Virginia Woolf: "The Lady in the Looking–Glass". Reading Questions

1. Notice how the mirror in the first paragpraph is set up as the frame for a kind of a portrait.
2. The unnamed narrator attempts to construct a portrait of the Isabella Tyson that consisits of her outer self and her inner self. The portrait is reflected in the objects inside and outside the house as they reflect in the mirror.
3. Describe the images reflected in the mirror.
4. What kind of contrast is there between the objects inside the house and outside the house, as they are reflected in the mirror?
5. Describe how the narrator attempts to compose the portrait through the mood inside the room, through her own imagination, and through the presentation of Isabella in the mirror
6. What are the known facts about Isabella's outer self?
7. What material objects inside and outside the house does the narrator use to imagine Isabella's life?
8. What are Isabella's letters supposed to conceal, according to the narrator? What would one know if one could only read them?
9. At the end of the story, according to the narrator, is it possible to know objectovely one's inner reality?
10. In this story Woolf questions whether the inner self of an individaul is finally knowable. What do you think is her conclusion? Provide support for your statement.
11. What do you think is the role of the mirror in the story? How has the mirror been used as a metaphor in literature?
12. Describe the charactersitics of this story that resemble stream-of-consciousness narrative technique.