Writing Style of Virginia Woolf in Mrs. Dalloway

Born as Adeline Virginia Stephen, Virginia Woolf was known as a modern, feminist novelist for her defiant writing style. She deliberately challenged traditional methods of writing in a genius, innovative way. Mrs. Dalloway, one of Virgina Woolf's most well known works, is written in an unconventional style where many important themes and ideas are presented. Virgina Woolf was suicidal for most of her life and her thoughts on life and death are eluded to in her novels, especially Mrs. Dalloway. For example, Septimus Warren Smith's thoughts of suicide can be directly linked to the thoughts Woolf had on the topic. Furthermore, his actual act of committing suicide is a reflection of Woolf's many failed attempts (she tried to throw herself out of a window like her character Septimus did)-- she succeeded in the end, however.
Virginia Woolf writes Mrs. Dalloway in the format of a continuous stream of consciousness. The characters internally explore many thoughts and their memories constantly shift from past to present. Woolf enables the readers to understand the characters through this style of writing. Through this continuous stream of thought, we are able to see the point of view of several of the characters instead of just one. This way, more of their personalities are revealed and their inner emotions on certain topics are exposed. Readers are also able to predict how the characters will react in different situations. Because the story is not told in only one omniscient point of view, readers cannot form a biased opinion on the other characters. We are exposed to these continuous thoughts from the beginning of the novel when Clarissa Dalloway is buying flowers. Her thoughts vary from childhood memories to memories about Peter Walsh to thoughts on death. (3-9)
We see this stream of consciousness in other characters as well. For example, we are able to enter Septimus Warren Smith's mind many times throughout the novel. Though Septimus is insane, he has many interesting, insightful thoughts about society, the world, life, death, etc. These opinions are presented as ludicrous, but they have a deeper meaning to them. When a car backfires in the beginning of the novel, readers delve into Septimus' mind. He thinks he is connected to trees and that they should be preserved. He goes on to think that he sees his friend, Evans, but Evans is dead. He then believes that the world is going to burst into flames. (14-15, 24-25). Later on in the story, we are exposed to Septimus' thoughts once again moments before his suicide. We can get a sense of fear and panic from Septimus' scrambled and frantic thoughts just before he kills himself. (149)
By using this stream of consciousness method, Woolf is able to shift the point of view at any point in the novel. For example, when Peter leaves Clarissa's house and is in Regent's Park, he thinks about the past and his love for Clarissa. He is wondering if he is truly in love with Daisy when he hears an old woman singing a song. This evokes pity out of Peter.(80) The point of view suddenly changes to that of Rezia, who seems to also feel sympathy for the woman. Then she begins to think about Septimus and his illness.(82) Again, the point of view shifts, this time to a removed narrator. Through this unknown individual, we are able to see the Smiths cross the street and are permitted to see Septimus' past and how he got to his present state. After this bit of information, the point of view is once again changed to Mr. Brewer, Septimus' boss. He goes into Septimus' past and remembers the potential that he once had. (85)
Woolf utilized this method of writing in a way that portray the story as web-like. All of these characters are connected in some way, either through physical confrontation, their past, or through their memories. Because the characters' point of views are mostly thoughts and memories, and because they are constantly shifting, the past and present frequently overlaps. As a result, these characters get entwined in each other's lives either in their former lives or their present ones. This is seen when Hugh Whitbread, Richard Dalloway, and Lady Bruton meet for lunch, “Peter Walsh! All three, Lady Bruton, Hugh Whitbread, and Richard Dalloway, remembered the same thing-- how passionately Peter had been in love; been rejected; gone to India; come a cropper; made a mess of things; and Richard Dalloway had a very great liking for the dear old fellow too.” (107) They are all connected through their past here, as well as their present because they are physically all in one place at once. Another example is when Peter and Clarissa physically meet (40) but are also connected through their past. We see their past connection throughout the novel, such as when Peter recalls the night Clarissa rejected him.(64 ) Other characters are also connected, such as Rezia and Peter in the park as they think almost the same thoughts! (64-65)
The structure of Mrs. Dalloway is complex and purely brilliant. Most of the novel is composed of the thoughts of the characters. Virginia Woolf creates a web of characters that continue to affect each other every day of their lives, such like a ripple effect. Each ripple spread and eventually touches off another one, as the characters do. Like a web, the characters are entangled into each other's lives through their memories and pasts and continue to be in their present lives. Furthermore, all of the characters thoughts are shown to the readers and the point of view is constantly shifting. Not only are these three elements of the novel genius in themselves, but the whole novel takes place in one day!

