Essay

The idea of split personalities is conveyed by using metaphors, images and the 3rd person narrator.

Virginia Woolf provides us with a character that we believe we know everything about her, but in reality, we do not know nothing about Isabella. This effect is created by using a looking glass. Through it, we could see contrasting things that happen inside and outside the house. The interior part of the house, shows constant movement, everything moves ``freely``. There is a sense of a dynamic environment that goes from one state to another one. In the same way, ``the room that afternoon was full of shy creatures, lights and shadows, curtains blowing, petals falling``. Everything inside the house was perfect and in a natural state.

``nothing stayed the same for two seconds together``. This phrase shows contrast, as outside the house it is all the contrary, everything `` seemed held there in their reality unescapably``. This suggest that what it is reflected in the looking glass is still and peaceful. Moreover, the interior image of the house represents the deep interior of Isabella`s self, constantly changing, hidden away from the external world, outside her house. Meanwhile, the external image of the house stands for Isabella`s self, seen by the world. Isabella want the world to see her as someone who lives a great life. In reality, her mind can`t stay the same for ``two seconds together``.

Furthermore, the way in which the narrator presents Isabella Tyson, contributes to the idea of split personality. Indeed, nothing is certain about her until the end of the story, it is all based on speculations. ``presumably``, she went to pick up flowers from her garden, but nothing is sure, not even the simplest things of her are certain. ``sometimes it seems as if they knew more about her than we``. In addition, the narrator after the speculations made of Isabella, established facts about her: ``she was rich; she was distinguished; she had many friends; she travelled``.Finally, the narrator told us the reality about Isabella ``it was her profound state of being that one wanted to catch and turn into words``. We find out that Isabella is just an old lady, with a huge pile of bills to pay, instead of beautiful love letters.

All in all, for all the concepts stated above, the use of metaphors, the images and the narrator, convey the concept of split personality. Virginia Woolf uses metaphors and contrasting images, to emphasize that there were split personalities, split self’s. There is one imagined Isabella and a real Isabella.

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