Semantic Analysis of Suicidal Elements in Virginia Woolf’s The Waves
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Abstract
This paper analyses how Virginia Woolf unconsciously deploys the suicidal terms in her novel, The Waves (1931). The study follows the theory of semantic analysis. With the help of the terms and expressions made by different characters in the novel, it examines how Virginia Woolf sets up the suicidal backdrop by placing several personal, temporal, spatial and social lexical expressions in the novel at various intervals subconsciously. The deployment creates a lexical field in which the expressions used by the characters are placed at the overt centre and the subtle terms indicating Virginia Woolf’s suicidal tendency are placed in a guise. This paper traces robust suicidal tendency through a textual and semantic analysis of lexical expressions and finds that not only on the fictional podium but also on the personal level, Virginia Woolf bears the same.
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