A line from Virginia Woolf's essay

Question

"Those great wars which the body wages with the mind a slave to it, in the solitude of the bedroom against the assault of fever or the oncome of melancholia, are neglected."

Is the underlined part an apposition to "the mind"? meaning, is it right if I understand this sentence like "Those great wars which the body wages with the mind (which is) a slave to it(the body)...."?

Mister Micawber · Accepted Answer

woodslimThose great wars which the body wages with the mind a slave to it

The punctuation—or the structure—seems odd, but yes I agree with your reading.

CalifJim · Answer

woodslimwith the mind a slave to it ... apposition to "the mind"

Some grammars call this a small clause, that is, a noun phrase (subject) followed by any other kind of phrase, usually an adjective or preposition phrase, but in this case another noun phrase (predicate). A form of be is assumed: with the mind (being) a slave to it. The introductory "with" is often optional; small clauses are frequently found without it. As it is used here it takes on the flavor of "when" or "in the case of": in those cases where the mind is a slave to the body.

So it's not exactly a case of apposition, but a case of predication. At least I wouldn't say so, though the line between them is not always so clear. The core meaning is "The mind is a slave to the body", but it's expressed as a non-finite clause.

CJ

Woodslim · Answer

Thank you all! Your answers helped me a lot <img class='emoticon' style='Width:19px;Height:19px;' data-delaysrc='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' src='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' alt='Emotion: smile'/>

A line from Virginia Woolf's essay

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