Wikipedia

The Mark on the Wall

The Mark on the Wall is the first published story by Virginia Woolf.[1] It was published in 1917 as part of the first collection of short stories written by Virginia Woolf and her husband, Leonard Woolf, called Two Stories.[2] It was later published in New York in 1921 as part of another collection entitled Monday or Tuesday.

Summary edit

The Mark on the Wall is written in the first person, as a "stream of consciousness" monologue.[3] The narrator notices a mark on the wall, and muses on the workings of the mind.[4] Themes of religion, self-reflection,[5] nature, and uncertainty are explored. The narrator reminisces about the development of thought patterns, beginning in childhood.[6]

Reception edit

Woolf's style in The Mark on the Wall has been frequently analyzed by literary writers; the story is used as an example of introspective writing.[3][4][6]

The story acted as the foundation for the music theatre "The Mark on the Wall“ by Stepha Schweiger, which was premiered in 2017 at Tête à Tête - The Opera Festival in London at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts.

American rock band Modest Mouse is named after a line from this story.

Publication edit

The Mark on the Wall has been included in a number of anthologies.

  • Woolf, Virginia. "A Mark on the Wall." The Norton Anthology of English Literature.Vol. F. Ed. 8th ed. Ed.Stephen Jahan Ramazani; Greenblatt; M. H. Abrahms; Jon Stallworthy. New York: W. W. Norton, 2005.
  • Woolf, Virginia. "A Mark on the Wall." Haunted House and other stories. Hogarth Press, London, 1944.[5]
  • Woolf, Virginia. (28 March 2014). Monday or Tuesday: Eight Stories. Start Classics. pp. 39–. ISBN 978-1-60977-494-3.
  • Woolf, Virginia. "The Mark on the Wall." The Wordsworth Collection of Classic Short Stories. Wordsworth editions, 2007. pp. 1334-.

References edit

  1. ^ Douglas Mao; Rebecca L. Walkowitz (1 July 2010). Bad Modernisms. Duke University Press. pp. 124–. ISBN 0-8223-8782-4.
  2. ^ Jane Goldman (14 September 2006). The Cambridge Introduction to Virginia Woolf. Cambridge University Press. pp. 88–. ISBN 978-1-139-45788-0.
  3. ^ a b Ralph Freedman (January 1980). Virginia Woolf: Revaluation and Continuity, a Collection of Essays. University of California Press. pp. 53–. ISBN 978-0-520-03980-3.
  4. ^ a b Susan Sellers (18 February 2010). The Cambridge Companion to Virginia Woolf. Cambridge University Press. pp. 42–. ISBN 978-0-521-89694-8.
  5. ^ a b Dave Welsh (2010). Underground Writing: The London Tube from George Gissing to Virginia Woolf. Liverpool University Press. pp. 180–. ISBN 978-1-84631-223-6.
  6. ^ a b Jennifer Margaret Fraser (1 January 2011). Be a Good Soldier: Children's Grief in English Modernist Novels. University of Toronto Press. pp. 157–. ISBN 978-1-4426-4313-0.

External links edit

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