten part one.
Minta Doyle and Paul Rayley had not come back then. That could only mean， Mrs. Ramsay thought， one thing. She must accept him， or she must refuse him. This going off after luncheon for a walk， even though Andrew was with them-what could it mean? Except that she had decided， rightly， Mrs. Ramsay thought （and she was very， very fond of Minta）， to accept that good fellow， who might not be brilliant， but then， thought Mrs. Ramsay， realizing that James was tugging at her， to make her go on reading aloud the Fisherman and his Wife， she did in her own heart infinitely prefer boobies to clever men who wrote dissertations； Charles Tansley， for instance. Anyhow it must have happened， one way or the other， by now.
But she read， "Next morning the wife awoke first， and it was just daybreak， and from her bed she saw the beautiful country lying before her. Her husband was still stretching himself..."
It is clear that when Mrs. Ramsay reads the story "The Story of the Fisherman" to James， her consciousness flows away to other things like worrying about Minta， Paul and Andrew. The use of free association in To the Lighthouse serves one of the most important factors to lead the main characters’ consciousness present smoothly and authentically before the readers and helps all the trivial matters of daily life of Mrs. Ramsay occur in good connection with expanding the space limit.
Key words：stream of consciousness To the Lighthouseinterior monologue free associationmontagemultiple-point-of-view
The stream-of-consciousness works are not easy to be understood especially the most outstanding novelist James Joyce’s encyclopedia masterpiece Ulysses， because the writing techniques it employs make the novels seem in disorder and lack of a clear plot compared with other traditional novels like realism novels. But one of the most famous stream of consciousness novelist Virginia Woolf really makes full advantage of stream of consciousness in her works with a poetic language especially in To the Lighthouse， which， to some extend， is not a novel but a prose， not only to make such a novel easy-understanding and worth-reading but also to clearly reveal the inner world of the characters and display the motif of the novel. In this paper， I am making my efforts to present a better and clear and full spectrum of stream-of-consciousness works’ writing techniques with illustration to Woolf’s To the Lighthouse.
Ⅰ. Background Presentation
To fully comprehend the stream-of-consciousness work， it is essential to get familiar with its historical and cultural background and the development of it. The concept of stream-of-consciousness was first advocated by American psychologist and philosopher William James in his book Principles of Psychology. （1890）. James asserted that the first fact for us is that thinking of some sort goes on. He uses the word thinking for every form of consciousness in discriminately. And said if people could say in English ’it thinks"， ’it rains’ or ’It flows， they should be stating the fact most simply and with minimum of assumption. To make it vivid and visual， the word ’chain’ or ’train’ may be used and a ’river’ or a ’stream’ can be the most appropriate metaphor to describe it naturally.And later this concept was developed theoretically by Henri Bergson and Sigmund Frend who believed that one’s present was the sum of his past， present and future， and that the whole truth about human beings existed in the unique， isolated， and private world of each individual. With its introduction to literacy field， stream of consciousness has become one of the most important schools of literature in the modernism of the 20th century. During the first three decades of this period， to stimulate the technical innovation of novel creation， writers like Dorothy Richardson， James Joyce and Virginia Woolf concentrated all their efforts on digging into the human consciousness. They had created unprecedented stream-of-consciousness novels such as Pilgrimage （1915-1938） by Richardson， Ulysses （1922） by Joyce， and Mrs. Dalloway （1925） by Woolf.
Interior monologue can be divided into the direct one and indirect one that refers to the unspoken psychological language in the characters’ mind expressed through free direct or indirect speech. In direct interior monologue， the character is regarded as the first person to convey what happening in their mind. Without the apparent intervention of the narrator， the thoughts flow out freely and faithfully. It is more genuine in terms of reappearance of the character， but there lies a defect： it will make the reader puzzled. The novel Ulysses is a typical instance of this kind， which makes the novel inaccessible to common readers. In contrast， indirect interior monologue or narrated monologue is often directed with the parenthesis like " he thought" "he realized" "he feels". With the narrator’s partly interference， the psychological consciousness is easier to mingle with the whole narrative discourse， which make the contents more clear. Woolf employs the indirect interior monologue in To the Lighthouse to uncover the characters’ inner world with harmony between actions and words.
