Modern Fiction

Woolf observed elsewhere that “on or about December 1910 human character changed” (Woolf, Virginia. “Mr. Bennett and Mrs. Brown.” Hogarth Press, 1924). Does “Modern Fiction” support the suggestion that Modernism (or modernity generally) completely diverges from what came before?

Woolf makes many references to the works of other writers. In what ways might this technique be persuasive to readers?

Woolf suggests that all criticism is afflicted by “vagueness.” What does Woolf mean by this? How does her own essay seek to avoid it?