Introduction: Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
Mrs. Dalloway: (Annoatated)(Biography)
Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf, first published in 1925, is a day in the life of the character Clarissa Dalloway, the perfect hostess. Mrs. Dalloway is very concerned with human connections and relationships. When the story begins, she is looking back at her life, three decades earlier, at the people who are/were her friends, and the reader gets a sense of what each person is like.
Peter Walsh wants to be a writer, and is in love with Clarissa, the only problem is that he is always very critical of her, and they are constantly fighting. At a get together at Clarissa’s house, there is a new young man, Richard Dalloway, and from his interaction with her, Peter knows that he is doomed and has lost Clarissa. He knows that she is going to marry Richard – and throughout their lives there is a love triangle among Clarissa, Peter and Richard, although the married couple never break their vows.
As the story unfolds, you get a sense that it is not going to end well, and the Big Ben is forever chiming in the background. You have a sense of foreboding, and the language that Virginia Woolf uses is masterful to communicate this sense. She writes that Mrs Dalloway is losing herself and becoming invisible, which is powerful. On the day that the story takes place, Mrs Dalloway is planning a party, and it could very well be the party of all parties. She goes to the flower shop early in the morning to get the right flowers.
She returns home and is mending a favorite dress which she wants to wear to her party. While she is mending her dress, Peter Walsh drops by and the last time she heard from him he was in India. Mrs Dalloway is a bit annoyed that he shows up unannounced. They talk and reminisce and he is still very critical of her – nothing has changed – and thinks she is cold and wooden.
He tells her that he is in love with an Indian woman with two small children, but as he talks, we realize that he doesn’t really love her. He wants to marry her so no other man can get her. Peter hasn’t gotten over Clarissa, despite the passage of all that time. But the reader knows that a marriage between the two wouldn’t have worked. Clarissa hasn’t really lived her life and is more concerned about appearances and trivialities – she is living her life for others and not for herself. Her happiness is coming from external factors and not from herself which is dangerous. After having lunch with a socialite, who wants a favor, Richard returns home briefly bringing his wife a bouquet of flowers. He loves her, yet he is incapable of saying, “I love you!” He returns to work with the words unsaid.
During the story, there is another storyline taking place about the life of war veteran Septimus Smith and his wife Lucrezia. While I am reading Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf, I wonder how Septimus' story connects with Clarissa's and the mystery is solved during her party. Spetimus is suffering from post-traumatic stress after fighting in the First World War, but his doctor misdiagnoses and says that there isn’t anything wrong with the young man, although he repeatedly says that he is going to commit suicide. His wife is very frustrated because Septimus is a shell of his former self. On the day of Clarissa’s party, Lucrezia takes Septimus to see another doctor, Sir William Bradshaw who recognizes the young man’s illness, and is making preparations for him to get treatment in the country.
Unknown to both Septimus and Clarissa, they walk the same streets of London that day, but never meet. Before the party, Septimus commits suicide, and Sir Bradshaw is delayed because of the death. When he and his wife arrive at the party, they give their reason for being late, and at first, Clarissa is annoyed that they are ruining her party by talking about something as sordid as suicide. During the party, Clarissa is fearful that her party is going to be a flop, so the last thing she wants to hear is that someone commits suicide. Clarissa is a snob, and appearances mean everything to her.
But the more she thinks about Septimus’ suicide, the more she starts to identify with him. There is an economic, gender, and geographic divide between Septimus and Clarissa, yet she identifies with him, why? I thinks she feels a connection that transcends the perceived divide between them. Sally who used to be good friends with Clarissa, take a chanace and attends the party without an invitation. Clarissa talks to her briefly but has to spend time with other guests. Sally and Peter are reminiscing, and wondering when the hostess is going to return to talk to them. Except for Sally, Richard, Peter and Clarissa wasted their potential.
Clarissa has left her own party and is thinking about Septimus and how he frees himself by ending it all. The story ends in a weird way or did it?
“‘I will come,’ said Peter, but he sat on for a moment. What is this terror? what is this ecstasy? he thought to himself. What is it that fills me with extraordinary excitement? It is Clarissa, he said. For there she was.”
Final Thoughts: Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
Have you ever read Mrs. Dalloway
by Virginia Woolf? I recommend the book.
Mrs. Dalloway: (Annoatated)(Biography)To the LighthouseA Room of One's OwnVirginia Woolf: Complete Works (OBG Classics): Inspired ‘A Ghost Story' (2017) directed by David LoweryOrlando: A BiographyThe WavesA Writer's DiaryVirginia WoolfThe Complete Shorter Fiction of Virginia Woolf: Second EditionMoments of Being
