Mrs Dalloway
A day in the life of Clarissa Dalloway in post-war London.
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Virginia Woolf's novel *Mrs Dalloway* was released on 14 May 1925. It follows a single day in the life of Clarissa Dalloway, a well-off Londoner living in the years after the First World War. The story covers her morning preparations for an evening party and the party itself. Using a stream-of-consciousness style, the narrative shifts back and forth in time from an interior perspective, building a picture of Clarissa's life and the social structures of the interwar period.
The book was originally going to be called *The Hours*. It grew out of two short stories: "Mrs Dalloway in Bond Street" and an unfinished piece titled "The Prime Minister". By the autumn of 1922, Woolf was considering the "Mrs Dalloway" story as the opening chapter of a new novel, and she finished the manuscript in late autumn 1924.
In the morning, Clarissa Dalloway walks through London, making arrangements for her party. The pleasant weather stirs memories of her youth in the countryside at Bourton, leading her to reflect on her choice of husband: she married the reliable, successful Richard Dalloway instead of the enigmatic and demanding Peter Walsh. She also recalls that she "had not the option" to pursue a romantic relationship with a female friend, Sally Seton. Peter Walsh reopens these old tensions when he visits that morning. His visit makes clear he is still in love with Clarissa (despite mentioning a new love interest named Daisy), and Clarissa wishes he would take her away. She invites him to her party that evening.
Septimus Warren Smith, a First World War veteran suffering from deferred traumatic stress, spends his day in a park with his Italian wife, Lucrezia. She feels deeply lonely because of her husband's isolating illness. The war damaged not only Septimus's ability to function but also Lucrezia's life. Septimus experiences frequent, indecipherable hallucinations, mostly about his close friend Evans, toward whom he had unresolved unrequited sexual feelings and who died in the war. Otherwise, Septimus seems unable to feel emotions for anyone, including his wife. His relationship with his doctors, Sir William Bradshaw and Dr Holmes, is very poor; he fears for his safety around both and often questions human nature after their visits. When he is involuntarily committed to a psychiatric hospital, he jumps out of a window and kills himself.
Clarissa's evening party is a slow success. Most of the characters she encountered during the day attend, including Sally, Peter, and others from her past. Clarissa learns that Sally, whom she has not seen for decades and who was once a free-spirited tomboy, has become a respectable, matronly mother of five boys. The novel ends with Clarissa hearing about Septimus's suicide at the party. She gradually comes to admire this stranger's act, seeing it as an effort to preserve the purity of his happiness. She also acknowledges that she can relate to Septimus despite knowing so little about him.
The main characters include Clarissa Dalloway, the 51-year-old protagonist, who is Richard's wife and Elizabeth's mother. She is self-conscious about her role in London high society and was based on Kitty Lushington. Elizabeth Dalloway, Clarissa and Richard's 17-year-old daughter, is described as looking "oriental" and has great composure. Unlike her mother, she takes pleasure in politics and modern history, hoping to become a doctor or farmer, and would rather spend time in the country with her father than at her mother's party. Richard Dalloway is Clarissa's practical, "simple" husband, who feels disconnected from his wife and is absorbed in his government work. Miss Doris Kilman, originally "Kiehlman," is Elizabeth's history schoolmistress and a born-again Christian. She holds a degree in history and lost her teaching job during the Great War because "Miss Dolby thought she would be happier with people who shared her views about the Germans." Of German ancestry, she wears an unattractive mackintosh coat, dislikes Clarissa intensely, but loves spending time with Elizabeth. Sally Seton, a former love interest of Clarissa's with whom she shared a kiss, is now married to Lord Rosseter and has five boys. She had a strained relationship with her family and spent much time with Clarissa's family in her youth; she was once feisty and a youthful ragamuffin but has become more conventional with age. Lucrezia "Rezia" Warren Smith is Septimus's Italian wife, burdened by his mental illness and feeling judged because of it. She is homesick for her family and country, which she left to marry Septimus after the Armistice. Septimus Warren Smith is a World War I veteran suffering from "shell shock" and hallucinations of his deceased friend Evans. Educated and decorated in the war, he is detached from society and believes himself unable to feel, and has grown distant from his wife. Peter Walsh is an old friend of Clarissa's who has failed at most of his ventures. Clarissa rejected his marriage proposal in the past. He has returned to England from India and is one of Clarissa's party guests, planning to marry a married woman named Daisy and trying to arrange a divorce from his current wife. Hugh Whitbread is a pompous friend of Clarissa's.
In October 2005, *Mrs Dalloway* was included on *Time* magazine's list of the 100 best English-language novels published since the magazine's first issue in 1923.
