Additional Information
Example A: Virginia Woolf, Mrs Dalloway
The beginning of the novel follows Mrs Dalloway as she is on her way to the florist’s, reminiscing about a man whom she had once loved. “[…] and then the horror of the moment when some one told her at a concert that he has married a woman met on the boat going to India! Never should she forget all that. Cold, heartless, a prude, he called her.” (Virginia Woolf, Mrs Dalloway, London: Penguin Popular Classics, 1996, p. 10)
In this passage the flashback is intricately combined with the stream of consciousness technique (cf. 76 Stream of Consciousness). Exploring Mrs Dalloway’s mind also provides deeper insight into her past while the recollection of her former lover’s words includes a different perspective of the main character.
Example B: Arthur Miller, Death of a Salesman
Struggling on a low income and finding it increasingly difficult to cope with the strain of constant travelling, Willy Loman, the main character in Death of a Salesman, asks his employer for a different job and a salary increase. But the scene culminates in Willy’s dismissal. Left alone, Willy’s thoughts wander back to the past when in an equally difficult situation his brother Ben came to see him, offering him a job and thus opening up exciting possibilities. Later he reflects on the past in more general terms:
Willy: Oh, Ben, how do we get back to all the great times? Used to be so full of light, and comradeship, the sleigh-riding in winter […]. And always some kind of good news coming up, always something nice coming up ahead. […]
(Arthur Miller, Death of a Salesman, Stuttgart: Reclam, 1984, p. 137)
When performing the play, the shift in time is indicated by music which also creates a dreamlike atmosphere. The flashback shows Willy as a man who was already torn between a dreary reality and his dream of a better life in the past. Being unable to cope with his problems from which there seems to be no escape, Willy is increasingly caught in the past.
