Significance of the title
The title Mrs. Dalloway is highly significant because it reflects the central themes, character development, and narrative style of the novel.
Identity and Social Roles
The title focuses on Clarissa Dalloway’s married name, emphasizing her identity as a wife rather than as an individual. Throughout the novel, Clarissa struggles with her public and private selves—she is seen by society as “Mrs. Richard Dalloway,” the wife of a politician, rather than as Clarissa, a person with her own thoughts and emotions. The title highlights this tension between societal expectations and personal identity.
Conformity and Individuality
By naming the novel after “Mrs. Dalloway” rather than Clarissa Dalloway, Woolf underscores how marriage and social conventions define women’s identities in upper-class British society. Clarissa often feels constrained by her role as a hostess and wonders whether she sacrificed her true self by choosing a stable marriage with Richard over the passionate, uncertain life she might have had with Peter Walsh.
The Entire Novel in One Day
The novel follows one day in the life of Mrs. Dalloway, making the title fitting as it encapsulates her thoughts, memories, and experiences from morning to night. Despite the book’s complex structure and multiple characters, everything ultimately ties back to Clarissa and her perspective.
Parallel to Septimus Warren Smith
While the title suggests that the novel is about Clarissa, Woolf also presents a parallel narrative through Septimus Warren Smith, a shell-shocked war veteran. Septimus’s struggles with mental illness and societal rejection contrast with Clarissa’s social privilege and emotional struggles. His tragic fate highlights themes of alienation, mental health, and the consequences of societal pressure, reinforcing the novel’s deeper meaning beyond just Mrs. Dalloway’s personal life.
Irony and Subtle Critique
The title subtly critiques the limited roles available to women in Edwardian England. Instead of being known for her own thoughts, talents, or achievements, Clarissa is primarily recognized by her husband’s name. Woolf, a feminist writer, may have deliberately chosen this title to highlight how women’s identities were often overshadowed by marriage.
Conclusion
The title Mrs. Dalloway is simple yet deeply symbolic, reflecting the novel’s themes of identity, societal expectations, time, and personal reflection. It not only defines the central character but also raises questions about how individuals are shaped by the world around them.
CHARACTERS
Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway is a novel rich in psychological depth and character complexity. The characters represent different perspectives on love, identity, mental illness, war, and societal expectations. Below is a detailed analysis of the major characters.
1. Clarissa Dalloway
Role: Protagonist, a high-society hostess in London
Personality: Elegant, reflective, socially aware, yet emotionally conflicted
Clarissa Dalloway is a wealthy, upper-class woman who spends the day preparing for a party she is hosting. On the surface, she seems charming, graceful, and the perfect hostess, but inwardly, she is deeply reflective and struggles with questions of identity and purpose. She wonders whether she made the right choice in marrying Richard Dalloway instead of Peter Walsh, a man who once loved her passionately.
She is also aware of aging and mortality. Seeing the changes in her body and remembering her youthful days at Bourton makes her feel that time is slipping away. She sometimes feels empty and unfulfilled, questioning whether her role in society has any real meaning.
Despite these internal struggles, Clarissa values life deeply. She finds beauty in small things, such as the movement of leaves in the wind or the way people go about their daily lives. She sees parties as a way to bring people together, even though she knows they are often superficial.
Her parallel to Septimus Warren Smith is significant. While she chooses to continue living despite her struggles, Septimus, who also feels trapped, chooses death. Clarissa sees his suicide as an act of defiance against a world that suppresses individuality.
2. Septimus Warren Smith
Role: A World War I veteran suffering from PTSD
Personality: Intelligent, artistic, mentally unstable, sensitive
Septimus is a former soldier who was traumatized by the war. He suffers from hallucinations, paranoia, and extreme emotional detachment. His most persistent hallucination is of his dead friend, Evans, who was killed in the war.
Before the war, Septimus was a poetic and idealistic young man, deeply moved by literature. However, after witnessing violence and death, he loses his ability to feel emotions. His lack of grief over Evans’s death makes him question whether he has lost his soul.
