Part 2 shifts focus to 19th and 20th-century literature, highlighting major novelists and evolving literary techniques. Woolf analyzes Jane Austen’s narrative brilliance and contrasts Bronte?an passion with George Eliot’s moral depth. In Modern Fiction, she critiques conventional storytelling, advocating for stream-of-consciousness techniques. The Russian Point of View celebrates Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, and Chekhov, praising their psychological depth. She then presents Outlines of various figures, blending biography with literary commentary. The Modern Essay reflects on the evolving role of criticism, while Joseph Conrad and How It Strikes a Contemporary explore modernist concerns about perception and reality. This section cements Woolf’s literary philosophy, positioning her as a key figure in modernist literary criticism. The Common Reader ultimately argues that literature is an ever-changing landscape shaped by both tradition and innovation.
