Scarica Virginia Woolf: Life, Literature, and Themes in Mrs. Dalloway e più Appunti in PDF di Inglese solo su Docsity! VIRGINIA WOOLF Life Virginia Woolf was born in London in 1882. Her highly-intellectual family environment had a great influence on her approach to writing and to art in general. When Virginia was thirteen, the death of her mother, and two years later of her step-sister Stella, caused a nervous breakdown. This marked the beginning of her mental instability, manifested in migraine attacks and phantom voices in her head. After the death of her father, she moved to Bloomsbury in central London where, together with her brother and sister, she founded a circle of intellectuals which would become known as the Bloomsbury Group. Virginia met a fellow writer, Vita Sackville West, who she began a romantic affair with. Finally, in 1941 Virginia Woolf drowned herself in the River Ouse in Sussex. Interior time Virginia Woolf is interested in the subjectivity of the characters, especially the female one, which has made her a heroine for many feminists. Time is dilated and a single moment can last a very long time. This is achieved through an indirect internal monologue, which Woolf uses to represent the gap between chronological and interior time. Then in Virginia Woolf's indirect monologues there is still the occasional presence of a narrator who gives a certain order to the character's thoughts by arranging them in a logical and grammatical sequence. Moments of being For Woolf, moments of being represent not only instances of individual enlightenment, but also moments in which our perception of reality intensifies and enriches. Through her writing, Woolf invites readers to explore the depth and complexity of inner life, and to recognize the importance of such moments in constructing meaning and beauty in everyday life. It’s similar to the Joyce’s Epiphany. Mrs. Dalloway Plot Ms. Dalloway's action is limited to single day events in central London. It opens one morning in June when Clarissa Dalloway, the wife of a politician, leaves the house to buy flowers for the party she has organized for the evening. During the day, Clarissa is captured by her many moods and memories. We also see her through the eyes and thoughts of other characters: the man she once loved, Peter Walsh, who returns after a period in India, her old friend Sally Seton, her daughter Elizabeth and Lady Bruton. Her day also contrasts with that of Septimus Smith, a shell-shocked war veteran. Septimus was treated for his nervous disorders by Dr. Holmes, who understands nothing of his pain, and later by Sir. William Bradshaw, a numb nerve specialist. At the end of the day Septimus commits suicide by jumping from his room window. The news of his death arrives at Clarissa's party, brought by William Bradshaw and his wife. Upon learning of this tragic event, Clarissa reflects on how necessary it is for her that Septimus dies because as he embraces death, she can finally fully embrace life. The novel ends at the party with Clarissa going to Péter, who had been looking for her. Features and themes The beginning of the book is an example of the way in which Virginia Woolf portrays inner time in contrast to chronological time. As Clarissa walks through London, her physical journey to the flower shop is interrupted by the travels in her mind. It is steeped in the past and the future. One of Virginia Woolf's literary goals in writing Mrs. Dalloway was to "dig caves behind her characters". Walking through London, the dilated quality of her inner time is interrupted by the real-time chimes of Big Ben. Another interesting aspect of the novel is the way in which the characters of Clarissa and Septimus become mutually dependent, even if they are never directly connected apart from the party scene. Like Clarissa, Septimus also moves around London, the chaos of his mind merging with the physical act of walking. But unlike Clarissa, Septimus is unable to hold all
