This application will be covering the analysis of the short story “The Lady in the Looking Glass: A Reflection” By Virginia Woolf, and the article “Solid Objects/Ghosts of Chairs: Virginia Woolf and the Afterlife on Things” by Graham Fraser. In Frasers article, he looks at the inanimate objects described within Woolf’s short story in two perspectives; the new materialist and the psychoanalytic. These perspectives then use literary techniques such as anthropomorphism and domestication to find deeper meaning and purpose of the story. Fraser analyzes the inanimate objects in Woolf’s story because they “corresponds to a rising indistinction between Isabella and her room” (Fraser 82). The objects around us, therefore, are able to portray characteristics about oneself that may otherwise not be revealed.
Throughout Woolf’s story, objects are given domesticated descriptions in order to demonstrate the mindstate of Isabella. For her “ mind was like her room, in which lights advanced and retreated, came pirouetting and stepping delicately, spreading their tails, pecked their way, and then her whole being was suffused, like the room again, with a cloud of some profound knowledge, some unspoken regret, and then she was full of locked drawers, stuffed with letters, like her cabinets” (219). This quote is able to show us some of the emotions that Isabella feels herself. Specifically, how she is “full of locked drawers” such as her cabinets are filled with letters. From this description, we can make inferences about how Isabella is struggling with being able to open up with her emotions. We can also, through the anthropomorphization of the lights, can indicate how her mind is scattered, moving from one subject to another. We can link Woolf doing this to ontological ambiguity, which is the unclear notion whether an object is alive or still inanimate. It can explain the placement or displacement of objects in accordance to their meaning. In relation to the story, this would be placement of Isabella’s possessions such as the looking-glass mirror, her cabinets, and tables. Their placement and movement depicts the inner workings of Isabella’s mind.
If I were to take the analysis of Woolf’s story one step further, I would deeper examine what emotions are trying to be evoked from the placement of objects. Woolf uses similes and metaphors throughout the story to infer what Isabella’s mind state may be, but how do we get clear answers? I wonder if we would be able to draw more importance to other objects in the room, such as the looking-glass mirror, to find other meaning. I found that the cabinets in the room were something not touched upon very much in both Frasers analysis or classroom discussion. I would also look further into the similes and metaphors that Woolf uses and why there are so many. The simile I used in my analysis was able to link together one possession of Isabellas to one aspect of her mind. There could possibly be more unexamined metaphors and similes in the story that further explain or give readers insight to Isabella. Going through and collecting them could be a process that reveals an overall deeper understanding of Woolf’s story.
