Mrs Dalloway Research Paper
In what ways, and how successfully, does Mrs Dalloway illustrate Woolf’s intention to use her novel to ‘criticise the social system, and to show it at work, at its most intense’? (Woolf, A Writers Diary, 1923)
Woolf’s novel is a critique of post war society to the very fabric of its pages. She uses a variety of tools such as the varying perspectives of characters, which after the First World War, have come to see how fatally flawed the British Empire is. There are those who outwardly champion English tradition, such as Aunt Helena and Lady Bruton, yet Woolf insinuates that blame falls upon all who blindly accept the system, after discovering that Septimus has taken his life, Clarrisa who often herself feels oppressed by society believes …show more content…
On a financial and social standpoint, Clarissa is very much a key component within her society. Yet true power is always just out of her grasp, again as Whitworth displays in his book, Virginia Woolf, “In class terms, Clarissa is an insider, but her role as a politicians wife ‘Mrs Richard Dalloway” places her just outside the circle of authority.” This quote directly speaks to Clarissa’s role as a hostess, her see artificial contribution to society she actually has no influence over. Her lack of power is what leads her to empathise with Septimus so completely. When learning of his death from Mrs Bradshaw, she eventually comes to understand why Septimus would choose death, “She felt very like him-the young man who had killed himself. She felt glad that he had done it; thrown it away.” On the surface it appears that Clarissa is unfeeling and cruel, yet she recognizes that Septimus chose death over oppression and conveys a certain level of admiration, as he claims the freedom that in life, neither of the characters possessed. Woolf unites these characters conveying that oppression in post war society was not confined to the poor. Her characters embody a sense of righteousness as both believe themselves now entitled to the freedom that has been withheld, thereby criticising the social oppression that is shared within gender and
Woolf’s novel is a critique of post war society to the very fabric of its pages. She uses a variety of tools such as the varying perspectives of characters, which after the First World War, have come to see how fatally flawed the British Empire is. There are those who outwardly champion English tradition, such as Aunt Helena and Lady Bruton, yet Woolf insinuates that blame falls upon all who blindly accept the system, after discovering that Septimus has taken his life, Clarrisa who often herself feels oppressed by society believes …show more content…
On a financial and social standpoint, Clarissa is very much a key component within her society. Yet true power is always just out of her grasp, again as Whitworth displays in his book, Virginia Woolf, “In class terms, Clarissa is an insider, but her role as a politicians wife ‘Mrs Richard Dalloway” places her just outside the circle of authority.” This quote directly speaks to Clarissa’s role as a hostess, her see artificial contribution to society she actually has no influence over. Her lack of power is what leads her to empathise with Septimus so completely. When learning of his death from Mrs Bradshaw, she eventually comes to understand why Septimus would choose death, “She felt very like him-the young man who had killed himself. She felt glad that he had done it; thrown it away.” On the surface it appears that Clarissa is unfeeling and cruel, yet she recognizes that Septimus chose death over oppression and conveys a certain level of admiration, as he claims the freedom that in life, neither of the characters possessed. Woolf unites these characters conveying that oppression in post war society was not confined to the poor. Her characters embody a sense of righteousness as both believe themselves now entitled to the freedom that has been withheld, thereby criticising the social oppression that is shared within gender and