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Theme of Death and Life in Mrs. Dalloway

Throughout the novel, we see frequent references to life and death. Thus, it would not be accurate to say the novel is only about one or the other; it sheds light on both life and death. Woolf presents these profound ideas through the thoughts of her characters in Mrs. Dalloway. From the very beginning of the novel, we are confronted with thoughts of death from the main character, Clarissa Dalloway. When walking in the streets, she plunges into deep thoughts about her death and what would happen after it, “Did it matter then, she asked herself... that she must inevitably cease completely; all this must go on without her; did she resent it; or did it not become consoling to believe that death ended absolutely? But somehow in the streets of London, on the ebb and flow of things, here, there, she survived,...she being part... of the trees at home; of the house there, ugly, rambling, all to bits and pieces as it was; part of people she had never met; being laid out like a mist between the people she knew best...” (9).
Later on in the novel, readers are continually confronted by the characters' thoughts on life and death. Clarissa thinks about what the purpose of her parties are and what her whole meaning of her life is, “...But could any man understand what she meant either? about life?...But to go deeper, beneath what people said (and these judgments, how superficial, how fragmentary they are!) in her own mind now, what did it mean to her, this thing called life? Oh, it was very queer.” (122) Up until this point, Clarissa has been pondering her role in society and what it means to the overall value of her life. She has definitely lived her life with more regrets than she can count. She has succumbed to a life of hostessing over a life of passion and there is not one moment where she is not thinking about the choices she has made.
Another character who ponders life and death is Septimus Warren Smith, a veteran who suffers from insanity. Though he is insane, he is very conscious of the concepts of life and death and might even understand them better than others in his society. Clarissa and Septimus are seen as connected because of their similar views on life and death. He would tell his wife, Lucrezia, his thoughts on death, life, and the society in which they lived, “He would argue with her about killing themselves; and explain how wicked people were; how he could see them making up lies as they passed in the street. He knew all their thoughts, he said; he knew everything. He knew the meaning of the world, he said.” (66)
Later on in the novel, as predicted earlier on, Septimus actually commits suicide. When Holmes comes to his house, Septimus plunges into a frantic state. He is tired of living in the society that he views as “wicked” and does not want to be ordered around by the doctors anymore. Various methods of suicide quickly pass through his mind, but he ultimately chooses to throw himself out of the window, “...he considered Mrs. Filmer's nice clean bread knife... the gas fire? But it was too late now... There only remained the window... He did not want to die. Life was good. The sun hot. Only human beings-- what did they want? Coming down the staircase opposite an old man stopped and stared at him. Holes was at the door. “I'll give it to you!” he cried, and flung himself vigorously, violently down on to Mrs. Filmer's area railings.” (149). Here, Septimus ultimately chooses death over his other option-- living another day in his “wicked” society. This is how Septimus and Clarissa's thoughts on death and life differ. Clarissa is so frightened by death, she would rather live in the society in which her real sense of identity is deadened and stunted. This is seen through Clarissa's reaction when Septimus' death is even mentioned at her extravagant party, “...'A young man had killed himself. He had been in the army.' Oh! Thought Clarissa, in the middle of my party, here's death...What business had the Bradshaws to talk of death at her party?” (183-184).
As Clarissa thinks about Septimus' death, she begins to understand and respect his decision to end his own life. She realizes that he was able to keep something she lost a bit more everyday of her life, “But why had he done it?...A thing there was that mattered; a thing, wreathed about with chatter, defaced, obscured in her own life, let drop every day in corruption, lies, chatter. This he had preserved. Death was defiance. Death was an attempt to communicate; people feeling the impossibility of reaching the centre which, mystically, evaded them; closeness drew apart; rapture faded, one was alone. There was an embrace in death...The young man had killed himself; but she did not pity him...She felt somehow very like him... She felt glad that he had done it; thrown it away.” (184,186)
Septimus defied society when he committed suicide. He chose to rise above the shallow demands of society. He is able to do what Clarissa isn't, and as a result, she feels that his death is her disgrace. The theme of life and death is a strong one in the novel. The characters ultimately live their lives as a product of their beliefs on life and death. Most of the characters are eager to please society and lose their desires and identities as they conform to the norm. They constantly think about what their lives have become and how life would have been if they had only embraced their individuality. Septimus sets an example to embrace life for what it is, not for what everyone thinks it should be. He ultimately embraces life by ending it, “Fear no more.”

