"One world, one life" : the politics of personal connection in Virginia Woolf's The waves

Abstract

Introduction: "I hear a sound," said Rhoda, "cheep, chirp; cheep, chirp; going up and down" (9). Thus Virginia Woolf introduces Rhoda in her opening to The Waves. But almost immediately, this sound is transformed: " 'The birds sang in chorus first,' said Rhoda. 'Now the scullery door is unbarred. Off they fly. Off they fly like a fling of seed. But one sings by the bedroom window alone' " (10-11). While the birds were originally a unified, collective sound, "going up and down" as one, now they fly away as many, spreading like seeds that will eventually grow individually to create separate new lives. Rhoda implies that they sang as one only because they had no other choice - the door was barred, and they were jailed together. However, the single bird remaining by the window deep in song is a noteworthy figure. Like Rhoda, and human consciousness itself, it might be lonely or free, proudly individual or vulnerable in its solitude.