Title: The Obscene Thing, the Alarming Presence: The Abject, Self, and Language in Jacobs

Room and Orlando

The Abject, as defined in Julia Kristevas Powers of Horror, occupies the realm between
self and other, and when confronted generates a bodily sense of disgust and horror 1. Serving to
mark the boundary of what is not the self, the abject is simultaneously longed for yet cast aside
and shunned, often because of societys conventions2. In Jacobs Room and Orlando, the two
protagonists experience moments of repulsion, fear, and intense loneliness when they come faceto-face with the abject. The concept of the abject can be used to understand the fundamental
longing of the characters for connection with one another, a theme running through Woolfs
novels, as well as the barriers, constructed by society, which prevent us from a complete
empathy. The role of language and literature is important as it represents an instrument by which
society enforces its systems, but which can be subverted in order to attain genuine
communication with one another3.
Kristeva proposes that even though the abject inspires disgust, the disgust provoked is
inseparable from longing. The desire to bridge the gap between subject and object stems from a
time prior to their separation, before the immemorial violence with which a body becomes
separated from another body in order to be 4. However, the repulsiveness of the abject serves to
reinforce the boundaries between subject and object, preserving ones sense of self. This desire to
be one with others is present throughout Woolfs work - it can be seen by how the abject appears
1 Kristeva, Julia, and Leon S. Roudiez. Powers of Horror: An Essay on Abjection. New York: Columbia
UP, 1982. Print. p.1

2 Ibid, p.10
3 Ibid, p.16, 18
4 Ibid, p.10

in moments when Jacob and Orlando seek intimacy with those around them, repulsing them even
as they attempt to draw closer.
Jacobs first encounter with the abject takes place when he, running along the shore,
reaches for his nanny in a moment of terror only to discover she is not there. What terrifies him
is the sight of a sunbathing couple, lying motionless on the shore. In that moment, Jacob, a small
boy scrambling along the beach, is profoundly alone. The man and woman, representing for him
the universal adult couple, are alien and other, shutting him out even as they become a single
entity. The gaze of their bodies-as-objects, large red faces [...staring] up at Jacob, makes clear
the divide between him and them - he is not allowed to bridge the divide between self and other
that the couple symbolically bridges. In reaction to this, he runs towards someone he loves, the
mother-figure of his nanny, crying her name in an attempt to summon her. Yet at the crucial
moment of reaching her, she turns out to be yet another object, a rock. 5 Throughout the novel, the
sense of there being an insurmountable barrier between people persists, the barrier being
maddeningly fragile yet unbreakable. The repeated metaphor used is that of a pane of glass.
The characters gaze at each other through it, seeing each other as objects, but are unable to reach
through the glass to the other side; the initial lack of division between self and other is suggested
by the idea that we start transparent, before the cloud thickens, making it all the more
impossible to see into one anothers soul.6
The duality between longing and disgust is illustrated in Orlandos encounter with the
Archduchess Harriet. How Orlando reacts to the Archduchess advances is not characterized as
being merely horror or repulsion, but passion. The duality between longing and disgust is
5 Woolf, Virginia. Jacob's Room. Hogarth Press, 1922. Project Gutenberg
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/5670. p.5

6 Ibid, p.40

described using the metaphor of the birds of Love and Lust. Love is described as being dual in
nature - having two, indeed, of every member, and each one is the exact opposite of the other. 7
This duality suggests the doubleness of subject and object that Love joins together - the fragility
of the divide drawn between self and not-self is suggested by how closely the two sides of Love
are intertwined. Yet even as Orlando reaches towards Love, it slips out of his grasp. The
suddenness with which Love turns monstrous reflects the defensive nature of the abject - when
one breaches the boundaries between self and other, the abject serves to repulse, making the
boundaries of self clear again.
While the self longs to be one with others, Kristeva posits that it is societys conventions
which construct the barriers between people. She states that the self-consciousness curbing our
desire is created by the gaze of Society, the Other who precedes and possesses each person.
From what is reacted to as unspeakable and obscene, we can see who or what Woolf identifies as
being societally excluded from the clean and proper narrative of the Self.
A crucial divide that society draws is that between humans and animals. The world of
animals is tied up with the drives of sex and murder, which society shuns to protect itself from.
In the moments when Sasha repulses Orlando, he sees her as an animal. He names her after his
pet fox, a creature soft as snow, but with teeth of steel, which bit him so savagely that his father
had it killed.8 In his picture of her in the brutish sailors arms, or gnawing a candle-end in a
corner9, the animalistic consists of insatiable, orgiastic drives of consumption. Yet the
monstrous drives he perceives in Sasha are a reflection of his own egoism, blurring the

