Feminism in V. Woolf

7/23/2019 Feminism in V. Woolf

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Splitting of feminine identity is a relatively recently discussed issue in the

psychoanalytical debates and ndings. There are dierent types of splitting in

psychoanalysis and psychology, and the distinguishing lines between them are

narrow. Splitting is not a subject which belongs to a special gender group, whether

masculine or feminine; however in Virginia oolf!s The aves, the female

individuals of the novel are the subject of splitting of self. The delicate nature offemale characteristics is a good victim of this special type of neurosis. "n the novel,

the female individuals show more traces of the psychological #nots related to their

identities. $ach one of the female characters of the novel has her peculiar psychical

comple%ities with her own way of demonstrating them. This paper e%plores the

deep layers of the identity of The aves! feminine characters, manifested in their

solilo&uies, in order to nd out the psychological mental disorders each of them has

to deal with. The characters of The aves are all in a constant search for their

identity and to gain an ade&uate understanding of their selves. oolf creates a new

language for her novel to fully depict the hidden endeavor of her characters trying

to nd their identity. "n this sense, 'eila (aradaran )amili *+-/ argues that 0oolf!s

language in The aves is 123 a comple% articulation between individuals, their

social and cultural conte%t, 123 and their &uest for identication, especially self4

identity5 *677-/. 8owever, the female characters of The aves are unable to

accomplish their journey to nd their identity. Their feminine identities become

disintegrated and they e%perience dierent psychological neuroses. "n this paper,

the issue of splitting will be discussed from the point of view of Sigmund 9reud, and

the other categories of this subject will be elaborated brie:y in order to ma#e a

clear cut between the relatively confusing similar matters. Splitting refers to

thin#ing in e%tremes. ccording to <tto 9enichel, it may refer to two things=

0splitting of the mind,5 and splitting of mental concepts, or as he calls it 0blac# and

white thin#ing5 *+>/. The latter is about thin#ing in e%tremes, for e%ample goodnessvs. evil, innocence vs. corruption, and victimi?ation vs. oppression. "t can be seen as

a defense mechanism. "n psychoanalytical debates, the concept of splitting of the

mind stems from e%istential insecurity or the individuals! inability to stabili?e her@his

concept of self in his mind. The oscillation in the assessments of the self causes

chaotic and unstable relationships and intense emotional e%periences. Those with

narcissism and love4hate ambivalence suer from these modulations in their

emotions and patterns of relationship. Susan!s 'ove48ate mbivalence <ne of the

categories of splitting of self is ambivalence, introduced by 9reud to indicate the

simultaneous presence of love and hate towards the same object. ccording to

9reud, 0ambivalence is the precondition for melancholia5 together with loss of aloved object, and discharge of the aggression toward the self *677/. The same

ambivalence occurs in the obsessional neurosis, but there it remains related to the

outside object. mbivalence, based on what Aichael )acobs says, is a state in which

an individual senses a 0simultaneous, con:icting feeling5 toward another person or

thing *B/. Stating in another way, it is the e%perience of having both negative and

positive thoughts and emotions toward someone or something at the same time.

The term also refers to situations where some general 0mi%ed feelings5 are



e%perienced *ibid, /. The individual e%periences a modulation between two

e%tremely opposite and contradictory feelings toward the same subject or even an

object. mbivalence is e%perienced psychologically unpleasant when the positive

and negative aspects of a subject are both present in person!s mind at the same

time. 9reud denes ambivalence as 0an underlying emotional attitude in which the

co4e%isting contradictory impulses *usually love and hate/ derive from a commonsource5 and they are held to be interdependent *+/. Aoreover, it would not

usually be e%pected that the person having ambivalence would actually feel both of

the two contradictory emotions in the same level because one of the con:icting

sides is repressed. Therefore, the individual!s love for her@his father might be &uite

clearly and openly e%pressed, while her@his hate for the same person or object

might be heavily suppressed. Susan!s love for his father is openly e%pressed

through the narrative, while her hatred of him is repressed. "n addition, Susan!s love

for the natural, simple, rural life is obviously being e%pressed throughout the

narrative, as she says= 0out the day will spring, as " open the carriage4door and see

my father in his old hat and gaiters. " shall tremble. " shall burst into tears *, 6C/.