His wife, Rezia, desperately tries to help him, but the doctors, especially Sir William Bradshaw, fail to understand his condition. They see him as someone who simply needs rest and structure, rather than recognizing his severe PTSD and depression.
In the end, Septimus takes his own life by jumping out of a window, choosing death over being institutionalized. His suicide is an act of resistance against a world that refuses to understand him. His story is a tragic contrast to Clarissa’s, showing two different responses to the pressures of society.
3. Peter Walsh
Role: Clarissa’s former suitor, now a restless traveler
Personality: Passionate, insecure, critical, nostalgic
Peter Walsh is deeply emotional and impulsive. He once proposed to Clarissa, but she rejected him because he was too unpredictable and unstable. Instead of settling down, Peter moved to India, where he lived a complicated life.
Now, he has returned to London to arrange a divorce for Daisy, a much younger woman he claims to love. However, he is unsure about his own emotions and constantly compares Daisy to Clarissa. He cannot stop thinking about what might have been if Clarissa had married him.
Peter is jealous of Richard Dalloway’s stability but also mocks him for being dull and conventional. He sees himself as more romantic and adventurous, yet he secretly envies Clarissa’s settled life.
His presence in the novel represents a path Clarissa did not take—a life filled with passion and uncertainty. Even though he tells himself that he is over Clarissa, his emotions betray him. The moment he sees her at the end of the novel, he feels both terror and excitement, showing that he is still deeply connected to her.
4. Richard Dalloway
Role: Clarissa’s husband, a conservative politician
Personality: Kind, practical, reserved, conventional
Richard Dalloway is a traditional English gentleman. He is not passionate or deeply expressive, but he is steady, responsible, and loyal. Unlike Peter, he offers stability and security, which is why Clarissa chose him.
Although he loves Clarissa, he struggles to express it. At one point, he buys her a bouquet of roses, intending to tell her he loves her, but he cannot say the words. Clarissa understands his quiet affection but also feels a sense of emotional distance in their marriage.
Richard believes in conventional values and duty, which is why he does not challenge Lady Bruton’s colonialist views or the rigid structure of society. While he is a good man, he lacks the depth and intensity that Peter and Septimus have.
5. Lucrezia (Rezia) Smith
Role: Septimus’s wife, an Italian woman struggling in London
Personality: Loyal, desperate, isolated, loving
Rezia is young, beautiful, and full of life, but her marriage to Septimus has made her deeply unhappy and lonely. She married him in Milan when he was still a normal, charming man. However, after the war, he changed completely, becoming withdrawn and mentally unstable.
Rezia loves Septimus and tries to help him, but she feels trapped and frustrated. She does not understand his hallucinations and resents the fact that she left her family in Italy for a man who no longer cares for her.
Her attempts to seek help are ignored by doctors, and she grows more desperate. In the end, she fails to save Septimus from suicide, and she is left alone in a foreign country.
6. Sally Seton (Lady Rosseter)
Role: Clarissa’s childhood friend and past love interest
Personality: Bold, rebellious, passionate, unconventional
Sally was one of the most exciting figures of Clarissa’s youth. She was wild, outspoken, and politically radical. She once kissed Clarissa, which Clarissa remembers as one of the happiest moments of her life.
However, when Sally arrives at Clarissa’s party, she is very different. Now married with five sons, she has settled into a traditional life. Clarissa feels a sense of disappointment upon seeing her, as if a part of Sally’s old spirit has faded.
Despite this, their reunion is warm, showing that their bond still exists, even if their lives took different paths.
7. Sir William Bradshaw and Dr. Holmes
Role: The oppressive doctors treating Septimus
Personality: Controlling, dismissive, emotionally detached
Both Sir William Bradshaw and Dr. Holmes represent society’s failure to understand mental illness. They believe in conformity, treating patients like cases to be managed rather than people in need of help.
Sir William is particularly dangerous, as he forces patients into institutions, cutting them off from loved ones. Septimus chooses death rather than submitting to their control.