They must find a way out of it all. There might be some simpler way， some less laborious way， she sighed. When she looked in the glass and saw her hair grey， her cheek sunk， at fifty， she thought， possibly she might have managed things better-her husband； money； his books. But for her own part she would never for a single second regret her decision， evade difficulties， or slur over duties. （The first chapter in part one： The window）
In the above part， the author serves as the leading reader with the parenthesis she sighed， and she thought. That is， while Mrs. Ramsay’s thought flows， the author’s words intervene to guide the readers her wishes. And the sentence when she looked in the glass and saw her hair gray， her cheek sunk changes into the omniscient angle to provide the surrounding background. It also better displays， at the most beginning， Mrs. Ramsay’s personality to represent the female principle as a serene and maternal wife， mother and hostess
B. Montage
Montage is originally the basic cinematic technique referring a rapid succession of different images or shots by juxtaposing or superimposing many pictures or designs in movie making. In stream-of-consciousness works， it consists of time montage and space montage which means that the writers make the characters’ life experiences in different stages and the changes of their consciousness overlap and interlock within a certain limited time and place， thus to make the consciousness go beyond the time and space limits and freely moves between the past， present and the future. It is an effective approach to reveal the interior thoughts and enlarge the capacity of time and space in the novel as well as reach a three-dimensional effect.
In To the Lighthouse， the three sections - The Window， Time passes， The Lighthouse - covers the physical time of about 10 years between 1910 and 1920， but the time in most part of the novel only comprises one evening or one morning. For example， part one describes the event happened in the evening when Mrs. Ramsay and James were willing to visit the lighthouse， and part three tells the morning while Mr. Ramsay took his family To the Lighthouse eventually with ten years passing and Mrs. Ramsay dying. It is consistent with Woolf’s idea that time is not the mechanical walk of the clock legs， but a river of past， present and future； it is silent， but continues to flow. This application of montage can also be seen in part two； Woolf condenses the decade of bitterness and happiness into only less than six thousands words.
The arrangement of the plot also contributes greatly to Woolf’s success in disposal of time in subtlety. It is clear that part one and part three echoes each other in good harmony. That is： part three resolves all the questions the readers have in mind in part one. For instance， in part one， James really got a hatred to his father for he wanted to visit the lighthouse but Mr. Ramsay always thought the weather would be not fine. And Mrs. Ramsay tried to comfort him. And lastly in part three， the family accept Mrs. Ramsey visited the lighthouse with Mr. Ramsay praised James’ expert steering skills which changed his attitude to his father. Moreover， shortest part two brides the gap between part one and three and makes the novel in great wholeness and coherence. The application of montage also better exposing the theme of the novel-the conflict between male and female principles.
C. Free association
Free association is another technique Woolf uses frequently in her novel To the Lighthouse. This approach is often mingled with the application of montage. It means， in novel writing， the characters’ consciousness flows with no rules and only stay shortly in one question or matter， changing with the occurrence of other objective things. Moreover， anything in front of the character can burst in the thoughts and activate new consciousness and association， releasing a series of images and feelings. This kind of consciousness seems aimless and illogical. It interweaves the past， the present and the future together； it concentrates sometimes on external reality， sometime imagination and sometimes the internal reality， flowing to and fro between them. Because the above features， the use of free association often make the reader lost. But Woolf artfully avoids this defect and completely unveils the nature of human being. Here is a good example of it in chapter ten part one.
Minta Doyle and Paul Rayley had not come back then. That could only mean， Mrs. Ramsay thought， one thing. She must accept him， or she must refuse him. This going off after luncheon for a walk， even though Andrew was with them-what could it mean? Except that she had decided， rightly， Mrs. Ramsay thought （and she was very， very fond of Minta）， to accept that good fellow， who might not be brilliant， but then， thought Mrs. Ramsay， realizing that James was tugging at her， to make her go on reading aloud the Fisherman and his Wife， she did in her own heart infinitely prefer boobies to clever men who wrote dissertations； Charles Tansley， for instance. Anyhow it must have happened， one way or the other， by now.
But she read， "Next morning the wife awoke first， and it was just daybreak， and from her bed she saw the beautiful country lying before her. Her husband was still stretching himself..."
It is clear that when Mrs. Ramsay reads the story "The Story of the Fisherman" to James， her consciousness flows away to other things like worrying about Minta， Paul and Andrew. The use of free association in To the Lighthouse serves one of the most important factors to lead the main characters’ consciousness present smoothly and authentically before the readers and helps all the trivial matters of daily life of Mrs. Ramsay occur in good connection with expanding the space limit.