Though she hates her father for imprisoning her in the house to practice the rules of

life, she scarcely admits her aversion. She also shows an intense love and thirst for

the natural and simple life on a farm; even though she gradually becomes tired of

her natural happiness at the time when she reached it. 8owever, the hidden disgust

with her e%haustion of the 0natural happiness5 is blurred under her vague states=

0so " am driven forward, till " could cry, as " move from dawn to dus# opening and

shutting, DEo more. " am glutted with natural happiness!5 *, +/.

love4hate relationship is an interpersonal relationship involving 0simultaneous or

alternating emotions of intense love and intense hate5 *(erne, +C= B-/. "t can be

applied to relationships with inanimate objects, or between siblings andparents@children. love4hate relationship has been lin#ed to 0the occurrence of

emotional ambivalence in early childhood5 *9reud, ++/; to 0con:icting responses

by dierent ego states within the same person5 *(erne, +C-/. The in:icted

individual may even hate and love her@his own friend in the same level of intensity.

Susan, in The aves, continually swings between the feeling of love and the feeling

of hatred. The strong emotions of agony and aversion grow in Susan when she saw

)inny #isses 'ouis= 0" saw her #iss him. " saw them, )inny and 'ouis, #issing. Eow "

will wrap my agony inside my poc#et4hand#erchief 123 " will not sit ne%t )inny and

ne%t 'ouis. " will ta#e my anguish and lay it upon the roots under the beech trees5

*, -/. These reactions of childish anguishes gradually outgrow as she enters in the

world of adults. She was never again able to control her hatred; nevertheless she

senses a strong feeling of love for )inny at the same time. 'ove4hate ambivalence

may also be the result of poor self4esteem, as she regarded herself as a worthless,

unloved person. orthlessness ironically becomes valuable, because it aptly

e%presses her depressed identity. Susan openly admits that she is jealous of )inny= 0"

am torn with jealousy. " hate )inny because she shows me that my hands are red,

my nails bitten5 *, -/. hen )inny is near Susan, she loses her self4condence



and the feeling of inferiority and abjection starts to :ourish inside her. She wants to

protect her self4esteem at these moments from the danger of )inny!s :amboyancies=

and so protect my soul against her, feel her derision steal round me, feel her

laughter curl its tongues of re round me and light up unsparingly my shabby dress,

my s&uare4tipped nger4nails, which " at once hide under the table4cloth. *, -F/

)inny is aware that this hatred is 0indistinguishable5 from their love for each other=0it is love, 123 it is hate, such as Susan feels for me because " #issed 'ouis 123;

because e&uipped as " am, " ma#e her thin# when " come, DAy hands are red,! and

hide them. (ut our hatred is almost indistinguishable from our love5 *, C6/.

Gatullus! famous line, &uoted by )asper HriIn and <swin Aurry in The <%ford

8istory of Glassical orld, refers to ambivalence of con:icting feelings= 0" hate and

yet love. Jou may wonder how " manage it. " don!t #now. (ut feel it happen, and am

in torment5 *>B/. This e%cerpt is fre&uently repeated by Susan throughout the

narrative= 0" love 123 and " hate. " desire one thing only. Ay eyes are hard. )inny!s

eyes brea# into a thousand lights,5 or elsewhere= 0it is hate, it is love 123. That is

the furious coal4blac# stream that ma#es us di??y if we loo# down into it5 *, C, C6/.

They trace Susan!s love4hate ambivalence resulted frm her dualistic feelings toward

)inny

)inny!s Earcissistic Kersonality Lisorder The other category of splitting of identity is

narcissistic personality disorder. Keople with narcissistic personality disorder use

0splitting as a central defense mechanism5 *9reud, 677= B/. (ased on what 9reud

asserts, most often the narcissist does this as an attempt to 0stabili?e her@his sense

of self5 in order to #eep his self4esteem by perceiving himself as 0completely upright

or admirable5 *++= 6+/. Those who do not conform to the will or the values of a

narcissist individual are regarded as wic#ed or contemptible by him. Earcissism is a

term used to describe 0a person characteri?ed by egotism, vanity, pride,selshness, and self4admiration5 *Aillon, F6>/. Earcissistic personality disorder is

based on 9reud!s idea, 0a mental neurosis in which people have an in:ated sense of

