Mrs. Dallowway, Revelations of a Woman

By Matthew Cox


Mrs. Dalloway, by Virginia Woolf opens a window into the mind of an upper class woman. Although she is a formal socialite from the British upper class, we see many aspects of her personality. The stream of consciousness techniques lets readers connect with her thoughts and feelings. For example, we see her interest in the royal family’s car. Also, Clarissa feels hurt when she is not invited to her husband’s luncheon. This shows how the protagonist is torn between her role as a hostess and desire for independence. Virginia Woolf uses the thoughts and memories of Mrs. Dalloway to fit all of the story elements into one day. Also, the book is called a “flaneur” story because it takes place as the protagonist walks on the city streets. At the end of the story, the protagonist has a party. She reveals her true feelings when a doctor says that a mentally ill friend, Septimus Warren Smith, commits suicide. Mrs. Dalloway uses thoughts and memories to show different aspect of the protagonist, Clarissa Dalloway.

Mrs. Dalloway begins with the title character, Clarissa Dalloway, walking around London to buy flowers for a party that she will host (essortment). Her stream of consciousness lets readers know what she is thinking about. She connects with other pedestrians and shows empathy. The walk seems to be an escape from the pressures of traditional high-society than a description of Mrs. Dalloway’s character. Clarissa shows her snobbishness when she gets annoyed with her daughter being more concerned about her gloves and shoes than people. Such arrogance also becomes obvious when the protagonist describes Miss Kilman, an unlucky lady whom she dislikes. The lady gets fired from her teaching job because she does not denounce the Germans during World War I.

However, the story shifts to Mrs. Dalloway’s friendship to Septimus Warren Smith, a shell-shocked veteran who is losing his mind. Both Septimus and Lucrezia, his Italian wife, with Clasissa see a car with the royal family in it. Woolf depicts the car sarcastically as “a face of great importance against the dove-grey upholstery.” As Septimus views the car as false symbol of wealth, Mrs. Dalloway is respectfully curious about it. This shows a contrast between the materialism of Clarissa and simple lifestyle of her friends. However, Woolf also demonstrates the protagonist’s sensitivity by understanding the feelings of Smith.

Another way that Mrs. Dalloway expresses her feelings is feeling hurt that she gets from Richard, her husband. He has been invited to Lady Bruton for lunch. However, Clarissa is not invited. Feeling left out encourages the main character to remember her summers spent at Bourton, her father summer estate in the country. Such memories allow readers to see how Mrs. Dalloway feels about other characters. Despite being an upper-class snob, Clarissa is a good person. For example, she greatly admires Sally Seton in very big was as illustrated by “The strange thing, on looking back, was the purity, the integrity, of her feeling for Sally. It was not like one's feeling for a man (essortment).”

Lucy, Mrs. Dalloway’s servant, sees many sides of her employer. For example, this shows up with “Of all her mistress was the loveliest--mistress of silver, of linen, of china" and later discusses how she was not like that when she was young. Clarissa has her identity in these things due to her class position; in Clarissa's position, the only options available for identity socially are in a husband and in things. Independence is not an option for her; she is trapped by class and money (essortment).”

Richard also helps readers to define the title character’s personality. When he brings home roses for Clarissa, we see the couple interacting. He does not tell his wife that he loves her and assumes that she knows it. After a few minutes if talking, he goes off to a committee meeting regarding an ethnic group. Mrs. Dalloway is not sure if they are Armenians or Albanians. This shows either her disinterest or unawareness in her husband’s interests. Also this demonstrates her misunderstanding of social injustice.

Although Clarissa has her own thoughts and personality, she does not show them because. The main character hides her true feelings and takes on the role of hostess. She is trying to live up to role in the upper class of British society and not act emotionally. Expressing ones’ feelings or being direct is considered rude in polite culture. Many of the other characters are interesting. This is due to their responses to Mrs. Dalloway or the way Mrs. Dalloway remembers them. Most of the people in the story refer to her as Mrs. Dalloway and not Clarissa because of formality in British society.

The climax is Clarissa Dalloway's party (answers.com). This event ties the characters together in one final scene. Also, Mrs. Dalloway’s celebration finishes the subplot of Septimus Warren Smith. Dr. Bradshaw comes to the party and says that one of his patients killed himself. Such irony summarizes the book’s competing themes of isolation and sociability. It also explores the limits of communication by emphasizing Clarissa’s abiding sense of being alone. Despite the main character’s loneliness, she has good people skills and is a socialite.

Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf is very successful in Britain and the U.S. The work in published in 1925. Both Mrs. Dalloway and To the Lighthouse, published in 1926, are Woolf’s most critically acclaimed books. This story takes place on an entire day in June 1923 in London. Woolf’s unusual writing style challenges her to create enough characters to fit the action of one day. She gets around this by with a “tunneling” technique in which the characters remember past events. When the readers experience these recollections, they get a sense of who the characters are and their history.

Mrs. Dalloway in many ways is a novel without a plot. Woolf does not create a lot of major situations between the characters to move the story forward. Instead, she advances the plot by passing the hours of the day along. Another literary device is focusing on the characters thoughts in stream of consciousness. The book is called a “flaneur” novel. It is a French word meaning someone who likes to walk around town and sightsee. Virginia makes the city with its parks and streets as interesting as the characters.

M rs. Dalloway uses thoughts and memories to show different aspect of the protagonist, Clarissa Dalloway. The main character is a product of British upper class society. Despite hiding her true feelings to fit the role of a socialite, Woolf uses stream of consciousness to show the different aspects of the main character’s personality. For example, she feels interested in the British Royal family. Also, Clarissa is hurt by not being invited to her husband’s luncheon. At the end of the story there is a big part at the Galloway’s house. The protagonist shows her true feelings after hearing about the way a family friend, Septimus Warren Smith, kills himself. Writing the plot as a “flanuer” novel allows Woolf to fit all of the plot action to fit into one afternoon.

Mrs. Dalloway, by Virginia Woolf opens a window into the mind of an upper class woman. Although she is a formal socialite from the British upper class, we see many aspects of her personality. The stream of consciousness techniques lets readers connect with her thoughts and feelings. For example, we see her interest in the royal family’s car. Also, Clarissa feels hurt when she is not invited to her husband’s luncheon. This shows how the protagonist is torn between her role as a hostess and desire for independence. Virginia Woolf uses the thoughts and memories of Mrs. Dalloway to fit all of the story elements into one day. Also, the book is called a “flaneur” story because it takes place as the protagonist walks on the city streets. At the end of the story, the protagonist has a party.





Works Cited

“Mrs. Dalloway.” Answers.com 2008. 27 March 2008
http://www.answers.com/topic/mrs-dalloway-1


“Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf.” Essortment. 2002. 27 March 2008.
http://www.essortment.com/all/mrsdallowayby_rhrk.htm