Women in Modern
Literature
Reading Guide
for
Mrs.
Dalloway by Virginia Woolf (1882-1941)
The
novel begins with a simple domestic errand. “Mrs. Dalloway said she would
buy the flowers herself.” The woman appears to be simple too. Her true
identity is at first obscured by her married name—Mrs. Dalloway. But by
the end of the single day which the plot encompasses, Woolf will have opened
a window into this woman’s very soul and shown that a day in the life of
this “simple” woman preparing for the party she is hosting in the evening
is full of deep feeling and profound meaning, though none of these things
show to the outside world.
From
Mrs. Dalloway
film
Characters:
Clarissa Dalloway—main character. Wife of Richard Dalloway, and mother of Elizabeth.
Richard Dalloway—Clarissa’s husband, a member of Parliament.
Elizabeth Dalloway—their teenage daughter.
Peter Walsh—Clarissa’s old friend from her days at Bourton, visiting from India.
Sally Seton—Clarissa’s risqué old friend from her days at Bourton
Lady Bexborough—a friend of the Dalloways who shares Richard’s interest in politics.
Hugh Whitbread—shallow but well dressed friend of the Dalloways
Miss Doris Kilman—a companion of Elizabeth from the middle-class hired as a history tutor
Septimus Warren Smith—war veteran whose story counterpoints Mrs. D’s.
Lucrezia Smith—Septimus’ wife
Dr. Holmes—Septimus’ hated doctor
Lucy—the Dalloway’s servant
Lady Millicent Bruton—friend of the Dalloways who lunches with Richard and Hugh Whitbread (but did not invite Clarissa)
Sir William Bradshaw—Psychiatrist for Septimus
Ellie Henderson—poor relation Mrs. Dalloway does not want to invite to her party.
3Mrs.
Dalloway exits her house in London. As she throws open the door she recalls
similar moments during her teenage years growing up at Bourton. This country
estate of her summers as a youth will reappear in memory many times during
the course of the day.
4“Big
Ben strikes.” Mrs. Dalloway walks through time, as noted by clocks, and
through space, as noted by the stops she makes on her errand through London.
Here she contemplates the second-by-second experience of living which pulses
around us just like the waves of sound from the clock.
7“the
perfect hostess.” Peter Walsh insulted Clarissa by calling her this,
criticizing her for getting involved in her parties. Keep the phrase in
mind as you read on. What responsibility does Woolf have in mind for “the
perfect hostess”?
9Fear
no more the heat o’ the sun
As
Mrs. D walks past Hatchards’ bookshop window, she sees a book of Shakespeare’s
plays open to this line from Cymbeline. In the play, these words
are part of a funeral song, but the one who is thought to be dead is not.
12Enters
Mulberry’s florist where she will buy the flowers spoken of in the first
line
The
“shot” she thinks she hears turns out to be the backfire of a royal vehicle
passing outside in the street.
14Septimus
Warren Smith’s story is the counterpoint of Clarissa’s. He is experiencing
paranoia and psychotic episodes as a result of post trauma stress from
the recent war (WWI) in which he fought.
16Back
to Mrs. Dalloway. Notice how the passing of the royal car inspires people
on the streets to feel personal dignity and pride as signified by their
“very upright” posture.
20An
airplane writes a message in the sky.Back
to Septimus and Lucrezia. The skywriting sparks an ecstatic response
in Septimus. Note his special sensitivity to the beauty and meaning of
trees and the way he perceives the interconnectedness of all things. On
p. 24, he recites a series of revelations which have come to him. “Evans
behind the railings” is a hallucination which terrifies Septimus. Evans,
his officer in the war, was killed.
26Maisie
Johnson, a runaway from Scotland, notices that something is wrong with
the the Smiths when she asks for directions. She feels disturbed.
27Mrs.
Dempster, an old woman on a bench, sees young Maisie and longs for some
sympathy. Note the disconnect between people moving through life around
Mrs. Dalloway. One of the main tensions in the book is the need for connection
and the need for privacy.
29Mrs.
Dalloway reaches her house. Her quest for the flowers is complete. Now
she recedes deeply into her private retreat where she contemplates her
identity, the nature of her marriage, her relationship at age 18 with Sally
Seton, and the experience of growing old.
37As
Clarissa mends a tear in the dress she will wear tonight, her calm is restored.
The pleats in the green dress are like the waves on the sea. Clarissa is
almost hypnotized by the activity of the needle.
40Peter
Walsh shows up unexpectedly as Clarissa is mending her dress. Note that
the conversation between merely scratches the surface of the feelings and
memories each withholds from the other.
48Peter
leaves Clarissa Dalloway’s home, thinking of their conversation, of the
past, of the various trivial and important matters which fill our waking
consciousness. For a while he follows a young woman (beginning p. 52),
fantasizing about her. On p. 56 he falls asleep on a bench beside a nursemaid
and baby. (Note the appropriateness of the setting for this man who clearly
is looking for someone maternal.)
56Peter
dreams of himself as the “solitary traveler.” Where is his destination?
56Peter
wakes up recalling an incident long ago which illustrates Clarissa’s dedication
to social protocol and the end of their former intimacy.
64Back
to Septimus and Lucrezia.
