The Influence Of Post-Impressionism On The Themes Of The Waves

As a pioneer of modern fiction and an important member of Bloomsbury Group, Virginia Woolf, the 20 th century modernist novelist, is deeply influenced by the art of painting. Her masterpiece The Waves is fully applied with Post-impressionism painting factors and obtains the overall aesthetic effect of unity. This thesis tries to explore the influences of Post-impressionism painting factors on Woolf’s masterpiece The Waves, probing how Woolf combines painting with literature to promote a kind of aesthetic effect in a novel in order to enrich the studies on Virginia Woolf.This thesis analyzes the following aspects: in introduction, there is a brief introduction on Virginia Woolf’s life and her works; then, emphasis is put on an overview studies on Woolf’s works abroad and in China, pointing out that studies on Woolf from the angle of Post-impressionism painting are neglected to some extent.Chapter one is about the influence of Post-impressionism artistic view on Woolf’s forming of novel-writing. First of all, the relationship between fiction and painting is closely related. Post-impressionism painting factors have a profound impact on fiction. Secondly, Paul Gauguin, a Post-impressionist, has a more profound impact on Woolf. Under the influence of Post-impressionism, she forms her own artistic view: i.e she creates a new situation of novel-writing based on applying painting factors. And also, her masterpiece The Waves embodies three main themes: life, time, and death under the influences of painting.Chapter Two focuses on Woolf’s way to express the theme of life in The Waves, which bears similarities with Gauguin’s aesthetic theory of Synthetism. Synthetism on thematic level focuses on the symbolic form and emotional connotation to life. There are two aspects.(1): Color symbolizes emotions of life and efflux of life. Aggressive and block color is used by Paul Gauguin in order to render an artistic figure and conception. Different color stands for different implication. Color assortment leads to “flat depth”. In The Waves, Woolf pays attention to the different color of the waves in different periods within one day, and the changing of color stands for the changing of life and it emphasizes the efflux of life.(2): Lines symbolizes poetic life. Simple and extensive lines are used by Paul Gauguin to display a wild beauty, while the most simple lines always contain the deepest emotions. Simple plots are used for drawing the outline of their whole life of the six characters in The Waves. However, Woolf puts poetic emotion into each section of their whole life.Chapter Three focuses on Woolf’s way to express the theme of time in The Waves, which bears similarities with Gauguin’s aesthetic theory of Synthetism. There are two aspects.(1) Multi-perspective narration is applied in this novel. Post-impressionist Paul Gauguin breaks the traditional focus-perspective and uses multi-perspective. In The Waves, Woolf uses psychological time and physical time. Physical time is short and vague while psychological time is detailed and clear. Woolf also cuts the characters’ whole lives into a large amount of moments and these connected moments turns into a time river at last.(2) The principle of simplification. Simplification means to deduct the structural characteristics of an artistic work to the minimum in order to expose its essence. Woolf simplifies the narrative time in this novel while seizes moments of impressions in life-- “significant moments” to serve for the essence of harmony and unification among people. Humans need follow their heart in their limited time and find a pure soul island to live in.Chapter Four focuses on Woolf’s way to express the theme of death in The Waves, which bears similarities with Gauguin’s aesthetic theory of Synthetism. There are two aspects.(1) Painting design is applied in this novel. It is the process during which the unwanted information is deleted and the essential parts form a significant whole. In The Waves, Woolf deliberately ignores the precise information of death and pays attention to the real feeling of death and attitude towards death. Consequently, she reveals that death is inevitable and death is a harsh and factual feeling and also the only result of human being.(2) Distorted images are applied in this novel. Distortion is a kind of artistic skill which aims to impose illusionary and imaginary quality on reality. This expressive distortion can disclose one’s inner emotions when facing reality. In this novel, the waves are the representative distorted images. The waves are the symbol of the destructive power of death and also represent the rebirth. The waves’ cycle just like the birth and death of human being. And the circulate of waves stands for the life and death of human being. Unless one understand the circulate of life, he or she can make a limitless possibilities.By applying Post-impressionism painting factors in this novel, this thesis explores a kind of aesthetic effect achieved through Woolf’s successful combination of literature and painting, and gives us inspiration on life, time and death. Thus it enriches the research on Woolf and brings forward a new angle and approach to interpret other modernist works.