Abstract：Mrs. Dalloway was an experimental novel by Virginia Woolf which successfully helped her shape a distinctive narrative style. And she became a milestone in the history of stream of consciousness after James Joyce and William Faulkner. In this novel, Woolf created many unique narrative techniques of herself. She used the techniques of soliloquy, juxtaposition, montage and free indirect discourse which aimed to show the flowing of the consciousness. The techniques were not limited by space and time, but could express the interior monologue of the characters freely. It gave up the fetters of the close plots and the usual sequence of the general traditional novels. Readers could start to know the story by entering into the mental activities of the characters. This thesis is meant to analyze the narrative techniques to know about the state of the western people of that age and to introduce how the characters get out of their plights and find their own meanings of life. Mrs. Dalloway is an autobiography which shows Virginia Woolf’s spiritual portrayal.

Key Words: Narrative Techniques; Stream of Consciousness; Juxtaposition; Interior Monologue; Free Indirect Discourse; Montage

CONTENTS

摘要

Abstract

Introduction-1

1. Virginia Woolf: A Rebel against Tradition-3

1.1 Background-3

1.2 Theory-4

1.3 Influences:-5

2.The literature genre: the stream of consciousness-6

2.1 The origin of the stream of consciousness-6

2.2 The recent research-6

2.3 The stylistic features-7

3. Narrative Techniques in Mrs. Dalloway-8

3.1 The Juxtaposition of two characters-8

3.1.1 The introduction of the juxtaposition-8

3.1.2 The sane and the insane-9

3.1.3 The western people after WWI-10

3.1.4 The contrast and the methods-11

3.2 Montage-12

3.2.1 The origin of the montage-12

3.2.2 The combination-14

3.3 The introduction and reviews of FID-14

3.3.1 The free change of the discourse in the novel-15

3.3.2 The significance of the technique-16

3.4 Interior monologue-19

3.4.1 Free association-19

3.4.2The instance’s analysis-20

4. Significance and Influence-22

4.1 Creation-23

4.2 Effect and Influences-24

References-27

Acknowledgment-28