7 Woolf, Virginia. Orlando; a Biography. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1973. Print. p.117
8 Ibid, p.44
9 Ibid, p.52

distinction between self and other. Women are allied with animals, lust, and death in both books
as Jacob and Orlando both violently seek to possess them. In Jacobs Room, Jacob views the
women in church with contempt; he compares them to dogs even as he evaluates them as ugly
as sin10, his frustrated desire set against the backdrop of their untouchable and sacred
respectability. Similarly, what terrifies Orlando in the Archduchess Harriet is Lust the vulture,
black, hairy, brutish11, the same creature motivating his violently jealous possessiveness of
Sasha. As such, women are excluded from the propriety and order of society, outside the bounds
of language. Sex remains an unspoken taboo - Jacobs mothers impotent words, rendered
forlorn and lost in the form of a letter, lie outside the barrier of the door behind which Jacob is
lying with Florinda, the obscene thing, the alarming presence, causing terror [to] come over
her as at death, or the birth of a child. 12 Sex bubbles beneath the surface, threatening to disrupt
society if put into words - the madames leer, after Jacob visits one of her prostitutes, threatens
to spill the whole bag of ordure, which is only tenuously held together.13
The abject to Kristeva is that which cannot be named, a taboo which exists outside the
symbolic order of society and outside of language. To her, literature is a means of confronting the
abject, of plumbing the depths of subject and object by playing with and subverting language.
Language to her represents the symbolic order, societys instrument, which determines what is
subject and abject. In the process of playing with language one comes closer to the experience of

10 Woolf, Jacobs Room, p.26

11 Woolf, Orlando, p.117
12 Woolf, Jacobs Room, p.78
13 Ibid, p.89

sublimation, the opposite of abjection, where the division between subject and object is
transcended.14
Throughout Orlando, Orlando attempts to capture the idea of love in words. He first starts
with Sasha - here, his fondness for metaphor is revealed by his likening her to snow, cream,
marble, cherries, alabaster, golden wire15 amongst others. Yet search as he might, no image
seems to fit. Even as he chases after her, [sweeping] her over the ice, faster, faster, vowing that
he would chase the flame, dive for the gem 16 Sasha remains silent, uncatchable. Metaphor is an
attempt to impose the symbolic order upon its object, to make it conform to reason and
convention. In this case, language can reinforce the order of society just as much as it can
subvert it, as is further seen by the gatherings Madame du Deffand hosts. Despite the attendance
of the most famous writers at the time, their wit is nothing but an illusion which any real
profundity may shatter - it does not prevent them from being misogynistic, nor say anything
about the world. 17
It is only after Orlandos union with Shelmerdine that she manages to take on the nature
of a true poet, who can destroy illusions [and] is both beast and flood 18. Orlando and
Shelmerdine instantly transcend language upon meeting - the ordinary linkways of language are
shaken as they leap instantly from word to vivid meaning, grasping each others essence,
whether the steel-blue gleam of rooks wings, or a ship in full sail coming with the sun on

