Early Modernism in Virginia Woolf’s Works: The Unknowable Character of Jacob Flanders

Abstract

In this thesis I analyse Virginia Woolf's novel Jacob's Room from the aspect of developing a modernist character. First I look at the expectations of Edwardian writers and the ways in which Woolf brakes away from the norm both in terms of character building (creating a "real" character) and narrative technique.Looking at Woolf's idea of identity and representation. Furthermore, I examine how Woolf embraces the uncertainty of the post-WWI period and makes it part of her idea of a modernist character.In the second part of my thesis I focus on the narrator and how she enhances Woolf's idea of a modernist novel.