I always say that Virginia Woolf doesn’t write stories, at least not in the conventional sense we know. She doesn’t have a proper plot. What she writes are impressions and thoughts of her characters, spanning over the time and space of her setting. These are presented in vignettes. The collection of these vignettes is what we find as a story in her novel. At best, her “stories” are character-driven. Yet they flow with grace, taking the reader to pleasing destinations. That’s the beauty of her words.
In The Years, this is exactly what Virginia does. She writes in vignettes a saga of the Pargiter family spreading over 50 years. The story begins in the Victorian era and proceeds through the Edwardian era, finally setting in the Modern era upto the 1930s. We follow two Pargiter families and their associates over that period. Their various lives, the choices they’ve made, the economic, political, and social change over the period, and a deeper examination of human self provide material for this story.
Virginia’s concentration on social change plays a vital role in the novel. In her dream-like and episodic manner, Virginia describes the social changes in English society from the Victorian era to the Modern. The conventional, patriarchal Victorian society was somewhat scaled down to a much freer one. The women, though not considered equal to men, had won more rights and established a sense of individuality. Although some of the old Pargiter women had to rebel to break free from patriarchal tyranny to assert their individual identity, the next generation finds it easier to consolidate their individuality, as time has changed the social perspective. The First World War was also a significant factor that helped change people’s attitudes.
However, Virginia shows that there are things that societal changes cannot alter. All eras have common problems. The problems of age and youth, the impermanence of things, and the human difficulty in filtering truth from illusion remain unchanged through time and space. Virginia comes to her favourite philosophical musing on the “self”. She reflects on what’s the meaning of “I”. Are we the same “I” at all times, in our youth and old age, to the outside world and within our inner private self? These interesting questions are answered in her open, argumentative manner that leaves the reader to question and counterargue them. I always love the flexibility Virginia provides in her arguments. I feel that she respected the reader’s intelligence, for she never imposed.
Virginia has written The Years in her signature style of stream of consciousness. Yet, she has taken effort to mix it with straight-lined description so that her composition takes the proper form of a family saga. Her understanding of the need to adjust her writing style to suit the nature of her story is remarkable. It is no wonder that Virginia Woolf is considered one of the prominent female authors of all time.
For my part, I love her writing. Her words paint beautiful pictures and excite pleasant sensations. The dream-like quality of her novels quietens me. I always feel invigorated after reading her. Of course, I’m her devoted fan, so I may be a little biased. But if you can get through her stream of consciousness, Virginia Woolf most certainly will take you to a singular world.
Rating:4/5
