Mrs Dalloway

by Virginia Woolf (1925, Hogarth Press)

Originally titled The Hours - the chiming of the clocs !ro"ides its time se#$ence % &rs 'allo(ay is a modernist no"el
in (hich Virginia Woolf e)!lores ne( literary techni#$es*
+ie Ulysses (hich taes !lace on 1, -$ne 19./, &rs 'allo(ay centres on a single day of mid--$ne 1920* 1(o cr$cial
e"ents occ$r in the life of the middle-aged 2larissa 'allo(ay3
her former s$itor, Peter Walsh, (ho lo"ed her and (anted to marry her (hen she (as yo$ng, "isits her after
s!ending 5 years in 4ndia5
6e!tim$s Warren 6mith, a yo$ng middle-class "eteran commits s$icide, ref$sing to s$bmit to the !o(er of doctors*
2larissa ha!!ens to hear the ne(s of the s$icide from +ady 7radsha(, d$ring the !arty she organi8ed ((hich is
another $nifying element of the no"el)* 6e!tim$s s$ffered from delayed shell-shoc and (as mentally $nbalanced*
1ho$gh 2larissa has ne"er no(n him, she starts thining abo$t him and feeling com!assion for him, his death in a
(ay is her o(n death*
7oth Ulysses and Mrs Dalloway are city no"els3 -oyce9s is set in '$blin, Woolf9s in !ost-(ar +ondon* 7$t to -oyce9s
inn$endo to the mythical :o$rney of ;lysses (-oyce9s !arallel $se of the Odyssey has according to 1* 6* <liot =the
im!ortance of a scientific disco"ery>), Woolf !refers the family name of an ordinary (oman* 1here is no mythical
echo5 her characters are fail$res, !eo!le (ho ha"en9t been able to f$lfil their dreams* 1he interest does not sim!ly lie in
the stories of the indi"id$al characters, b$t rather in the mental !rocesses thro$gh (hich they react to e"ents* 4t is (orth
noting that Woolf9s "ersion of stream of conscio$sness is not a (ord for (ord transcri!tion of the characters9 o(n
interior monolog$e b$t a narrati"e, artistic elaboration of the characters9 conscio$sness, a sort of !oetical rendering of
their tho$ghts, in (hich the narrator still maintains some sense of narrati"e str$ct$re*
1he no"el is $n$s$al in its !lot and str$ct$re as (ell as in characteri8ation* 1here is no linear or contin$o$s story line*
1he only coherent thread in this modern ma8e seems to lead to the !arty (hich is to be held at the 'allo(ays9* ?nd
significantly the no"el starts (ith the arrangement for the !arty - 1. in the morning3 2larissa goes o$t for flo(ers - and
ends (ith it - midnight3 the !arty ends*
1he fragmented structure of the boo has its o(n internal unity based on some technical and thematic de"ices3
1he tunnelling !rocess (defined in her Diary)3 (hich means that characters ha"e in their o(n mind a series of
bea$tif$l ca"es or !ast e)!eriences5 (hen the characters share the same memories their t$nnels interconnect, so that
the same e"ent can be reb$ilt and described from a different !ers!ecti"e*
1he narration shifts from one character9s !oint of "ie( to the other, from !resent to !ast, thro$gh the e)tensi"e $se
of the stream of consciousness style (term coined by William -ames in his Principles of Psychology, 1@9.* Airst
instances of it in 6terne9s Tristam Shandy, then e)am!les in Henry -ames, 'ostoie"si, Pro$st)* With it sense
!erce!tions mingle (ith conscio$s and $nconscio$s tho$ghts, fantasies, e)!ectations, feelings and random
associations, still (ithin a controlled frame(or of s!ace (+ondon9s streets) and time (chiming of the clocs)*
1he :o$rney into the !ast e)!lains &rs 'allo(ay9s solit$de and sterility, (hich deri"e from her decision to marry
Bichard, (ho re!resents social conformism and psychological protection*
?s they (al in +ondon, (hose topography is detailed, all the characters react to the city according to their social
and c$lt$ral identity* ?s in Ulysses, Woolf9s !$r!ose is also to gi"e a sense of simultaneity, ty!ical of modern life*
