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Geetanjali Naiding
Roll number- 67 English Hons 3rd year

Question 1. Mrs Dalloway as a modernist novel. Discuss. (10 marks)

Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf was published in 1925 that centres around the
life of Clarissa Dalloway in a single day event. The novel incorporates elements
of modernism which began from the late 19th century till mid-20th century after
the First World War. Mrs Dalloway can be considered a modernist text because
of the elements of modernism that Woolf has explored in the novel.
Modernism was the era that saw the growth in the field of technology and
psychology, industrialisation and urbanisation, decentralisation and exploring
real life issues and also a new form of technique that the artists used known as
Cubism. Modernists saw fragmentation and a sense of disillusionment, and
also felt a growing alienation. A new kind of narrative technique, Stream of
consciousness was incorporated which explored fragments of thoughts to
capture the flow of characters’ inner thoughts and their consciousness. There
was also the emergence of cinema , a new way of entertaining people and a
new way of perceiving the world which was very influential to Woolf. Woolf
rejected the Victorian way of writing which mainly focused on writing about
characters and society based on facts, which Woolf felt was superficial and
materialistic. Modernist writers along with Woolf focused on writing on
“human consciousness”. As Elaine Showalter stated “The idea that there was
an internal reality, a way of dealing with personality that was more
psychological, more interior, less determined by external facts”.
In the novel, Woolf uses the modern narrative technique of Stream of
consciousness which involves dealing with the internal reality rather than the
external reality which allows readers to capture the characters’ flow of
consciousness, their thoughts and memories. Through this technique Woolf
places the readers directly within the minds of the characters. It focuses on the
inner thoughts of the character and not on their actions and gives the reader
the impression that are in their minds. In Mrs Dalloway, Woolf presents the
characters’ thoughts directly to the reader and becomes privy to the
characters’ thoughts and consciousness. For example, When Clarissa and Peter
Walsh take a walk to the park separately, their thoughts are interrupted, and
the thoughts of random people thinking about their everyday troubles is
depicted. This shift in the thoughts shows the presence of stream of
consciousness in the novel. As Clarissa gets ready for her party, she suddenly
remembers of her young days in Bourton and then thinks about Peter Walsh
whom she rejected and wonders if he has come back from India or not. All the
past and present comes together in her thoughts and consciousness as the
novel also has been written based on the characters’ thoughts on a single day.
The novel’s narrative is polyphonic as it represents multiple points of view and
interpretations. Woolf switches the point of view quickly without any warning.
An example from the text would include the scene when Maisie Johnson is
introduced for the first time. It is a very fast transition from Rezia to Maisie, as
the point of view abruptly shifts from Rezia to Maisie. Another example is of
the event when Rezia and Septimus are in the park. The scene begins with the
introduction of Rezia and Septimus and the reason for them being in the park.
Then it suddenly switches to Septimus’ frightening and insane behaviour,
which at the same time includes Rezia’s sane observations as she worries
about being seen in the public with a mad man. Although the dialogues
delivered during this scene is by Rezia but the observations are described
through Septimus. Woolf presents the concept of multiple perspectives of
having several points of view unlike omniscient in the novel. So the characters
in the novel are seen from a number of points of view. As Showalter states,
Woolf wanted to show psychological reality and the internal reality through
the characters, which meant exploring their own memories and fantasies as
they are perceived by the people they encounter. This can be further explained
by the concept of Cubism.
Modernists used the concept of Cubism during this period which was the
starting point of Modernism which meant the simplification of images and
multiple perspectives presented through one image. Cubism is shown in how a
single event or incident creates different effect on different characters and
how everyone has different perspective on it. An example from the novel is
that of the scene when Clarissa is in the flower shop and she suddenly hears a
pistol shot in the street and this violent explosion scares her and Miss Pym
comforts her saying it was the sound of the car backfiring. The car backfiring is
a reminder of the war , as it sounds like a pistol shot. Death seems to be
always close , with pistol shots even among the flowers, which is the symbol of
life. This represents the juxtaposition between life and death. The noise of the
car backfiring comes from a fancy car going by the street which passer-by
assumes that inside the car must be either the Queen or the Prime Minister.
However, on the other side of the city even Septimus Warren Smith hears the
car backfiring but unlike Clarissa, it has a different effect on him. Septimus is a
veteran of World war I , suffering from Shell shock after the war, a mental
illness brought by the horrors of war and on hearing the sound of the car
backfiring assumes that he is responsible for it which has caused traffic jam.
Septimus and Clarissa never actually meet but they act as doubles in the novel.
Cubism is actually a form of art used by the artists and just as the feeling of art
is evoked by Cubist painters, the same kind of feeling is evoked from Woolf’s
Mrs Dalloway. The novel executes a translation of cubism through the use of
elements used by Cubist painters. Just like the Cubist’s movement used by
artists focused on depicting objects from more than one perspective, Woolf
tries to deliver the same kind of feelings through this text. For example in the
novel, when the airplane starts to spell out words with smoke in the air, the
whole city of London looks at it with fascination, amazement and curiosity.
Everyone starts to decipher the message being written out. The uncertainty of
the letters written is an example of how Woolf incorporates different point of
view which also includes the concept of cubism of multiple perspectives.
Moreover, the scene of the aeroplane sky writing can also be seen as a
representation of modernism as sky writing was newly introduced during this
time the novel is set in which was used for advertising purposes This signified
the coming of industrial age, representing the future technology, capitalism
and war.
Woolf was also very influenced by the power of cinema to represent the urban
society. We see that in the novel, she adapts the techniques of film, having
images next to each other and as Showalter explained, the close ups , the
tracking shot where you move along a street from one person to another. The
use of cinema effects also represents the elements of modernism which was
quite new during this period.
Treatment of time is an important element that occupies and concerns the
theme in this novel. Woolf incorporates Henri Bergson’s concept of
psychological time and clock time to explore the idea of human consciousness
and reality of time. In the essay Time and Free Will, Henri Bergson deals with
the clock time which is the physical time and is objective and exists outside of
the human mind which is part of the natural world. It is the external time
which can be exemplified in the novel through the constant tolling of Big Ben,
that interrupts the characters’ thoughts and brings them back to reality and a
constant reminder of the passage of time which represents the progression of
time and the coming of death. The passing of time is frequently made aware
through Big Ben in the novel. For example, in the beginning as Clarissa goes out
to the streets and hears the Big Ben striking ten o’clock, she becomes aware of
the passing of time as it brings her back to the reality of the time as she is now
in, she notes that it has been 5 years since the world war has ended. On the
other hand, Psychological time refers to the internal and subjective time lived
by an individual and experienced by the conscious being. Psychological time
states the consciousness of the human mind and as they perceive it. This
erases the boundary between past and present, and allows them to think
about past and present all at once. For Woolf psychological time meant the
representation of consciousness and understanding of inner thoughts. For
example, in the opening scene of the novel, Clarissa, a fifty-two-year-old
upper-class woman is getting ready for the party organised by her and then as
the sunlight falls on her in this June morning, she is suddenly taken back to her
eighteen-year-old self in Bourton. In the present time, she is also experiencing
the time of her past which represents the psychological time of human
consciousness living the time of past and present all at once. Through
psychological time, Woolf allows the reader to experience what the characters
does and become privy to their thoughts. Through this concept of time, Woolf
explores the fluidity of the external and internal time.

