Lesson 17: modernism (Woolf, Yeats & Joyce)

What is Modernism?

Modernism is a literary and artistic movement of the early twentieth century that sought new ways of representing reality.

Modernists believed traditional Victorian and Edwardian forms could not represent the complexity, fragmentation, and uncertainty of modern life.

Which historical events contributed to the rise of Modernism?

Important events include:

• The death of Queen Victoria (1901)

• Rapid industrial and technological change

• The sinking of the Titanic (1912)

• World War I (1914–1918)

These events weakened faith in progress, rationality, religion, and traditional values.

What are the three periods of Modernism?

• High Modernism (1910s–1920s)

• Late Modernism (1930s–1950s)

• Postmodernism (1960 onwards)

Today’s authors = high modernism

Which traditional beliefs were questioned during Modernism?

• Religion

• Human rationality

• Progress

• Language as a transparent way of describing reality

What is personal mythmaking?

Personal mythmaking is the creation of new myths, symbols, and belief systems to replace lost religious or cultural certainties.

Many Modernist writers used folklore, mythology, and symbolism to create meaning in a fragmented world.

VIRGINIA WOOLF (1882–1941)

Who was Virginia Woolf?

Virginia Woolf was a British novelist, essayist, literary critic, feminist thinker, and one of the most important Modernist writers.

VIRGINIA WOOLF (1882–1941)

What was the Bloomsbury Group?

An influential group of writers, artists, and intellectuals associated with Woolf

promoted artistic experimentation and progressive views on society, gender, and sexuality.

VIRGINIA WOOLF (1882–1941)

What was the Hogarth Press?

A publishing house run by Virginia and Leonard Woolf that published works by writers

such as T. S. Eliot, Katherine Mansfield, and Sigmund Freud.

What does Woolf mean by "the inward turn of narrative"?

Literature should focus on consciousness, thoughts, memories, and perceptions rather than external events.

What does Woolf mean by "an ordinary mind on an ordinary day"?

Everyday thoughts and experiences are interesting enough to become literature without needing dramatic plots.

What is stream of consciousness?

A narrative technique that attempts to represent the continuous flow of thoughts, memories, emotions, and impressions in a character's mind.

Why is stream of consciousness important in Modernism?

It reflects the Modernist belief that reality is experienced through consciousness rather than through objective external events.

What is free indirect speech?

A narrative technique that blends the narrator's voice with a character's thoughts without using phrases such as "she thought."

Why does Woolf use free indirect speech?

It allows readers to enter a character's mind while maintaining third-person narration.

What is the cubist effect in literature?

A technique inspired by Cubist art in which reality is shown from multiple perspectives rather than a single viewpoint.

How does Woolf create a cubist effect?

By moving between different characters' minds and perspectives.

Give a short summary of Mrs Dalloway.

• The novel follows Clarissa Dalloway during a single day in London as she prepares for a party.

• Throughout the day she reflects on her life, relationships, and memories.

• Parallel to her story is that of Septimus Warren Smith, a traumatized World War I veteran.

• Together their stories explore modern life, memory, identity, and death.

Why are Clarissa and Septimus important?

They create a cubist effect by presenting different perspectives on modern existence.

Why is Mrs Dalloway considered a Modernist novel?

It focuses on consciousness rather than plot and uses stream of consciousness, free indirect speech, and multiple perspectives.

What is the significance of Septimus Warren Smith?

He represents the psychological trauma caused by World War I and critiques society's treatment of mental illness.

Who was W. B. Yeats?

An Irish poet, dramatist, Nobel Prize winner, and one of the most important literary figures connecting Romanticism and Modernism.

What inspired Yeats's poetry?

• Irish folklore

• Irish history

• Mysticism

• The occult

• Theosophy

• Personal mythmaking

Why was folklore important to Yeats?

He believed poetry should draw inspiration from Irish culture and mythology.

Why is Yeats associated with personal mythmaking?