Virginia Woolf herself, (ho set many of her no"els in +ondon, (as fascinated by its "itality3 for her +ondon (as
the heart of life and of the modern (orld*
1he 'allo(ays9 Westminster ho$se is, on the contrary, a !lace of sterility5 an idea (hich is reinforced by the great
n$mber of !recio$s ob:ects constantly cleaned by a ser"ant* &rs 'allo(ay is sterile herself, alone, !o(erless,
estranged from her h$sband and her only da$ghter*
1he chiming of the ho$rs (7ig 7en), that is, objective time, is a reminder of social acti"ity, the !resence of a material
(orld totally $nconnected (ith h$man desires* 7y contrast, subjective time does not flo( reg$larly5 moreo"er, the
conce!t of time is !resent in the no"el also in the form of historical time3 the Creat War5 and of cosmic time3 seen
from a 'ar(inian !ers!ecti"e, and in (hich death is al(ays "ictorio$s*
1he characters are entra!!ed inside their o(n s!here (2larissa, Peter and Bichard recall a distant s$mmer in
7o$rton5 6e!tim$s is obsessed (ith the illing of his friend <"ans, an officer, in WW13 for him time has ceased to
flo( d$ring the (ar5 his hall$cinations and s$icide condense the hysterical impact of the war in the no"el)*
1he li"es of &rs 'allo(ay and 6e!tim$s, totally alien to each other, are lined by the same nervous fragility,
swings of mood, frigidity, fear of death* 7oth str$ggle to mae sense of death, to find a (ay of thining abo$t it*
6e!tim$s is 2larissa9s double in that he is a !ict$re of (hat ha!!ens if the !recario$s balance of sanity is dislodged*
6anity in 2larissa is not a stable condition, it is rather the ability to maintain a mas of gaiety and $nconcern, it is
retaining the ca!acity to assemble oneself into a !$blic !erson (hen h$rt inside With these t(o characters, Virginia
Woolf seems to sho( that in the no"el the mental !rocesses of those (hom (e recognise to be disturbed do not
seem to be f$ndamentally different from those of the healthy or normal characters* A$rthermore, one can detect
biogra!hical similarities bet(een 6e!tim$s9s madness and her o(n e)!eriences (se"eral ner"o$s breado(ns,
s$icidal attem!ts)*
We !ercei"e the narrator9s straightfor(ard hostility against some characters and themes* 1he doctors, &r Holmes
and 6ir William 7radsha(, (ho sho$ld tae care of 6e!tim$s, are totally $nable to hel! him and ca$se, e"en tho$gh
indirectly, his s$icide* 4n !artic$lar, 2larissa sees 6ir William 7radsha( as an intruder, someone (ho (o$ld force
or in"ade other !eo!le9s so$ls* 1o her, 6e!tim$sDs s$icide is a !ositi"e act of defiance and self-defence* &iss
Eillman, 2larissa9s da$ghter9s t$tor, is re!resented as a blood-s$cing tyrant trying to s$ffocate <lisabeth thro$gh
her fr$strated !ossessi"eness (see the e!isode (hen she is eating at the resta$rant, symbolic of her greed)* Other
targets of criticism are nationalism, im!erialism, colonialism, socialism, the hy!ocrisy of the 7ritish <stablishment
and the $!!er class (ho seem $na(are of the decisi"e im!lications of the Airst World War (and of (ar in general)*
1he e)!erience of WW1 shattered the r$ling classes9 ass$m!tions abo$t the 7ritish <m!ire and its ci"ili8ing
mission, and cast do$bts abo$t military "al$es, !atriotism and c$lt$ral s$!eriority o"er other races*
2haracters lie 6ir William 7radsha( re!resent also a criticism of male self-im!ortance and o!!ression in !ersonal
relationshi!s* &ale "iolence is at (or in the mentality and actions of the r$ling class, in their military "al$es,
im!erial r$le and racism*
With the $ne)!ected a!!earance of 6ally 6eaton, an $ncon"entional friend she (as in lo"e (ith, no( res!ectable
mother of 5 sons, 2larissa realises that the e"ocation of the !ast does not bring !eace, b$t disill$sionment* &rs
