ABSTRACT
This chapter will present the argument that Woolf’s novels are defined by the radical questionability of existence, that interpretation is the primary theme of her novels. It will go on to assert that one acquires an improved understanding of her novels when one understands the philosophical nuances of interpretation. It then introduces the primary categories of interpretation: language, art, and dialogue. These categories are decisive because they directly implicate the participant: before he or she is even aware of it, the interpreter already belongs to the thing being understood; any attempt to interpret should acknowledge and include the belongingness of the interpreter. Furthermore, these categories provide a framework for understanding the narrative impact of Woolf’s novels: the nuances and details of interpretation become the subject matter; the understood shifts and changes (and the characters must deal with this movement) as one interacts, expresses oneself, and engages with the world.