He created symbolic systems and myths to provide meaning after the decline of traditional religious certainty.

EASTER, 1916

What historical event inspired Easter, 1916?

The Easter Rising, a rebellion against British rule in Ireland in 1916.

EASTER, 1916

What type of poem is Easter, 1916?

An occasional poem, meaning it responds to a specific historical event.

EASTER, 1916

Give a short summary of Easter, 1916.

• Yeats reflects on the Easter Rising and the execution of its leaders.

• He remembers them as ordinary people but recognizes that their sacrifice transformed them into historical symbols.

• The poem admires their courage while questioning whether their deaths were necessary.

EASTER, 1916

What is the central paradox of the poem?

"A terrible beauty is born."

= The rebellion caused suffering and death but also created national identity, heroism, and historical significance.

EASTER, 1916

What is an oxymoron?

A figure of speech that combines contradictory ideas. "Terrible beauty" combines violence and beauty.

EASTER, 1916

How are the rebels portrayed in the first stanza?

As ordinary people involved in everyday life.

EASTER, 1916

Why does Yeats repeat "polite meaningless words"?

To emphasize the ordinariness of life before the rebellion.

EASTER, 1916

What happens in the second stanza?

Yeats memorializes individual revolutionaries and reflects on their strengths and flaws.

EASTER, 1916

How does Yeats portray John MacBride?

Ambivalently: he personally disliked him but still honours his sacrifice.

EASTER, 1916

What does the stone symbolize in the third stanza?

Determination, rigidity, and unwavering commitment.

EASTER, 1916

What does the stream symbolize?

Life, movement, and change.

EASTER, 1916

What question troubles Yeats in the final stanza?

Whether the rebels' deaths were necessary.

EASTER, 1916

Why does Yeats repeatedly name the rebels?

To commemorate them and preserve their memory through poetry.

EASTER, 1916

What is ambivalence?

Having conflicting feelings toward the same subject. Yeats both admires and questions the rebellion.

Who was James Joyce?

An Irish Modernist writer famous for narrative experimentation, stream of consciousness, and psychological realism.

What collection contains Araby?

Dubliners.

What is an epiphany?

A sudden moment of insight or self-realization that reveals a deeper truth.

What does Joyce mean by paralysis?

A state of social, psychological, or spiritual stagnation that prevents growth or change.

ARABY

Give a short summary of Araby.

• A young Dublin boy falls in love with Mangan's sister and promises to bring her a gift from the bazaar Araby.

• He imagines the trip as a heroic quest, but when he arrives, the bazaar is nearly closed.

• He realizes his fantasies were illusions and experiences a painful epiphany.

ARABY

Who narrates Araby?

An unnamed first-person narrator recalling his childhood experience.

= unreliable narrator : He romanticizes and idealizes reality, especially Mangan's sister and the bazaar.

ARABY

What does North Richmond Street being "blind" symbolize?

ignorance, and lack of direction.

ARABY

What is the significance of the dead priest?

He symbolizes the decline of religious authority and spiritual vitality.

ARABY

What does the contrast between light and darkness symbolize?

Light represents hope, meaning, and desire, while darkness represents disappointment, paralysis, and ignorance.

ARABY

What is personal mythmaking in Araby?

The narrator imagines himself as a heroic knight on a quest to win Mangan's sister's affection.

ARABY

Why is the final scene dark?

The darkness symbolizes the collapse of illusion and the recognition of reality.

How do Woolf and Joyce represent Modernist consciousness?

Both focus on subjective experience, fragmented thought, memory, and perception rather than traditional plot-driven storytelling.

How do Yeats and Joyce use personal mythmaking?

Yeats creates myths to provide meaning

while Joyce often shows how personal myths collapse when confronted with reality.

How do Woolf, Yeats, and Joyce respond to the loss of certainty in the modern world?

Woolf explores subjective consciousness

Yeats creates symbolic myths, and Joyce exposes the collapse of illusions through epiphanies and disillusionment.