Virginia Woolf and poetics of an ending

Abstract

The closing pages of V. Woolfs novels Mrs Dalloway and To the Lighthouse evoke a specific fictional condition, reminding us of what is known as déjà vu effect: namely, one cannot help comparing the two ends. The similarities thus observed can be elaborated and extended to some other novels of V. Woolf which, together With the two mentioned above, form a unique sequel. This paper tries to investigate this phenomenon suggesting the possibility that Woolfian fiction deals with a specific poetics of an ending originating in the interaction between experience and creation and reflecting the "death instinct".