title The Waves
author Virginia Woolf
type of work Novel
genre Stream-of-consciousness narrative; experimental novel
language English
time and place written Late 1920s–early 1930s, England
date of first publication 1931
publisher Hogarth Press
narrator The novel is narrated by the six main characters, switching between
their separate yet interrelated internal monologues.
point of view The point of view of The Waves is complex. Each
individual narrator speaks in the first person, reporting his or her thoughts
and impressions, as they occur, in a highly subjective way. However, the
narrative is broken up and framed by a description of a passing day that is told
in the voice of none of the characters, which introduces an objective element
into the novel. Further, the shift in narration from character to character is
signaled by a formulation such as “said Bernard,” or “said Rhoda,” indicating
the presence of a bare-bones version of a third-person narrator, though this
narrator is silent, allowing the characters to speak and think for
themselves.
tone The tone of the novel is dreamy, lyrical, and sad.
tense The narrative frame—the description of a passing day—is told in the
past tense. The internal monologues of the characters are given as the thoughts
occur: mostly in the present tense, with shifts into the past for
memories.
setting (time) The late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
setting (place) England, in several locales, from the countryside, to a university, to
London.
protagonist The six major characters are all in some sense protagonists, but
Bernard becomes the most prominent by the end of the novel.
major conflict The characters’ struggle to understand themselves and to come to terms
with the death of their friend Percival
rising action Youth; everything up until Percival’s death
climax The dinner party before Percival’s departure
falling action Maturity; everything following Percival’s death
themes The influence of the other on the self; the desire for order and
meaning; the acknowledgment of death
motifs Stream-of-consciousness narration; leitmotifs
symbols The waves; “Fin in a waste of waters”; the apple tree
foreshadowing Rhoda is attracted to water from the beginning and is haunted by death
throughout, as in the scene at the cliff, foreshadowing her eventual suicide;
Louis imagines Percival’s death before it happens; Bernard sees the porpoise fin
before he learns what it means; as a child, Susan runs into the woods, away from
Jinny’s world and toward nature, where she eventually chooses to spend her
life.