their own importance and a deep need for admiration5 *67+6/. The people with

narcissistic personality disorder believe that they are superior to others and have

little regard for other people!s feelings. (ehind the mas# of high condence in

narcissists lies a fragile self4esteem, vulnerable to the slightest criticism. ccording

to Mobert $mmons, narcissistic personality disorder symptoms may include traits

such as= (elieving that s@he is better than others, fantasi?ing success and

attractiveness, e%aggerating achievements or talents, e%pecting constant praise

and admiration, believing that s@he is special and acting accordingly, e%pressing

disdain for those s@he feels that are inferior, believing that others are jealous of

her@him, having a fragile self4esteem, having diIculty with empathy, and also

perceiving themselves to be uni&ue and special people. *6+46/ These

characteristics may not all manifest at the same time in the narcissist individual;

however, much of them are common among the patients of the same se%. )inny, in

The aves, demonstrates various symptoms of narcissistic personality disorder. She

is thirsty of admiration and needs to arouse the attentions of men to earn love and



adoration in order to satisfy her egotistic needs= The blac#4and4white gures of

un#nown men loo# at me as " lean forward 123. They are an%ious to ma#e a good

impression 123. ll gold, :owing that way, " say to this one, DGome.! Mippling blac#, "

say to that one, DEo.! 123 8e approaches. 8e ma#es towards me. *, F/ )inny is

condent and assured of her beauty to the point that she speared a sense of

insecurity and unreliability to those around her. She acts immensely condent thatother women become doubtful and vulnerable about their appearance. )inny!s

assurance is the result of other men!s admiration and e%altations of her beauty.

8NlOne Gi%ous, in 0The 'augh of Aedusa,5 pointed to this #ind of narcissism which is

resulted from men!s e%cessive laudation of one especial type of woman and their

attempt of stereotyping this ideal #ind= Aen have committed the greatest crime

against women. "nsidiously, violently, they have led them to hate women, to be

their own enemies, to mobili?e their immense strength against themselves, to be

the e%ecutants of their virile needs. They have made for women an antinarcissismP

narcissism which loves itself only to be loved for what women haven!t gotP They

have constructed the infamous logic of anti4love. *+C-/ (ased on what Gi%ous

pointed out, this stream pushes women to the edges of hatred and abhorrence of

their own species, as it obviously happened for the case of )inny and Susan. )inny

loves to shine and to be in the center of attentions. "n other words, she wants to be

in the spot lights= 0there is )inny 123. She stands in the door. $verything seems

stayed. The waiter stops. The diners at the table by the door loo#. She seems to

centre everything5 *, -F/. Susan once refers to the idea that how )inny 0stic#s

1:owers3 behind her ear so that Aiss Kerry!s dar# eyes smoulder with admiration

123. Aiss Kerry loves )inny5 *, 6+/. This indicates that )inny constantly see#s the

admiration and praises of those who are around her. ccording to $mmons, women

who score high on tests of narcissism consistently 0dress more provocatively than

their more modest counterparts5 *6>/. )inny spends lots of energy and attention tochoose best style and fashions in clothing. She pays lots of attention to the colors

and the fabric of her dresses= 0" have chosen what yellow or white, what shine or

dullness, what loop or straightness suits. " am volatile for one, rigid for another5 *,

++C/. This demonstrates her eager to arouse the attentions of others by her loo#

and her glamorous style of dressing. )inny!s e%cessive obsession with her loo# and

her fashion puts credit on the evidences that reveal and prove her narcissistic

personality disorder= 0" feel myself shining in the dar#. Sil# is on my #nee 1...3. The

stones of a nec#lace lie cold on my throat. Ay feet feel the pinch of shoes. " sit bolt

upright so that my hair may not touch the bac# of the seat. " am arrayed, " am

prepared5 *, F/. Earcissists will be thrilled to hear that, as a group, they are ratedas more attractive and li#able than everyone else at rst appearance. Simine Va?ire

and others found that narcissists have a distinct physical signature. They are

considered 0more stylishly clad, cheerful, and physically appealing at rst sight than

are those who score lower in narcissism5 *Va?ire et al, +B-/. range of studies nd

a lin# between narcissism and physical attractiveness, and narcissists! tactics for

standing out are well4documented, often by themselves. Self4esteem mediates

between mental health and narcissism. Therefore, because of the narcissists! high



selfcondence, 0deriving from self4perceptions of competence and li#ability,5 they

are relatively 0free of worry and gloom5 *Sedi#ides, >7>/. )inny cheerfully laughs and

constantly plays and dances in the school yard= 0)inny dances. )inny always dances5

