The Role of Setting and Landscape in “Mrs. Dalloway” and “On the Road”

Mrs. Dalloway by acclaimed bracingist Virginia Woolf is an elicit literary piece with several apparently remarkable features. The condition utilizes a stream-of-consciousness technique records the atoms as they fall upon the mind in the order in which they fall tracing the pattern, however disconnected in mien, in which individually incident scores upon the consciousness (Woolf, 1) to bring let out the in ward thoughts of the characters in a manner which in effect weaves together the elements of memory and clock clip.Prior to the former(a) twentieth century fictive literature had emphasized the primacy of plot and detailed descriptions of the characters and the prospects, with outdoor(a)ities armed service as the most signifi put forwardt turning-point in the story, effectively limiting the innermost workings of the characters minds to a more secondary role, mainly that of providing the motivation for the external occurrences in the plot. Going against the grain, Woolfs refinement of the stream-of-consciousness technique the representation of s up to now-fold consciousness lingering around a locus is definitely iodin of her lasting contributions to the literary world, as evidenced by her novels.In Mrs. Dalloway the plot can be draw as generated by the inner lives of the characters, i.e. Mrs. Dalloway and Septimus, whose natures are revealed d iodine the ebb and flow of their emotions, impressions, thoughts and feelings. This in turn effectively transforms the preferably mediocre events in their lives into the extraordinary, particularly as their consciousness appears to slip in and out through time conceptualized not merely as a linear series of events but also as cyclical.Focusing on the dickens distinct worlds of the primary characters gracious London friendship matron Clarissa Dalloway with a stable tone baffle in Londons high society and young Septimus warren Smith thought to be suffering from a metal melancholy brought about by the loss of a friend in orb War I the novel explores their seeming parallel thought processes notwithstanding differences in social station and the fact that they did not know apiece other and had never met, within a single eventful daytime in June.Both appear to experience exhilarating shifts in their moods, eerily uniform to bouts with manic depression which Woolf apparently suffered from mysterious joy everyplace the ingenuous beauty of spring and the appearance of its fresh, tiny leaves, apprehensive dread over what they perceive as the on-rushing of time, alarm over their impending demise, and what could only be described as overt guilt over the crime of creation human with its accompanying sensibilities, awakeness, failures and shortcomings.In the concluding chapter of the book the indorser decides Clarissa finally organism acquainted with the character of Septimus posthumously when his distinguished doctors married woman explains to their hostess Mrs. Dalloway t he reason for their tardiness the suicide of a patient earlier in the day, leading her to internally remark that Here is death, in the middle of my party (Woolf, 108). A peak at Mrs. Dalloways mind reveals a rather emphatic get wording of the sensitivity, despair and ultimately defiance besieging her typic double.In admirable literary fashion, in spite of all events happening within the 24-hour span of a single day, the setting and landscape appear to be effectively adequate for the story to unfold. The seemingly mobile nature of time the author utilizes allows the effortless weaving of the characters thoughts from the present to the past and vice-versa, even allowing the creeping up of thoughts about the future. Despite the cornucopia of ideas taking shape in the characters minds and the feelings much(prenominal) thoughts evoke, the clever use of time imparts order to the fluidity of thoughts, memories and en antagonistics populating the world of Mrs. Dalloway.Big Ben that seemingly solid symbol of a strong England sounds out the passing of time hour afterward hour, a constant reminder to the characters painfully aware of the grip of time over their lives. in so far when the hour is chimed, the sound disappears as if its leaden circles dissolved in the air signifying the ephemeral nature of time which most spate in their wary obsession with time belt up fail to understand. Woolf skillfully introduces the notion of time not merely as having a linear character but a circular flavor to it as well when the reader is introduced to the ancient woman singing the identical song for a seeming eternity at the Regents Park Tube Station.In terms of the visual landscape, the author captures the beauty of a London summer day in June with the abundant images of trees and flowers in the story. The innovation of flowers appearing throughout the text is suggestive of the characters fleeting emotions. In the porta pages of the book, the reader is acquainted wit h Clarissa Dalloway on her way to the flower shop.Clarissa, deep and profound in her thoughts, revels in the beauty of flowers and trees, time the stiffer, more aloof members of the position establishment trained in the art of keeping their emotions in take all the time are represented as awkward in the way of handling flowers (Richard treats the bouquet of flowers as if it was a weapon while Mrs. Bruton appeared to be at a loss with the flowers offered to her, eventually stuffing them into her dress, the femininity and grace of the gesture surprising even herself) and traditional in their excerpt of blooms roses and carnations as picked by Richard and Hugh.In tune with the reflective tone of the novel, the significant abundance of trees with their far-reaching root systems appear to signify the extensive reach of the human thought, even as the two protagonists wage their avow personal battles in a struggle to protect their souls. The element of water appearing in the chara cters fluid thoughts