70Peter
sees them, little knowing the seriousness of their personal crisis. Through
his memories, we learn a little more about Sally Seton and Richard Dalloway
and about Clarissa’s “extraordinary gift, that woman’s gift, of making
a world of her own wherever she happened to be” (76) and her philosophyof
“mitigat[ing] the suffering of our fellow-prisoners” (77). We also learn
that Peter needs some financial assistance from the Dalloways or other
wealthy friends.
80Peter
hears the sound of an old, homeless woman pouring out her incomprehensible
song like a fountain. Later we get intelligible words. For Peter, she represents
something much more than a poor, old woman begging for some coins.
82Lucrezia
sees the old woman too, pities her, and feels strangely comforted by her
song.
85Mr.
Brewer is Septimus’ pre-war employer. In the pages that follow, we gain
some insight into Septimus’ relationship with Evans. How might his experience
with Evans and Evans’ death be part of Septimus’ emotional problem today?
90We
learn of Septimus’ breakdown when he could feel nothing as his wife cried.
The doctor they consult, Dr. Holmes, comes to represent to Septimus
the repulsiveness of human nature, especially the body and its appetites.
94At
12 noon, the Smiths arrive at Sir William Bradshaw’s office for
a consultation. The “rest cure” he prescribes is the treatment for mental
illness favored in the early 20th century. Virginia Woolf, who
suffered from manic-depressive psychosis, found the death-in-life experience
of these rest cures unendurable.
99Woolf
harangues against Sir William Bradshaw’s rule of Proportion. It stifles
individuality and creativity, imposing the limits which seem appropriate
to the powerful Bradshaw’s of the world onto anyone who does not live up
to their standards.
102Hugh
Whitbread pauses in front of a shop on Oxford street before entering
Lady Bruton’s for lunch. Well dressed, shallow, and snobbish, he illustrates
all the worst of English aristocracy. Richard Dalloway is also there.
This proud and powerful lady has invited the two gentlemen in order to
discuss with them her pet project for sending young people to Canada.
112Lady
Bruton lies down after the gentlemen leave, holding on to them by a
spider’s web of thought which snaps when falls asleep.
114We
follow Richard as he returns home, thinking of Clarissa and the miracle
of having her in his life.
117Just
as Richard returns home, Clarissa sits at her writing table, resentfully
writing a last-minute invitation to Ellie Henderson, a woman she
doesn’t like. In comes Richard with flowers. Pay close attention to the
communication that they share without words.
119Miss
Kilman’s name comes up. This lower middle-class woman has attached herself
to Elizabeth as some kind of spiritual advisor.
121Clarissa
tries to understand what her parties mean to her.
122Elizabeth
comes in as Miss Kilman waits outside on the landing. Her scorn of upper-class
ladies like Mrs. Dalloway is full of bitter spite and jealousy.
125Back
to Clarissa contemplating Miss Kilman. Note Clarissa’s anger over the ulterior
motive of control which she perceives behind what generally passes for
love and religion. The old lady she sees out her window in the next house
symbolizes for her the “privacy of the soul. What does she mean by “here
was one room; there another. Did religion solve that, or love?” (127).
128Mill
Kilman deals with her hot feelings of envy and shame as she and Elizabeth
have tea in a shop. Note the ominous action of her large hand.
134Elizabeth
leaves Miss Kilman and takes an omnibus home, feeling the freedom of a
pirate on the high seas and thinking about the limitless possibilities
of her future in some profession quite inappropriate for ladies like her
mother.
139Septimus
rests on the sofa at his home. Note that he recalls the line from Cymbelline
which Mrs. Dalloway read in the book in the shop window. Can you remember
other ideas and experiences that link them? As Lucrezia trims a straw hat
for a buyer, she believes that Septimus is doing better as he gaily helps
her arrange the flowers and ribbons. Confident in her ability to protect
her husband from the doctor who insists on hospitalizing him, she runs
downstairs when she hears the dreaded man’s approach.
150Lucrezia
is been sedated for shock and sees visions of gardens and cornfields.
151Peter
hears the ambulance as he walks to his hotel to dress for dinner and then
Clarissa’s party and is flooded with the awareness of the intersection
of life and death, then Clarissa’s theory of the interconnectedness of
all life. He ponders his manliness, the failure of his past relationship
with Clarissa, the difficulties of his new relationship with Daisy. As
he walks to Clarissa’s home, London takes on the magic and mysterious beauty
of a submerged city, and he anticipates having an experience at the party.
165Lucy,
Clarissa’s maid, bustles about as guests arrive, flustered by the news
that the Prime Minister will come.
167Clarissa
goes through her motions as “perfect hostess.” Why does the party seem
to be “a complete failure” (167) at first? Why does she feel like a “stake
driven in at the top of her stairs” (170)? What surprise guest arrives?Why
are the Bradshaws late?Read Clarissa’s
response to this news (pp. 183-186) very carefully. How does she identify
with Septimus and then feel differently about her party?
194Can
you suggest why Woolf ended the book in this way?
Visit
the Virginia Woolf Society of Great Britain http://orlando.jp.org/VWSGB/
for good links, including:
Brief
biography of Woolf:
http://orlando.jp.org/VWSGB/dat/vwbiog.html
Take
Mrs. Dalloway’s walk in London:
http://orlando.jp.org/VWSGB/dat/dwalk.html
Virginia
Woolf in 1902