The Philosophy of Time in Mrs. Dalloway, Orlando, and The Waves

Abstract

This research project considers various philosophies of time as they are represented in the writing of Virginia Woolf. The project frames the discussion with the idea that Woolf’s work embodies these pre-existing theories in revolutionary ways. The three specific texts examined for this research are Mrs. Dalloway, Orlando, and The Waves as they respond to the philosophical and scientific temporal theories of Henri Bergson, Albert Einstein, and Friedrich Nietzsche. The study highlights the examination of time as a process that has obsessed centuries of writers, intellectuals, and scholars. It also demonstrates Woolf’s belief that the concept of time is a human construction. The project argues that the key to understanding Woolf’s thoughts on literature, society, religion, or philosophy is not by exploring her personal writing, but by considering her fictional characters as stand-ins for her own experimentation with different theories of time and reality.