The novel also explores Freud’s idea of psychoanalysis that personality is

layered and complex, it is composed of memories, dreams and fantasies, and is
very much formed in childhood and all of these are reflected in the novel. As
the aeroplane was invented, it entered people’s dreams which according to
Freud was a symbol of sexual excitement. Also, Septimus suffering from Shell
shock, a Post Trauma Stress Disorder gave more influence to Freud’s theory of
psychoanalysis, and his other theories on the mechanisms of repression and
conversion that occur unconsciously within the mind. The concept of a
childhood memory forming in the adult occurs in Mrs. Dalloway in relation to
several characters walking in Regent’s Park. This place serves as a trigger for
Peter Walsh, as he is overwhelmed by the past memories upon returning for
the first time in the place he used to be in as a child. Peter has not been back
to Regent’s Park for some time, having just returned from India and he
remembers walking in Regent Park in his childhood which also feels like a
dream in the present time as he goes back to his past.

Woolf explores the theme of decentralisation, element of modernism. Woolf

tries to examine this through the character of Clarissa as she questions the
authority of power. Clarissa questions the patriarchy, state and empire which
was quiet alien and new in this period, she does it by hosting the party and
rejecting the patriarchal idea of what a woman should be. Woolf also explores
this idea through Septimus’ character as Septimus rejects the kind of
treatment that was given to him by William Bradshaw who represents the
state. Mental illness was neglected during this time as it was a new concept,
however Bradshaw considers it as a “lack of proportion” and tries to separate
him from his wife and Septimus feels that he is being tortured by Bradshaw.
Septimus questions Bradshaw’s treatment and doesn’t follow as he says
because Septimus thinks that Bradshaw is only torturing him instead of curing,
and by doing so Septimus questions the state and power.