*, 6+/. She is not worry of being punished for brea#ing the rules of school, or being

caught moc#ing her masters= 0)inny leaps higher too when Aiss 'ambert passes,5

0she pic#s some :ower forbiddenly5 *, 6F, 6+/. )inny!s cheerful manner proves herelevated self4esteem and shows her high self4assurance or self4condence, as a

result of her belief in her li#ability. Eevertheless, this gloom4free trait puts credits on

her narcissistic personality disorder. "n the se%ual realm, 0promiscuity is a #ey

strategy that allows narcissists to maintain control5 *Va?ire et al, +/. )inny

constantly dreams of a perfect man to come= 0" begin to feel that wish to be singled

out; 123 to be called away by one person who comes to nd me, who is attracted

towards me, who cannot #eep himself from me, but comes to where " sit on my gilt

chair *, 6F/. She does not want, however, to be attracted to only 0one person in

particular5 *, 6/, which shows an evidence to prove her promiscuity. $lsewhere,

she puts an emphasis on her previous assertion= 0one man will single me out and

will tell me what he has told no other person 123. (ut " shall not let myself be

attached to one person only. " do not want to be %ed, to be pinioned 123. " have

fty years, " have si%ty years to spend 123. This is the beginning5 *, 6B/.

Gonsidering love and intimate relationships as a playful game, )inny thought that

she has an eternal youth and beauty that last forever. 9or this reason, she becomes

latitude and inattentive to the rules of delity. (ased on the principle of least

interest, the partner with the least interest in a relationship has the greatest power.

ccording to )ohn Glar#in, promiscuity is 0a #ey behavioral ingredient, because

narcissists are always searching for a better deal5 *6-B/. s soon as )inny is done

with one love, she loo#s for another to satisfy her need for love= 0he 1a stranger3

approaches 123 towards me. 123 DGome,! " say, Dcome.! Kale, with dar# hair, the onewho is coming is melancholy, romantic. nd " am arch and :uent and capricious5

*, F/. She prefers the blonde men with blue eyes and uses the rule of least

interest in order to maintain her power to resist love and falling for one specic

person, therefore, in this way, to remain free to love another individual and also to

maintain her position in choosing new aairs. The assumption of 0physical

attractiveness and concinnity,5 as well as the idea of 0everlasting youth and

beauty,5 could also suggest that symptoms of 0Lorian Hray Syndrome5 *LHS/

*(rosig, 6C/. The critics ta#e the desire for eternal youth as leitmotif of the

disorder, and create the term 0Lorian Hray Syndrome.5 "t alludes to <scar ilde!s

*+B>4+77/ famous wor# The Kicture of Lorian Hray *+B7/. "n the novel theprotagonist, as a handsome young man, loo#s at a portrait of himself and wishes

that it, rather than he, could grow old. ilde!s artistic condensation in the form of

the portrait of Lorian Hray shows narcissistic motivations and 0eternal beauty and

the process of aging and maturation5 are represented by the protagonist *ibid, C-/.

This phenomenon is characteri?ed by e%treme pride in one!s own appearance

accompanied by diIculties coping with the aging process. Suerers of LHS may be

heavy users of cosmetic products in an attempt to preserve their youth. )inny



*ibid, F>/. (ut e%istential insecurity is a permanent condition of the beings.

ccording to Kar#, 0one cannot abolish his underlying insecurity by telling his self

that he is protected5 *ibid/. The fourth dierence is that each form of in@security is

separate from the others. 9inancial troubles might have far4reaching implications,

but being poor need not aect the interpersonal or emotional life of the person.