14 Kristeva, p.11
15 Woolf, Orlando, p.47
16 Ibid.
17 Ibid, pp.199-200
18 Ibid, p.203

it,19 simply from each others names. Between them, there is perfect communication, with
meaning almost decoupled from speech - Orlando only has to say Bonthrop for Shelmerdine to
grasp her meaning, both parties mastering understanding, which has become the main art of
speech in an age when words are growing daily so scanty in comparison with ideas. 20 In their
conversation, their perfect understanding of one another transcends the division between male
and female which is one of the main sources of the abject; their understanding is so complete that
they have to constantly reassure each other of their gender. Despite Shelmerdines physical
departure, their intellectual and spiritual union allows Orlando to neither fight her age, nor
submit to it; she was of it, yet remained herself. 21 Orlandos newfound ability to navigate and
conform to the conventions of her era, yet to maintain her own perspective, is what allows her to
write (and write, and write). In the following pages, the extent to which she has escaped the
conventional bounds of language is shown by Woolfs musings on the nature of biography Woolf is able to capture the outwards reality of Orlandos actions, but not the rich, subjective
inner life that drives it.
However, sublimation is never reached in Jacobs Room. Till the end, the abject remains
unspoken, and communion with others is never reached. In the last part of the book, Jacobs
voice disappears - instead he is spoken about by others, who try to grasp him but fail. Despite
Jacob admiring the work of poets, the primary form of writing that takes place in Jacobs Room
is in the form of letters. Letters, rather than allowing one to express and embrace themselves,
alienate the writer from their self. Their words sever and become alien, resulting in their

19 Ibid, p.251
20 Ibid, p.258
21 Ibid, p.266

viewing their own self as an object, a phantom of ourselves to fear or hate or wish
annihilated.22 In this sense, letters are merely a reinforcement and manifestation of the abject.
This is despite the attempted purpose of personal correspondence between people, the task of
reaching, touching, penetrating the human heart - this task eludes even the poets, masters of
language23. This is due to societys restrictions limiting them; genuine emotion is corralled
within cordialities and invitations to lunch. Woolf separates ability to use language with the
ability to communicate emotion, Florindas saving grace - even though the impediment
between Florinda and her pen was something impassable, her letters are the only truthful pieces
of writing amongst the various characters.24
In the lead-up to Jacobs death, letters are exchanged and conversations between others
are held. Yet very little is said. Words, for Jacob, are just instruments to spar with, allowing
Bonamy to play round him like an affectionate spaniel25. One of the last times Jacob is
mentioned is in his mothers letter, her banalities about him being hard at work after his
delightful journey26 playing out in contrast to his unreadable, inscrutable action of walking
away. Nothing is said of war and death, the ultimate manifestation of the abject according to
Kristeva, where the self ceases to exist but is turned into the object as corpse. In this sense, Jacob
becomes just another one of the young boys sent off to war, an interminable procession of bodies
marching into the sea. When Bonamy and Mrs. Flanders pick through his belongings after his

22 Woolf, Jacobs Room, p.78

23 Ibid, p.79
24 Ibid.
25 Ibid, p.143
26 Ibid, p.150

death, Jacob has left his letters strewn about for any one to read 27 - his letters are so separated
from who he is that they, along with his other possessions, fall flat and are inarticulate in the face
of his death. In a prescient moment of abject loneliness earlier in the book, Jacob reflects,
feeling a violent reversion away from Florinda, that Its not catastrophes, murders, deaths,
diseases, that age and kill us; its the way people look and laugh, and run up the steps of
omnibuses.28 Jacobs death is the product of a society where language no longer creates
empathy between us. As he realizes, the unbridgeable distance between people is insoluble reflected in Florindas dumb gaze in response, and in the repeated, hollow language of history,
where each generation of children learning it makesone [marvel], sorrowfully, to hear him spell
out in his new voice the ancient words.29
Orlando and Jacobs Room represent the two extremes it is possible for language to reach
- from the sublime coming together of two minds, to the profound and insoluble alienation
permeating society that has existed since humanity, since the self came to be. This eternal
loneliness and the danger that comes from disconnection makes Woolfs writing all the more
important in highlighting what society constructs as abject, particularly women. This reflects
Woolfs views on writing, that a writers mind should be androgynous, resonant and porous, 30
overcoming the ego to take the perspectives of other genders, other people, transmitting only
emotion. In this sense, Woolfs and Kristevas views on literature align - writing calls for a
softening of the superego31, where the writer imagines themselves in the place of the abject,
27 Ibid, p. 153
28 Ibid, p.69
29 Ibid, p.83
30 Woolf, Virginia, A Room of Ones Own. Oxford UP, 1998. p. 128.
31 Kristeva, p.16

investigating exactly what constitutes the boundaries of the self, in a world where this is a
necessary task.