Woolf presents the idea of fragmentation, alienation and isolation present in

the characters. Septimus faces alienation in the novel, as he becomes mentally
disturbed after the war. He loses his ability to feel and becomes alienated to
the outside world. This can be seen as Septimus isn’t emotional when his close
friend, Evans dies. Instead he feels reasonable for his death and this makes him
think of how society has turned him into, the kind of masculine character that
the society expects him to be. Septimus goes insane after the war but we live
in a society where Sanity is the norm, and by trying to act sane Septimus feels
alienated from his own self. He becomes entrapped in his own internal world
isolated from the society as he feels numb and realises he cannot feel.
Even Clarissa is shown to be lonely and frequently think of the nearing death,
however she seems to be preserving that “sanity” in her by throwing parties as
a “perfect hostess” so that she can connect with the other people and stay
away from being isolated. However despite being surrounded by crowds, the
feeling of loneliness doesn’t disappear. This can be seen in the novel, when she
goes to her attic bedroom at the end of the day like a nun withdrawing and a
child exploring a tower, she felt empty. Clarissa and Septimus are in a way
victim of the society they live in. Their worlds of sanity and insanity are closely
related by the suppression of their emotions and feelings because of the
alienating society.
Through these elements of modernism discussed in the novel, the text can be
read as a modernist novel.
Question 2. Virginia Woolf talked of ‘time on the clock and time of
in the mind’. Explicate with reference to Mrs Dalloway. (15 marks)

Virginia Woolf’s Mrs Dalloway discusses time as one of the most

important elements explored throughout the novel. Woolf believed
that the concept of time is a human construction. To explain the
presence of time in the novel, Woolf explores the idea of Henri
Bergson’s concept of clock time which is the time on the clock and
the psychological time which is the time on the mind. According to
Bergson, clock time is referred to the external and objective time
which is the natural flow of time measured by hours. It is the physical
time that exists outside the human mind and is part of the natural
world. Whereas Psychological time is the time experienced by an
individual measured by memories and thoughts. Psychological time
is subjective and has a mind dependent existence, it is the duration
of experience as the human consciousness perceives it. Woolf uses
this concept of time to explore the human mind in the novel.
Woolf divides the characters in hours or a certain duration which is
seen through the striking of Big Ben, a representation of clock time.
The striking of Big Ben is a constant reminder of the passage of time
which represents the progression of hours and the constant
presence of past which is the circular motion of time. It also
represents the inevitability of passing time and death. And this
passing of time is frequently made aware in the novel through the
tolling of Big Ben. For example, as the aeroplane demonstrates sky
writing, everyone stares at the sky with amazement and fascination
at the technology, then the Big Ben tolls eleven o’clock which
reminds them of the passing time and brings them back to reality. It
reminds them of the unstoppable march of time. Another example is
of the opening scene, as Clarissa goes out to the streets of London
she is immersed in her thoughts, then all of a sudden she hears the
Big Ben striking ten o’clock which brings her back to the reality, to
the present where she remembers that its already been five years
since the world war I ended. The striking of Big Ben irritates Clarissa
as it reminds her that she is running out of time and getting aged.
Also, throughout the novel, it is uncertain how many hours have
passed throughout the novel but at a certain point, it marks the
passing of time in everyone’s life. It constantly reminds Clarissa of
the mortality. And by this, Woolf sets up dichotomy between
external and internal time.
On the other hand, Psychological time which is the time on the mind
is represented through the consciousness of the mind and the
memories experienced and lived. Through the psychological time,
Woolf allows the characters to think of both past and present all at
once without any chronological order. Psychological time is internal
and is measured in memories. For Woolf, time on the mind meant
the representation of human mind’s consciousness and
understanding the inner thoughts. It also represents how the
characters’ thoughts are interrupted by the external events, and the
way these external events have different effects for different people
and how their consciousness reacts. For example, the scene in the
Regant’s park that appears after Peter’s nap, which explores the
fluidity of the external and internal time. In the park, Peter sits there
and observes the squirrels and then sees a child running and crying.
The child then collides with a nurse. Then the point of view shifts to
Rezia as she thinks of Septimus. Then again, Peter seems to be
laughing at the child after noticing the child collide with Rezia. And
all of these events occur in just few seconds that connects these
characters and brings them into one another’s thoughts. And by
allowing the readers to get in the thoughts of these characters,
Woolf covers not only the hours of the present but the hours of
entire lives stored in memory. For example, within the first moments
we are introduced to Clarissa, we get to know her past, present and
the thoughts of future. We get to know all of that about in just a
single day narration. In a short amount of time, readers get to know
all about the internal thoughts which is represented through the
Psychological time. Woolf has shown the presence of the time on the
mind through the psychological time and the time on the clock
through the concept of clock time.