Both would go on to fulfill their dream, Woolf, becoming one of the pioneers of the modernist movement in literature.
It would be difficult to discuss the modern aspects of Virginia Woolf's novels without first exploring the writing norms of the English novel of her era. At the turn of the century the term novel covered a great diversity of writing. However, most of the novelists still used the techniques of the nineteenth century novel. These novelists still thought the main aim of the novel was to tell an interesting story, "a narrative of events arranged in their time sequence"1 in a carefully constructed plot. A series of events lead to a climax and then, a denouement 2. Another convention of the traditional English novel is to present to the reader a recognizable version of life. Partly, the reason for this style of writing was the need to appeal to the growing and wealthy middle class or bourgeoisie who had begun to gain respect and power. Many of these novels such as Charles Dickens' Great Expectations held up a self-proclaiming mirror to the middle class recording their epic social rise over unimaginable obstacles. .
As the twentieth century neared, the novel began to develop a new identity. Plot, chronology and realism were eliminated. New authors emerged giving birth to a new form of writing referred to as impressionistic, psychological, stream of consciousness or poetic novels 3. Around the same time that this new form of writing emerged, psychology was beginning to become fashionable. It was only a matter of time before a novel was written that would attempt to reveal the inner workings of the mind. These novels explored the subconscious world, drew from a brief thought, a memory just out of reach, intuitions and subconscious desires. Woolf was one of the many novelists that tackled this genre and broke the traditional framework of the novel. .
"Modern Fiction" is an essay written by Woolf.
