3。2 Multiple viewpoints 

     In To the Lighthouse, Virginia Woolf want to reflect the free mental movements of the characters by using the multiple-point-of-view method of writing, which  makes full use of this complex multiple perspective。 In the manifold stream-of-consciousness novel To the Lighthouse, there are maybe four or five shifts of point of view in a single sentence, and precisely the shift point of view occurs is often easy to determine。 Moreover, there are some occasional passages which presented simultaneously from more than one point of view that the passage may be shared simultaneously through two or more narrators; at the same time the material may be presented in such a way making it impossible to distinguish between the omniscient narrator and the perceiving consciousness of a character。 So in the novel, the reader must have sufficient insight into the author’s language to make distinctions in the tones of the various narrators and in the signals provided for identifying the principle narrators。来;自]优Y尔E论L文W网www.youerw.com +QQ752018766-

     Jane once remarks that To the Lighthouse (inimitable in structure) seems to move on “normal” constructional lines from scene to scene so that the change of scene is more than a change of aspect and a move from the consciousness of one character to the consciousness of another; and that no need exists for artificial bridges from points in space, time, or consciousness (Jane 2006)。 The shifting of viewing stance is really a noteworthy refinement of technique in To the Lighthouse。 The refinement begins in the closer and easier integration of exterior and interior aspects-that is, in the movements from depiction of outside environment and action to reflection of mental processes, from outside to inside, and from inside to outside。 And sometimes the transition is so subtle that the reader cannot immediately determine if he is inside or outside the mind of a character。 For instance: “That people should love like this, that Mr。Bankes should feel this for Mrs。Ramsey (she glanced at him musing) was helpful, was exalting。 She wiped one brush after another upon a piece of old rag, menially, on purpose。” (Woolf 2005:10) This concentration upon Lily Briscoe is so intense that the reader becomes an omniscient observer, busy shifting viewing stances。 Likely, the matter of the first sentence is interior monologue, except, of course, for the parenthetical clause, which is exterior description。 Following immediately that inward process, without even mechanical bridging, the exterior description pictures Lily as she wipes the brushes。 Thus, in two sentences, the stance changes three times: from inside to outside abruptly, and instantly inside again, and then outside。