Published in 1917, “The Mark on the Wall” was one of the first two stories printed and published by Virginia and Leonard Woolf when they started the Hogarth Press. “The Mark on the Wall” is one of Virginia Woolf’s most innovative short stories, transforming an ordinary observation into a thorough meditation on consciousness, memory, and more. By using a stream-of-consciousness narrative style, Woolf gives readers the opportunity to explore the ever-changing state of mind.
Originally published as the November 2019 dispatch
Virginia Woolfwas an English novelist, essayist, and critic whose writing helped define the modernist movement in twentieth-century literature. Her most well-known works include Mrs Dalloway, Orlando, and A Room of One’s Own. She masterfully uses a stream-of-consciousness style to explore perception and identity, expanding the possibilities of fiction to the nuances of an individual’s inner experience.
Woolf was born in London in 1882, and was a central figure in the Bloomsbury Group. This group of writers, artists, and intellectuals set the stage for British cultural life in the twentieth century. Woolf in particular challenged the status quo, advocating for more opportunities for women in education in the arts and leaving a lasting impact on modern literature.
