ENGLISH LITERATURE II-M.

RESPONSE PAPERS: MRS DALLOWAY

PAULA SANTOS NAVAJAS

MRS DALLOWAY: THE STREAM OF

CONSCIOUSNESS
Mrs Dalloway, published in 1925, is considered to be one of Virginia Woolf's masterpieces.
The British writer mirrors her concerns in the characters throughout the novel. But what is
intriguing here is the form of the novel rather than the themes themselves. Woolf employs
modern techniques in her writing that were considered very innovative for her time, almost
transgressive.

Taking all this into consideration, the following paper will analyze the novel Mrs Dalloway
focusing on form. To be more precise, on the stream-of-consciousness used by Virginia
Woolf.

This style of narration became popular around the early 1900s. It intends to mimic the human
brain and its "imperfection" or " messiness". Characters jump from thought to thought
without a structure, due to the fact that authors seek fluidity of thought. Thus, the reader can
delve into the minds of the characters, understand them and empathize.

As it has been mentioned no structure is followed, since the human brain is unpredictable and
uncontrollable, something that seems to fascinate Woolf, who suffered from mental disorders
herself. She came to reflect these in the characters of Mrs Dalloway. Writers normally tend to
put a part of them in their characters, but through this technique (stream of consciousness),
they do it on a larger scale, since the only reference to the human brain functioning they have,
is their own. Thus, in this novel, we can intuit one of the most characteristic features of the
prolific British author that lead her to a tragic ending: mental disorders.

In this way, we encounter that Clarissa Dalloway, the protagonist is portrayed as a woman
anchored in the past, who looks back with regret. This act conveys her deep dissatisfaction
with her life and the anguish caused by the passing of time.

“She knew, and felt it, as she paused by the open staircase window which let in blinds
flapping, dogs barking, let in, she thought, feeling suddenly shrivelled, aged, breastless, the
grinding, blowing, flowering of the day, out of doors, out of the window, out of her body and
brain which now failed, since Lady Bruton, whose lunch parties were said to be
extraordinarily amusing, had not asked her.” (Woolf, 1925)

This scene is one of the various examples of the fluidity of thought present during the novel.
The paper reflects exactly what Mrs Dalloway is thinking. In this passage specifically, she is
hurt that she was not invited to Lady Burton's house as her husband. You can see that she is
agitated and distressed. Her thoughts are racing. She reflects on her feeling of inadequacy
which she thinks is the reason she has not been invited. Therefore, depressive behavior can be
 ENGLISH LITERATURE II-M. RESPONSE PAPERS: MRS DALLOWAY
PAULA SANTOS NAVAJAS

perceived in her. This condition makes her empathize with another of the main characters,
Septimus Warren.

Like the protagonist, Septimus suffers from mental disorders. Woolf presents the mind of a
mentally ill person who suffers a brutal shock after living through World War I. It could be
argued that as she herself suffered from mental illnesses during her life, she may be showing
a part of what she may have experienced in her personal life at some point through these two
characters. The scene in which Rezia is making Mrs Peter's hat is very illustrative of
Septimus's situation.

"So she sewed. When she sewed, he thought, she made a sound like a kettle on the hob;
bubbling, murmuring, always busy, her strong little pointed fingers pinching and poking; her
needle flashing straight. The sun might go in and out, on the tassels, on the wall-paper, but he
would wait, he thought, stretching out his feet, looking at his ringed sock at the end of the
sofa; he would wait in this warm place, this pocket of still air, which one comes on at the edge
of a wood sometimes in the evening, when, because of a fall in the ground, or some
arrangement of the trees (one must be scientific above all, scientific), warmth lingers, and the
air buffets the cheek like the wing of a bird."

Septimus is describing what he feels as he watches his wife sew, an act that should be
relaxing, and leisurely, and is perceived as a scene in which everything goes very fast. The
stream of consciousness is evident as he jumps from thought to thought, stringing together
unconnected sentences. Through this, we can delve into the character's mind and see how it
works. His mind goes very fast and in a very short fraction of time, a thousand ideas go
through his head, and he looks hectic.

This character ends up being consumed by his mental condition. When Septimus sees the
opportunity to end his suffering, and after considering other ways to do it, he decides to take
his own life by jumping out of the window. This ending of Septimus Warrens's life could be
a premonition of the end of the author's life, as she also committed suicide.

In conclusion, as we have been able to appreciate through these two characters, the author
captured her own concerns in them. In her narration, we can sense that Woolf experienced
mental illness very closely. A key element for the reception of the message is the narrative
technique, in this case, the stream of consciousness. Through this narrative technique, Woolf
presents the disorder of the human mind. How a thousand thoughts can pass through our
heads in a second. As the characters, in this case, are mentally ill, this technique of delving
into their minds is key to empathising with them and understanding them better.

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