LESBIAN VOICE AND THE STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS IN MRS. DALLOWAY, TO THE LIGHTHOUSE, AND THE WAVES

Abstract

This article argues that the prominence of stream-of-consciousness as the center of the compositional strategy in a considerable part of Virginia Woolf's mature work is part of a movement towards the expression of a lesbian becoming forbidden by patriarchal culture (Wittig, 1992; Rich, 1980), notably present in modern literature (Souhami, 2020). The novels Mrs. Dalloway (1925), To the Lighthouse (1927), and The Waves (1931) will be read from a lesbian critical point of view (Brossard, 1985) which, inspired by the reflection on the author's relationship with the unspeakability of the body and existence (Freitas, 2022), aims to approach this sphere considering its desiring dimension. To this end, the incursions of the narrative voice into the inner lives of three characters from the aforementioned novels will be discussed: Clarissa Dalloway, Lily Briscoe and Rhoda.