• ANNOTATIONS

• Biography of Virginia Woolf

• About Mrs. Dalloway

• Mrs. Dalloway Summary

• Character List

• Themes

• SUMMARY AND ANALYSIS

• Part 1

• Part 2

• Part 3

• Part 4

• Part 5

• Part 6

• Part 7

• Part 8

• Part 9

• Part 10

• Motifs

• Symbols

• Key Facts

Mrs. Dalloway is a novel about people's inner lives. It does not possess a vivid plot; the actual events are secondary to what people spend much of their time pondering: memories, regrets, and hopes. Almost all of the main characters wonder about what might have been. The novel is told from the viewpoint of an omniscient and invisible narrator.

Most of the characters are well off financially, and have considerable leisure time. Yet they are quite busy with the business of being alive, which includes asking questions of their internal and external worlds. These questions do not always make them happy. On the contrary, most of the characters are unhappy for all or part of their day.

In keeping with Woolf's interest in psychology, sexuality is a theme in the novel. Several of the characters are divided in their feelings towards love, and this contributes to their ambivalence.

The actions of the novel are simple: Clarissa Dalloway is hosting a formal party. She sees Peter Walsh, who has returned from India, and drops in for a visit. This meeting, and many other moments in the day, make Clarissa think about the past and the choices she has made. Clarissa's husband, Richard, has meetings and lunches, and their daughter Elizabeth has similar plans herself. Another Londoner, Septimus Warren Smith, is having a bad day, and so is his wife Lucrezia. Septimus is obsessed with his memories of Evans, a friend who was killed in the war. He is also convinced that unseen forces are sending him messages. Lucrezia is taking Septimus to two doctors, neither of whom can do much to cure him. Septimus kills himself later in the day, to escape his doctors, and because he feels he has no other alternative.

Clarissa's party is a success. The Prime Minister arrives, and this is considered a great honor. In the midst of her success as a hostess, she hears of Septimus' suicide. Although she never met him, the news moves her to the core of her being.

Estimated Reading Time
The average silent reading rate is 250 to 300 words per minute, making the total reading time for this novel about five hours. Yet the student must remember that Mrs. Dalloway is a relatively abstract novel. It uses unusual narrative techniques and lacks the action and drama you may be accustomed to. A novel as subtle and complex as this requires more than merely enough time. A combination of endurance and sensitivity is needed to ensure success.

There are no chapter breaks in Mrs. Dalloway, and Woolf's method of centering on the minds of her characters can make Mrs. Dalloway a challenging novel. Since there are no chapter breaks in the original work, these eNotes are divided into eighteen parts. The book is divided as follows:

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• Literature & FictionClassics

• Publication Date: June 3, 2021
• Text-to-Speech: Disabled
• Lending: Disabled
• Print Length: 168 Pages
• File Size: 25 KB