Kew Gardens

Woolf is known as a major figure of Modernist literature. Modernism was a transatlantic literary movement in the late 19th and early 20th centuries that focused on shedding tradition in pursuit of a wholly original style. Modernist literature represented a radical departure from traditional literary forms, characterized by its experimentalism and engagement with the complexities of modern life, including social change and technological advancement. World War I greatly influenced the movement; many Modernist writers, particularly European writers, captured the monumental loss and long-term effects of the war. In addition to Woolf, major Modernist writers and poets included Ezra Pound, James Joyce, William Faulkner, T. S. Eliot, and William Carlos Williams, among many others.

Modernist writers and poets experimented with innovative techniques such as stream of consciousness, nonlinear storytelling, and fragmented narratives. They sought to capture the complexities of human consciousness and perception by representing the fragmented and nonlinear nature of thought. Stream of consciousness is a major component of Woolf’s work. Although typically associated with first-person narration (famous examples of which are Joyce’s Ulysses [1922] and William Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury [1929]) Woolf regularly employed it through third-person omniscient narrators.

“Kew Gardens” does not latch onto the mind of one character but jumps from one consciousness to the next. An example of stream of consciousness occurs in the conversation of the young couple. The narration shifts between the internal thoughts of the young man and woman: “Even when she wondered what sort of tea they gave you at Kew, he felt that something loomed up behind her words, and stood vast and solid behind them” (95). In this excerpt, the narration briskly switches between the woman’s thoughts about tea to the man’s imagined trip to a restaurant.

Earlier in the story, Simon reflects on his memories of Lily through internal monologue: “‘Fifteen years ago I came here with Lily,’ he thought. ‘We sat somewhere over there by a lake and I begged her to marry me all through the hot afternoon’” (85). Woolf’s use of an omniscient narrator allows the reader to perceive the thoughts of her numerous characters. Even the consciousness of the snail is explored when he contemplates how to overcome the obstacle of the dead leaf. By using stream-of-consciousness narration in “Kew Gardens,” Woolf finds parallels between the internal lives of her characters.

Another, more subtle, element of Modernism is its depiction of the aftermath of World War I. Postwar England is briefly mentioned by the older gentleman when he discusses spirits with his younger companion: “[W]ith this war, the spirit matter is rolling between the hills like thunder” (89). He describes a device that can contact deceased spirits, and he notes that the main customers will be widows. The older man’s seemingly nonsensical statements about contacting the dead underline the widespread loss and grief in postwar England.