Re-listening to Virginia Woolf: Sound Transduction and Private Listening in Mrs. Dalloway

Document Type

Article

Authors

Leah Toth, Hampden-Sydney CollegeFollow

Abstract

Virginia Woolf’s writing of sound is one of the most innovative features of Mrs. Dalloway. This essay traces the way her characters process aural information to turn-of-the-century phonograph listening techniques. I argue that in Mrs. Dalloway, characters function as transducers that process public sounds privately through the internal “noise” of consciousness. Ultimately, Woolf’s writing of sound and the ways characters process sound is directly connected to the novel’s indeterminate narration, which never valorizes one character’s perspective over that of another.

Recommended Citation

Toth, Leah (2017) "Re-listening to Virginia Woolf: Sound Transduction and Private Listening in Mrs. Dalloway," Criticism: Vol. 59: Iss. 4, Article 4.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/criticism/vol59/iss4/4