Criticism Write-up #4 (out of 15 - yikes!)

A Critical Read:

If Einstein and Woolf Went on a Relative Date

In Wayne Narey’s critical essay “Virginia Woolf’s ‘The Mark on the Wall’:  An Einsteinian View of Art,” he asserts that Woolf’s “artistic manifesto” could possibly have been influenced by Einstein’s theories, particularly in “The Mark on the Wall” which I think would categorize this as a scientific critic (35).  Narey wrote his essay in 1992, and with time being relative and also a prevailing theme in her writings, the article’s thesis is still pertinent.  He compares the main character’s “nonlinear view of events” as being analogous to Einstein’s relative theory of time.  He intimates that Woolf may have even been influenced by his theory, but there is little to no direct proof from her diaries. 

He explains how Einstein tried to view the world from a ray of light.  From the ray of light’s point of view, the earth was zipping by.  From the earth’s point of view, the light was speeding by at the speed of light.  Narey pointed out how this idea can be applied to “The Mark on the Wall.”  While the mark is static, our character’s mind is dynamic as because the thoughts are zipping about in her head.  The fact that the mark is a snail further enhances his stasis because he is a “symbol of slow and measure existence” (37).  He also notes that the un-named character in the story is static while her mind moves from thought to thought. 

He next reminds us that Woolf uses light to designate time.  In “The Mark on the Wall” she speaks of red and blue flowers which coincides with red and blue being at the extremes of the color spectrum, and “are thus the extremes of time” (39).  Narey believes that she has merged light, color, and time.  Just as it happens in most of Woolf’s writings, Narey also drags death into his essay because death is the ender of time whether it’s relative or not. 

I have one criticism of the paper, he seems to assume that we know or maybe understand Einstein’s theory of the relativity of time.  Also when he was talking about red and blue being at the extremities of the light spectrum, he mentions in a footnote that “The Doppler effect is, of course, essential to an understanding of astronomy” (39).  I thought we were talking physics.  I would not say that the article helped me understand “The Mark on the Wall” better, only that it gave me another aspect in which to view it.  Even though the author seemed to depend on a knowledge of Einstein, I did find the essay informative and readable.

Work Cited:

Narey, Wayne.  "Virginia Woolf's 'The Mark on the Wall':  An Einsteinian view of Art." Studies in Short Fiction, 29 (1992) 35-42.  Print.