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Clarissa Dalloway: Just a Hostess?

Clarissa Dalloway is married to Mr. Richard Dalloway and is the protagonist of the novel. Her basic role in her community is to hold parties at her house for important individuals. However, we quickly see at the beginning of the novel that Clarissa is more than a simple hostess. Naturally, when we think of a hostess, we see a shallow, dumb-witted, featherbrained woman. In one sense, Clarissa can be viewed as this stereotypical role, especially when referring to the adjective 'shallow'. However, on the other hand, we see a deeper side to Clarissa, the more appealing side to her that she unfortunately chooses to hide from her society.
Clarissa Dalloway chose to marry Richard Dalloway over her dear friend Peter Walsh. Many years later, she still contemplates whether this decision was the right one to make. She believes she made the right choice, but at the same time, wonders whether she should have married him, “So she would still find herself arguing in St. James's Park, still making out that she had been right-- and she had too-- not marry him. For in marriage... a little independence there must be between people living together... in the same house...she had to break it with him or they would have been destroyed, both of them ruined, she was convinced...” (7,8) This “independence,” Clarissa feels, is given to her by Richard, and to Richard by her. However, is this really true? How is Clarissa truly free if she hides her thoughts, even from her own husband. Isn't she already destroyed, being that she is trapped in this superficial world that she so very much hates? Though Clarissa seems very sure of her decision in the beginning of the novel, readers see her uncertainty return, “Now of course, thought Clarissa, he's enchanting! perfectly enchanting! Now I remember how impossible it was ever to make up my mind-- and why did I make up my mind-- not to marry him? she wondered, that awful summer?” (41)
The ironic thing about Mrs. Richard Dalloway is that she is quite the thinker. She inwardly self-reflects on a daily basis and struggles to find the meaning to her life of glitz and glam. She gave up a life of passion with Peter to obtain a life of security and upper-class wealth. It persistently plagues her that she has chosen this life, especially since this is what Peter had predicted for her, “She would marry a Prime Minister and stand at the top of a staircase; the perfect hostess he called her (she had cried over it in her bedroom), she had the makings of a perfect hostess, he said.” (7) Clarissa also constantly thinks about pressing issues like society, life, aging and death. When walking in the streets, she plunges into deep thoughts about her existence, death, and what goes on after death, “Did it matter then, she asked herself... that she must inevitably cease completely; all this must go on without her; did she resent it; or did it not become consoling to believe that death ended absolutely?” (9)
Though Mrs. Dalloway is an individual of much depth and contemplation, she is viewed by others as shallow, judgmental, and critical. This is because Clarissa is too concerned with her outward appearance and others' opinions of her. She buries both her intellect and complex emotions on life's most important issues. One particular instance is shown in Peter's point of view as he remembers a dinner that took place at the Bourton in the summer of the early nineties. The guests were speaking about a neighbor who had a baby before marriage. Her reaction to the news was one of obnoxious and judgmental criticism. She unmercifully scorned the woman and was unsympathetic toward her. She poked fun at the way she dressed, “She was absurdly over-dressed, “like a cockatoo,” Clarissa had said, imitating her, and she never stopped talking. On and on she went, on and on. Clarissa imitated her. Then somebody said...before they'd married she had had a baby... He could see Clarissa now, turning bright pink; contracting; and saying, “Oh, I shall never be able to speak to her again!” Whereupon the whole table seemed to wobble. It was uncomfortable.” (59) Peter feels that this was the time of the death of Clarissa's soul, which is a very rational statement because shortly after, Clarissa rejects Peter for Richard. This situation shows how hypocritical Clarissa is; she blatantly attacks another individual so that she may boost her own appearance. Peter describes her manner as “arrogant, unimaginative, and prudish.”(59)
Will Clarissa be able to overcome her obsession with societal appearance? As of now, Clarissa still struggles to find her place in society. Does she want to continue to be Mrs. Richard Dalloway? Or will she break out of her self-restricting life and pursue her inner desires. One thing is certain, Clarissa is taking part in the oppression at the moment. Perhaps her role may soon shift...
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