Between the Acts: An Appropriate Title
Shakespeare said that “All the world’s a stage, and all men and women merely players.” Virginia Woolf echoes this sentiment in Between the Acts because Woolf utitlizes the play put on by the locals as a symbol on two different levels. On the surface, the pageant represents the state of the people in the novel. Then, on a deeper level, the play represents the state of England at the time of the writing of the novel. The ending of the play leaves the audience bewildered as to its meaning and offended at its implications.
The audience’s reaction to the play centers around its ending set in the contemporary time of the audience. The use of the mirror shocks the audience out of the amusing mood that the earlier acts of the play induced. The audience refuses to see itself as the fragmented and accept the words of the voice from the bushes that states, “we’re all the same” meaning that modern society is filled with “liars most of us.” What then can be meant by this?
Obviously, Woolf channels her own sentiments concerning the modern world through the interpretation given by Rev. Streatfield. Streatfield asserts that “we act different parts.” For Woolf, then, the outer selves that we portray to others are the acts of a play. A person puts on a display for others, whether it is donning the costume of the mother or the teacher. A person performs a role that society dictates that must be fulfilled. It is as if there is some great script that has been scored for each person before birth and each moment of life is another scene in this cosmic play.
Interesting enough as it is, the play does not carry the true action of the novel. The true action of the novel occurs between the acts of the play. It is during these interludes that the characters of the novel become their true selves. Taken on the deeper level, Woolf seems to be saying that this act that a person must put on because of societal rules is not the true self. The true self is what a person does when not performing the role.
The performance distracts the characters in the novel from the longings that exist within them. The performance remains a mimesis- the imitation of an action. The true action of the novel centers around what happens when the characters are not watching the play. Thus, a person’s true identity resides not in what he or she does as a performance for others. The true self resides in “between the acts”.
Shakespeare said that “All the world’s a stage, and all men and women merely players.” Virginia Woolf echoes this sentiment in Between the Acts because Woolf utitlizes the play put on by the locals as a symbol on two different levels. On the surface, the pageant represents the state of the people in the novel. Then, on a deeper level, the play represents the state of England at the time of the writing of the novel. The ending of the play leaves the audience bewildered as to its meaning and offended at its implications.
The audience’s reaction to the play centers around its ending set in the contemporary time of the audience. The use of the mirror shocks the audience out of the amusing mood that the earlier acts of the play induced. The audience refuses to see itself as the fragmented and accept the words of the voice from the bushes that states, “we’re all the same” meaning that modern society is filled with “liars most of us.” What then can be meant by this?
Obviously, Woolf channels her own sentiments concerning the modern world through the interpretation given by Rev. Streatfield. Streatfield asserts that “we act different parts.” For Woolf, then, the outer selves that we portray to others are the acts of a play. A person puts on a display for others, whether it is donning the costume of the mother or the teacher. A person performs a role that society dictates that must be fulfilled. It is as if there is some great script that has been scored for each person before birth and each moment of life is another scene in this cosmic play.
Interesting enough as it is, the play does not carry the true action of the novel. The true action of the novel occurs between the acts of the play. It is during these interludes that the characters of the novel become their true selves. Taken on the deeper level, Woolf seems to be saying that this act that a person must put on because of societal rules is not the true self. The true self is what a person does when not performing the role.
The performance distracts the characters in the novel from the longings that exist within them. The performance remains a mimesis- the imitation of an action. The true action of the novel centers around what happens when the characters are not watching the play. Thus, a person’s true identity resides not in what he or she does as a performance for others. The true self resides in “between the acts”.
