Literary Analysis of Virginia Woolf Research Paper

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Literary Analysis Research Paper

Introduction

Mrs. Dalloway is a novel written by Virginia Woolf. It was published in 1925. The book highlights various issues in life such as love, death, social status, and mental illness. Woolf also condenses the story of Clarissa into a single day comprising of past experiences and events (Latham 64). This paper will focus on the literacy aspects present in Mrs. Dalloway. Namely, setting, character, and themes.

Setting

The setting of Mrs. Dalloway is London in early 1923 after World War 1. The whole story takes place over one day in June with many flashbacks to Mrs. Dalloway youth in the 1980s. Each of the settings – London, after the war, and a day in June is analyzed as follows:

London

The story takes place in London. Woolf mentions London’s iconic landmarks such as Trafalgar Square, Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, and the Houses of Parliament. These landmarks remind the reader that the characters live around the City of London. Each landmark also portrays a particular aspect of the story. For Example, Big Ben portrays the passage of time in the story (Pattison 44). Trafalgar Square with statues of famous leaders and generals like Gordon describes the patriotic nature of British people. (Woolf 41)

After the War

Mrs. Dalloway takes place after the war. In the story, the phrase “the War was over” is repeated two times. (Woolf 2, 56). The war represents the historical setting of the story. Woolf also explores the effects of the war on British people. Septimus is suffering from Post-traumatic stress disorder (shell shock). Every night he has nightmares of his friend Evans who died in the war (Pattison 31). He later committed suicide. Clarissa sister was also killed during the war (Pattison 29).

A Day in June

The story begins at 10 a.m. and end at around 3.00 a.m (Pattison 12). Therefore, the whole story happens within twenty-four hours. A day in June also tells the reader how Clarissa typical day looks like. She loves hosting parties and this particular day in June was not different (Woolf 139)

Character Analysis

Clarissa Dalloway

Clarissa Dalloway is the protagonist of the story. The novel is named after her. She is in her early fifties and married to the politician Richard Dalloway. Together they have a daughter Elizabeth Dalloway who is seventeen years old. They live in Westminster, London (Woolf 2).

Clarissa is a party girl.

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She likes hosting parties:

Every time she gave a party she had this feeling of being something not herself, and that everyone was unreal in one way; much more real in another. It was, she thought, partly their clothes, partly being taken out of their ordinary ways, partly the background, it was possible to say things you couldn’t say anyhow else, things that needed an effort; possible to go much deeper (Woolf 139).

Clarissa sometimes thinks of how life could be if she had accepted Peter Wash marriage proposal. She was afraid of marrying Peter and opted for Richard. Richard is timid and loves Clarissa (Carey 53). In the afternoon Richard decides to buy Clarissa flowers. On his way home he thinks on how she will tell Clarissa he loves her. But when he gets home, he only gives her the flowers. "(But he could not bring himself to say he loved her; not in so many words.)… She understood without his speaking; his Clarissa” (Woolf 96). It is clear the couple had an unspoken understanding and their love was strong.

Clarissa enjoys walking in the streets of London (Fong 3). It helps her unwind. During such moments, she only…

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…social class as her or higher. Generally, all the characters in the novel are concerned with their social standing. Miss Kilman depicts the importance of social status:

Year in year out she wore that coat; she perspired; she was never in the room five minutes without making you feel her superiority, your inferiority; how poor she was; how rich you were; how she lived in a slum without a cushion or a bed or a rug or whatever it might be, all her soul rusted with that grievance sticking in it, her dismissal from school during the War — poor embittered unfortunate creature! (Wolf 8)

Conclusion

The single-day structure of the novel allows the reader to appreciate the importance of time in their lives. The main characters in the story – Clarissa and Septimus – let us know of the failures of the society.

Annotated.....

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