$%istential insecurity is, however, threatening in every dimension. The naldierence is that unli#e the other insecurities, and as Kar# believes, 0e%istential

insecurity cannot be cured5 *ibid, F/. "t will remain as a life4time sense of insecurity

in the mind of the individual. $ven if all the securities are satised, the individual

with the e%istential insecurity disorder still feels fundamentally insecure. Kar#

believes that because the ordinary and e%istential insecurities are often being

confused with each other, 0the person might use security operations5 that would be

appropriate for obtaining nancial, physical, or emotional security when s@he is

really 0struggling with her@his e%istential insecurity5 *677+/. "f the deep vulnerability

disguises itself as ordinary fears, doing ordinary security actions will not overcome

the sense of e%istential insecurity. Kar# believes that 0trying to secure the

relationships by assurances of delity, loyalty, e%clusiveness, and love will not

overcome the e%istential insecurity5 *ibid, 6C+/. <ne of the major faces of e%istential

insecurity is the state of uncertainty. Qncertainty simultaneously constructs and

frustrates the world of interconnected selves in oolf!s wor#. 8er characters are, as

'isa Aarie 'ucenti observes, 0:uctuating between acceptance and rejection of their

own insubstantial nature5 *C-/. The 0seamlessly unied self,5 to resort to Toril Aoi!s

phrase, is constantly &uestioned and deconstructed by all the characters of The

aves; it is 0the elusive gure of Mhoda5 that becomes oolf!s main vehicle for

articulating the above delineated concerns *CB/. Mhoda can be dened as 0a

transgressive gure of uncertainty5 through which oolf develops a criti&ue of the

unitary self *ibid, C/. (y the focus on Mhoda!s uncertainty, her delirium and itspotentiality, this section is based on a fragile self4eacing female character, whose

performance is enacted through a number of fearful solilo&uies. Mhoda!s untold

suicide could be considered as a part of oolf!s feminist project of re4

conceptuali?ation of female identity. Aa#i#o Ainow4Kin#ney argues that Mhoda is

incapable of establishing the stable and constant subject, and remains fearfully

suspended between the 0denial of unity5 and 0the agony of the fragmented self5

*+-F/. "n the character of Mhoda, oolf e%plores such powerlessness and

helplessness that all reality seems hostile and invasive= 0life, how " have dreaded

you, 123 stained by you and corrupted5 *, +7B/. (eing paranoid, Mhoda fears

everything and everyone in general. She regards people around as 0hideous,5 and0s&ualid5 *, +7B/. She fears others for no denite reason and thin#s that everyone

around wants to do harm to her, and for this reason, she wants to avoid any contact

with others. Mhoda!s vulnerability manifests the insubstantiality of the deeply

depressed self. The objects around seems to deny her very e%istence. She feels

e%cluded when she nds Aiss 8udson!s mathematical formulas ) Eov. ppl Sci., F

*C/= C4C-F, 67+> C-+ incomprehensible= 0the gures mean nothing now. Aeaning

has gone 123. The world is entire, and " am outside of it, crying, D<h, save me, from



being blown for ever outside the loop of timeP!5 *, +7/. (ased on Kar#!s ideas,

meaning is found when the self has the power to 0organi?e perception of outer

facts,5 so that 0the internal schemata coincide with the structure of objects5 *677+/.

Qnderstanding presupposes that, according to Kar#, the self is real enough to

0create or authori?e schemata that illuminate previously hidden structures5 which

bring the world closer and include the self in their life *ibid, +F+/. Therefore, thoseunderstandings and perceptions which cannot be disintegrated will resist against

the depersonali?ed, unauthori?ed self. Mhoda!s identity seems to fall apart, for it

lac#s some #ind of continuity to perception that ma#es meaning. 8er face

represents a self that is 0not here,5 and so she must imitate others! reactions. She

feels depersonali?ed and transparent which is 0a common complaint from

depressives who seem not to have enough energy to be responsive or even to

recogni?e that a situation calls for an emotional reaction5 *8arper, 6+/. (ecause

Mhoda describes the real world as belonging to others, it brings the assumption that

she lives in a mystical realm, and other characters do tend to see Mhoda!s isolation

as otherworldliness. (ut Mhoda herself describes it as nothingness= 0alone, " often

fall down into nothingness. " must push my foot stealthily lest " should fall o the

edge of the world into nothingness5 *, 66/. (ased on what Ainow4Kin#ney believes

0depressive nothingness5 is neither 0a visionary e%perience5 nor 0a mystical level of

consciousness5 *+-/. c#nowledging the solidity of the world of her friends, Mhoda

attributes e%clusive value to it. She thought that the world of her friends is full, but

hers is empty. hen 'ouis spea#s of the necessity to unify many selves into one

whole, he reminds the reader of Mhoda who is precisely destined to 0fall li#e snow

and be wasted,5 she is unable to form the self into a unied whole and also is

unable to e%ist 0here and now5 *, BB, B/. (eing 0bro#en into separate pieces,5

and being 0no longer one,5 *, -/ she can neither judge, name the thing around,

nor be logical. Mhoda, who feels being hurt and persecuted by 0those who live inself unity5 *Ainow4Kin#ney, +--/, and who hates 0all details of the individual life5

does not #now how to ma#e 0the whole and indivisible mass5 *, , -B/ called life.