'allo(ay m$st acce!t the flo( of life and the bitter challenges of the f$t$re3 =Aor there she (as>*
Criticism:
6ome critics em!hasi8e and agree (ith Peter Walsh9s "erdict that 2larissa s$ffers from a =death of the so$l> and that
she maes =a !erfect hostess>, (hich is to say that she is o$t of to$ch (ith life (!olitics, intelligence, lo"e, se)$ality)
and only e)ists as a ind of em!ty !$blic mas or !erformance (effusive hypocrisy)*
Others em!hasise the o!!osite "ie(, and find that 2larissa is !redominantly a co$rageo$s (oman (ho, $nlie the more
s$!erficial characters, does not s$ffer form self-dece!tion and false !ride, and is not blind to the facts of h$man life* 6he
is a(are of the !ain, agony, loneliness, grief and illness that !eo!le s$ffer and s!ends her life attem!ting to alle"iate that
s$ffering in her o(n (ay* On this "ie(, the female arts of relationshi!-b$ilding and attenti"eness are at the basis of
ci"ili8ation*
?s for lo"e and se)$ality a similar difference is re!orted* 4s frigidity $nhealthy and ne$rotic or is it a mat$re
!reser"ation of inde!endenceF 4s it life or death of the so$lF
Quotations:
!et us record the atoms as they fall upon the mind in the order in which they fall, let us trace the pattern, however
disconnected and incoherent in appearance, which each sight or incident scores upon the consciousness !et us not
ta"e for granted that life e#ists more in what is commonly thought big than in what is commonly thought small
!ife is not a series of gig$lamps symmetrically arranged% life is a luminous halo, a semi$transparent envelope
surrounding us from the beginning of consciousness to the end &s it not the tas" of the novelist to convey this
varying, this un"nown and uncircumscribed spirit, whatever aberration or comple#ity it may display, with as little
mi#ture of the alien and e#ternal as possible' (&odern Aiction, 1919)
Mrs Dalloway has branched into a boo"% and & adumbrate here a study of insanity and suicide% the world seen by
the sane and the insane side by side
& want to give life and death, sanity and insanity% & want to critici(e the social system, and to show it at wor" at its
most intense
& should say a good deal about The Hours, and my discovery) how & dig out beautiful caves behind my characters) &
thin" that gives e#actly what & want% humanity, humour, depth The idea is that the caves shall connect and each
come to daylight at the present moment (? Writer9s 'iary)
The eyes of others our prisons% their thoughts our cages
Mental fight means thin"ing against the current, not with it &t is our business to puncture gas bags and discover the
seeds of truth
&t*s not catastrophes, murders, deaths, diseases, that age and "ill us% it*s the way people loo" and laugh, and run up
the steps of omnibuses
Dearest, & feel certain that &+m going mad again & feel & can+t go through another of those terrible times again ,nd
& shan+t recover this time & begin to hear voices and & can+t concentrate So & am doing what seems the best thing to
do -ou have given me the greatest possible happiness -ou have been in every way all that anyone could be & don+t
thin" two people could have been happier till this terrible disease came & can+t fight any longer & "now that & am
spoiling your life, that without me you could wor" ,nd you will, & "now -ou see & can+t even write properly & can+t
read .hat & want to say is & owe all the happiness of my life to you -ou have been entirely patient with me and
incredibly good & want to say that / everybody "nows it &f anybody could have saved me, it would have been you
0verything has gone from me but the certainty of your goodness & can+t go on spoiling your life any longer & don+t
thin" two people could have been happier than we have been (Arom a letter to her h$sband, +eonard Woolf)