as on-rushing waves evokes images of the washing away of the old to be replaced by the raw(a) in an endless cycle of the waves lapping at the shore (the appearance of which increases in intensity until it reaches the shore, only to fade into another), i.e. death as the destiny awaiting us all.Set against the background of post-war London, traditional English society is presented as if a tide pulling down those who fail to adapt to the pressing changes plaguing England, and one such casualty was Septimus Warren Smith who had ultimately failed to accept and understand his vastly altered concrete social realities following the end of the war and the irreparable scarring of humankind.In contrast, Clarissa appears to have navigated the murky waters of London high society quite admirably (a silver-green mermaid in Peter Walshs eyes) all the same underneath the veneer of dutiful wife and mother is a kindred soul who identifies with Septimus and his wish to struggle against the oppressive pressures of society, attempting to strike a balance among privacy and open communication with the significant people in their lives. In the last analysis, she refuses to succumb to the temptation herself, and veers away from the outlet chosen by Septimus.In a similar manner to that of Virginia Woolf, the American writer Jack Kerouac, who founded the so-called Beat Generation, could also be considered as a lead up in terms of contributions to the literary field. Though Kerouac was of a different multiplication and genre from the English author, the two share the similarity of going against conventionality in their own sprightlinesstimes in a bid to assert their own ideas on crafting literary pieces. His novel On the track could be described as an attempt to inspire readers to go out there and reserve the day Carpe diem as the French say, so to speak and live life.On the Road we meet the young, somewhat nave writer Sal Paradise and dean Moriarty, whom the narrator describes as tremendously excited with life in their happen traipsing around America to test the limits of their American Dream. Various settings, e.g. a grim town in rural Virginia, a jazz joint in urban New York, a Mexican whore-house, and landscape are employ by the author in their full extent to present the reader with images of the USA and its new-world wonders urban jungles, sleepy towns, the American rural wilderness, vast chimneysweeper of desserts the only tangible connection between them being the road, the need for a times to get out of their seeming confinements limited by space, to catch fire out and seek freedom unchained by any imposed-from-above belief, sentiments or ideology.These youths, overwhelmed by the lack of fulfillment and the overriding sense of desperation in their lives made them feel that the only thing to do was go, providing the impetus to look for for their own personal freedoms, the pleasure of which they found in sex, drugs and jazz music. For Sal, life is holy and every moment precious, which may perhaps account for dean seeming to be doing everything at the same time as a fear and wariness of death appeared to haunt the gang in their pass throughout America (death will overtake us forrader heaven), manifested by visions of a great mettle trailing after them across the desert of life.Yet this fear did not prevent them from living their life not held by the sway of materialism, that mad dream-grabbing, taking, giving, sighing and dying just so they could be buried in those awful cemetery cities beyond broad Island. As their travels together come to an end, Sal and Dean find themselves in the barren city of Mexico, where among the brothels, barefooted old women, and simple meals, Sal notices that beggars slept wrapped in advertisement posters torn off fences (Kerouac, 248).An excited Sal declares This was the great and uninhibited Fellahin-childlike city that we knew we would find at the end of the road (Kerouac, 248). They had found a world where people could apparently live in bare, unadorned simplicity not get to by the pressures of a materialistic culture, a timely reminder that despite the pretentiousness of the relatively affluent 20th century, peoples self-control of goods, or the lack of it are not the sole determinants of being human. much(prenominal) an idealistic message in a work of fiction attempts to counter the overriding negativism and corruption of the corporate fantasy dominant in American culture, of which its inherent conflict with other needs and interests of the human spirit continues to be played out in contemporary societies up to the present.The two novels, Mrs. Dalloway and On the Road utilize landscape and setting to the full extent, resulting in powerful narratives which allow the reader much visual power, i.e. the reader is transported to post-War early 20th century London and a modernizing 20th century America. Yet the authors use setting and l andscape in rather different ways. In the case of Woolfs Mrs. Dalloway, she employs the setting and landscape in an interestingly novel manner which complements her stream-of-consciousness technique, while Kerouac resorts to a rather typical use of setting and landscape to paint a picture of the America of the Beat generation in On the Road. The techniques they used might be different yet the end result is the same stunning literary narratives which are doubtlessly some of the excellent works written in their respective periods by writers of their generation.ReferencesClark, Tom. Jack Kerouac New York Harcourt, Brace, Javanovich, 1984.Dunphy, Mark. Call Me Sal, Jack Visions of Ishmael in Kerouacs On the Road in Melville Society Extracts, July 2002.Hunt, Tim. Kerouacs Crooked Road The Development of a Fiction. Berkeley University of California Press, 1996.Kerouac, Jack. On the Road. New York Viking Press, 1957.Woolf, Virginia. Mrs. Dalloway.originally create 1925. Accessed through the University of Adelaide Library Electronic Texts Collection, on 28 November 2007