She endures agony in going 0through the antics of the individual,5 yearning for

those 0moments when the walls of the mind grow thin; when nothing is

unabsorbed5 and when she could for a moment fancy 0that we might blow so vast a

bubble that the sun might set and rise in it and we might cast4o and escape, from

here and now5 *, ++B, ++/. 8owever, all of these yearnings remain as wishes and

do not fulll, for she lac#s a sense of her self as a unied entity. This lac# led her

more and more to her uncertainty in her life. This abolition of the limiting walls of

individuality can be e%perienced as 0the dissolution of the self5 as 9reud suggeststhat 0the denial of unity can be either a perverse of multiple selves or the agony of

the fragmented self5 *677/. Mhoda is undone by her fellow human beings who

0pierce5 her heart with a 0million arrows,5 *, / pinning her down and e%posing

her. The sense of psychic brea#down even produces hallucination of corporal

disintegration= 0you will let me fall, and will tear me to pieces when " am fallen,5 0"

am bro#en into separate pieces; " am no longer one5 *, ++B, -/. This hallucination

shows how she suers from those agonies resulted from her sensing the



disintegration of her identity. Mhoda, refusing or is being unable to ta#e a place in

the passing of a family linage, is an instance of the unsuccessful repression of the

mother; a repression necessary to place oneself in the family triangle. Mhoda has

the self4image as 0the youngest,5 0the most na#ed,5 0e%posed,5 0unprotected5 *,

7, , F, ++-/ and accordingly she see#s protection. She yearns for 0mothers from

whose wide #nees s#irts descend5 to hide and protect her *, /. The novelinscribes, based on 'isa Aarie 'ucenti!s words, 0the image of union with and

separation from the mother with e%plicitness5 *B7/. Lriven out of the socio4temporal

order, Mhoda has to live a fragmented time; for her, 0one moment does not lead to

another5= " cannot ma#e one moment merge in the ne%t. To me they are violent, all

separate; and if " fall under the shoc# of the leap of the moment you will be on me,

tearing me to pieces. " have no end in view. " do not #now how to run minute to

minute and hour to hour, solving them by some natural force until they ma#e the

whole and indivisible mass that you call life. *, -B/. 9or Mhoda, who has only

moments, 0maturation and teleology are impossible5 *'ucenti, B+/; she cannot

believe that she will 0grow old in pursuit and change,5 for if she could endure the

passing of time and the change of body and grows old, 01she3 should be rid of 1her3

fear5 *, -B/. ccording to 'isa Aarie 'ucenti, 0fragmentariness5 is as characteristic

of the time of the novel as of Mhoda herself *B6/. Mhoda!s own abhorrence of the

social rule is largely shared by the novel itself= 0how you stand embedded in a

substance made of repeated moments run together; are committed, have an

attitude, with children, authority, fame, love, society; where " have nothing. " have

no face5 *, ++B/. Qnable to have a family of her own, or to sense love and fame,

she hates the society in general. Mhoda hates loo#ing4glasses, for the image of

herself motivates her to attach to her identity= 0that is my face 123 in the loo#ing4

glass behind Susan!s shoulder, that face is my face. (ut " will duc# behind her to

hide it, for " am not here. " have no face5 *, 6+/. Jet still she has to e%perience hertotality outside her, in the mirror; and as Ainow4Kin#ney mentions 0her identity as a

whole is e%perienced in alienation5 *+C6/. This gap between the image in the mirror

and the self threatens her, as she says, 0alone, " often fall down into nothingness.

