Virginia Wolf’s Mrs. Dalloway, Essay Example

Although Mrs. Dalloway is not conventionally considered a war novel, World War I nonetheless pervades the text in the background as a collective trauma that cannot be forgotten. Woolf engages with World War I in a litany of ways, as Clarissa often reflects on the passage of time and death that a person inevitably will meet. Coping with death is a salient issue that Wolf explores through Clarissa, especially in light of the mass deaths that took place during World War I. Clarissa imagines a relationship between the living and the dead that is dynamic and brooding. She cogitates about the purpose of her parties and surmises about what the meaning of life is. Throughout the novel, she time and again thinks about what her role in society is and what value her life has within society. Her life is monotonous and unfulfilling, as she has agreed to a life of hosting parties rather than following her passions, which is why she feels dead even though she is alive. Her decision to accept her life, however, conveys her trepidation over death and an inability to grasp it, as he prefers to live a stunted life that conforms to society rather than escaping it through death. However, upon hearing about Septimus’ suicide, she beings to comprehend and laud his decision to kill himself because he preserved his integrity in death. Septimus served in World War I and was confronted by mass deaths and massacres that ultimately led to his loss of faith in humanity, resulting in his detachment from his emotions and life in general. Septimus defied society when he took his own life, refusing to conform to the shallow and glib demands of society. Septimus does what Clarissa proved unable to do at the outset. Ultimately, the characters embody their perceptions of life and death. While the majority of the characters seek to conform to societal norms and expectations, thereby losing their identities and individuality in the process, Septimus is a character who embraces the life he wants to live rather than living in a manner that everyone thinks he should live. By delving into the hidden lives of the characters, Wolf deftly criticizes the social system that governed their lives in the aftermath of World War II.

Mrs. Dalloway poignantly investigates the shell shock of Septimus Smith as a result of his participation in World War I. Through Septimus, Wolf examines a broader cultural and social context by conveying how the war impacted those who participated it and the war’s aftermath. Wolf portrays him as a shell-shocked victim who suffers from the pressures related to the psychological disorder as well as the corruption, degradation, and futility that characterizes modern life. The assertion that “the world has raised its whip; where will it descend?” conveys how emotionally paralyzed Septimus is once he returns home from war (Dalloway 19). Septimus fought in World War I for four years, which blunted his emotional capacity, turning him callous and emotionally devoid. This psychological illness germinated because he realized that he had embraced a false identity that he was a dedicated, brave, and decorated hero. Later, however, Septimus feels disgust and shame upon remembering the war, fomenting a sense of guilt in him. Ultimately, Septimus takes his own life as way for him to liberate himself from a corrupt society that would send so many young men to die a gruesome death in a futile war.

Clarissa’s parasol is imbued with various meanings and reifies Clarissa’s privileged position in the society depicted. In one poignant scene, Clarissa hands Lucy her beloved parasol, as Lucy takes “Mrs Dalloway’s parasol, handled it like a sacred weapon which a Goddess, having acquitted herself honorably in the field of battle, sheds, and placed it on the umbrella stand” (Woolf 25). The parasol thus functions as a status symbol, as Clarissa’s servants view her as a Goddess. Moreover, the parasol functions as a protective mechanism against the oppressive sun. Status has always been of paramount importance in Victorian England, yet in the aftermath of World War , redefining class boundaries was increasingly important because of the blurring of both class and gender lines during World War I.

Works Cited

Wolf, Virginia. Mrs. Dalloway. United Kingdom: Hogarth Press, 1925. Print.