- author
- Virginia Woolf
- published
- 14 May 1925
- setting
- Post-First World War London
- narrative_style
- Stream of consciousness
- working_title
- The Hours
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Lore & Background
The novel originated from two short stories, "Mrs Dalloway in Bond Street" and the unfinished "The Prime Minister". In autumn 1922, Woolf began to think of the "Mrs Dalloway" short story as the first chapter of her new novel, and she completed the manuscript in late autumn 1924. The working title of Mrs Dalloway was The Hours. Clarissa Dalloway goes around London in the morning, getting ready to host a party that evening. The nice day reminds her of her youth spent in the countryside in Bourton and makes her wonder about her choice of husband; she had married the reliable, successful Richard Dalloway instead of the enigmatic and demanding Peter Walsh. She "had not the option" to be with a female romantic interest, Sally Seton. Peter reintroduces these conflicts by paying a visit that morning. Septimus Warren Smith, a First World War veteran suffering from deferred traumatic stress, spends his day in the park with his Italian-born wife Lucrezia. Septimus is visited by frequent and indecipherable hallucinations, mostly concerning his dear friend Evans, who died in the war. As a result of his involuntary commitment to a psychiatric hospital he takes his own life by jumping out of a window. The novel ends with Clarissa hearing about Septimus's suicide at the party and gradually coming to admire this stranger's act, which she considers an effort to preserve the purity of his happiness.
Reader's Guide
Mrs Dalloway is an example of stream of consciousness storytelling: every scene closely tracks the momentary thoughts of a particular character. Woolf blurs the distinction between direct and indirect speech throughout the novel, freely alternating her mode of narration between omniscient description, indirect interior monologue, and soliloquy. The narration follows at least twenty characters in this way, but the bulk of the novel is spent with Clarissa Dalloway, Peter Walsh, and Septimus Smith. The novel addresses the nature of time in personal experience through multiple interwoven stories. Big Ben towers over the city of London and rings for each half-hour, reminding characters of the loss of life to time. In October 2005, Mrs Dalloway was included on Time magazine's list of the 100 best English-language novels written since its first issue in 1923. Mrs Dalloway is commonly thought to be a response to James Joyce's Ulysses, as both novels use the stream of consciousness technique to follow the thoughts of two characters during one day in a bustling city.
Did You Know?
- The working title of Mrs Dalloway was The Hours.
- The novel originated from two short stories, 'Mrs Dalloway in Bond Street' and the unfinished 'The Prime Minister'.
- Woolf completed the manuscript in late autumn 1924.
- In October 2005, Mrs Dalloway was included on Time magazine's list of the 100 best English-language novels written since its first issue in 1923.
- The character of Clarissa Dalloway was based on Kitty Lushington.
Origins & Composition
Mrs Dalloway began life under a different name. Virginia Woolf's working title for the project was "The Hours." The novel did not emerge fully formed; rather, it grew out of two earlier short pieces — "Mrs Dalloway in Bond Street" and an unfinished story called "The Prime Minister." By autumn 1922, Woolf had begun reconceiving the Bond Street sketch not as a standalone vignette but as the opening chapter of something larger. She labored on the manuscript through the following years, finally completing it in late autumn 1924. The finished book reached readers on 14 May 1925.
Narrative Architecture & Technique
Woolf structures the novel around a single London day, yet the story constantly leaps forward and backward through memory, using an interior perspective that follows characters' thoughts rather than external action. The narration employs a stream-of-consciousness style, weaving together multiple interwoven storylines so that Clarissa's party preparations, Septimus's time in the park, and Peter Walsh's morning visit all orbit the same temporal axis. The central concern is the nature of time as it is lived in personal experience — not clock time, but the way a pleasant morning triggers a recollection of Bourton, or a stranger's suicide reframes a decade of choices. By refusing linear chronology, Woolf constructs a portrait of inter-war social structure from the inside out.
The Two Lives That Converge
The novel's emotional engine is the parallel between two lives that never intersect. Clarissa Dalloway, fifty-one, spends her morning preparing to host an evening party while contemplating whether she made the right choice in marrying the dependable Richard rather than the restless Peter Walsh, or in surrendering her youthful passion for Sally Seton. Across the city, Septimus Warren Smith, a decorated veteran haunted by shell shock and hallucinations of his dead friend Evans, drifts through the park with his Italian wife Lucrezia, who endures loneliness and the judgment of others. Their worlds collide only in death: Clarissa learns of Septimus's suicide — his leap from a window after his involuntary commitment to a psychiatric hospital overseen by Sir William Bradshaw — while her gathering is in full swing. Rather than recoiling, she comes to admire what she reads as his effort to preserve the purity of his happiness, and she recognizes a kinship with this stranger she has never met.
Enduring Legacy & Critical Standing
Though first published on 14 May 1925, Mrs Dalloway has sustained a powerful presence in the literary canon. In October 2005, Time magazine selected it for its list of the one hundred best English-language novels written since the magazine's first issue in 1923. The book's lasting resonance lies in its formal innovation: the stream-of-consciousness narration, the interwoven storylines, and the treatment of time as a subjective, personal experience rather than a linear sequence. Mrs Dalloway is commonly thought to be a response to James Joyce's Ulysses. Woolf herself, writing in 1928, denied any deliberate "method" to the book, saying instead that the structure came about "without any conscious direction".
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