123 " have to bang my head against some hard door to call myself bac# to the

body5 *, 66/. (etween the image of herself on the surface of the water and her

actual self lie 0crevices5 and 0ssures,5 from which the 0emerging monster5 *, FF/

leaps and menaces Mhoda!s life. She re:ects 0with intermittent shoc#s5 and 0life

emerges heaving its dar# crest from the sea. "t is to this we are attached; it is to this

we are bound5 *, FF/. She is unable to put her trust in her own e%istence. She

senses the insecurity from her surroundings. Through the con:icted gure of Mhoda,oolf also creates a female character whose identity pregures the modern4day

state of an%iety that according to Rygmunt (auman characteri?es post4modernity=

0fear is at its most fearsome when it is diuse, scattered, unclear, unattached,

unanchored, free :oating with no clear address or cause 123 D9ear! is the name we

give to our uncertainty5 *6/. (auman!s parado%ical conceptuali?ation of fear

emerges as a fundamental trait of Mhoda!s uncertainty. The source of Mhoda!s sense

of horror is un#nown and this obscurity ma#es the fear more intense. Mhoda is



unable to nd a logical cause for her dismay, and this inability becomes the origin of

her uncertainty. "n other words, Mhoda!s uncertainty is the result of an un#nown

sense of horror with no denite reason. Mhoda, who according to Aagor?ata Ay#,

0suers a dispersal of the self of pathological proportions5 *++C/, e%ists only in the

continuity of its ways= 0how you snatched me from the white spaces that lie

between hour and rolled them into dirty pellets and tossed them into the waste4paper with your greasy paws. Jet those were my life5 *, +7B/. The human face is

0hideous5; you will 0tear me to pieces when " am fallen5 *, B>, ++/. Therefore,

Mhoda has no choice but to draw herself across the enormous gulf into her body

safely, in order to feel secure; however, this feeling of security is unreal and

unstable. oolf shows the Mhoda!s desire to identify her personality with the unitary

self through one of her powerful solilo&uies= 0" am nobody. " have no face. This great

company, 123, has robbed me of my identity 123. " will see# out 123 monumental

face, and will endow it with omniscience, and wear it under my dress li#e a

talisman5 *, +-4+C/. Kercival!s death in "ndia deeply aects Mhoda, not only

because of her love for him, but rather because his death parado%ically ma#es her

feel all 0the more self4conscious and vulnerable by forcing her into a collective

e%perience of mourning5 *Ay#, ++/. "mportantly, it also amplies the contrast

between her fearful vulnerability and low selfesteem, and Kercival!s grandeur.

G<EG'QS"<E oolf fre&uently tal#s about the split of identity in the woman!s

consciousness in her wor#s. This split of mind of oolf!s female characters could be

assumed as the direct result of their limited freedom. They are usually subjected to

the oppressions which are imposed on them by the male gures of the novel. This

subordination has negative impacts on the females! mental conditions. They suer

from a #ind of psychical disintegration of identity and the side eects of this split of

consciousness are categori?ed into dierent types of psychical neuroses. $ach of

the female characters of The aves can be considered as a victim of mental andpsychic brea#downs in their own ways. Susan suers from the feeling of oscillation

between two contrary feelings which are often the sense of love and the feeling of

hatred for an object or a person at the same time. This dangling mood becomes the

main cause of the splitting of her identity and the destructed sense of unitary self.

)inny, on the other hand, is the main prey of e%cessive sense of self4admiration and

adulation. She, with her destructive fear of growing old and the decadence of her

beauty and youth, deals with the mortal force of narcissism which draws her into

the abyss of nothingness and futility. She gradually annihilates her ego with pride

and narcissism and what is remained is a disintegrated sense of feminine self.

Mhoda lives in the illusionary world where she felt nothing there but the threats anddangers from those who approach her. She deals with the issue of e%istential

insecurity which is resulted from her vulnerable and fragile sense of self. She has no

%ed and stable idea about her identity and regarded it as a disintegrated and

fragmented entity subjected of the attac#s of others. Lesperately trying to stabili?e

her sense of selfhood in the face of limited ambitions, Mhoda feels that her

uncertain image can be %ed only momentarily. She believes that her identity is

contrasted with others! stable identities. (ecause of her sense of insecurity she is



even unable to put trust in her friends; and therefore, she regarded them as her

avowed enemies. This destructive uncertainty brings nothing but ine%istency for

her.

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Feminism in V. Woolf

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