TRAUMA AS PORTRAYED IN VIRGINIA

WOOLF’S MRS. DALLOWAY

Szaniszlo Annne-Marie
BA Thesis
West University of Timisoara
Romania
July, 2023
Contents
INTRODUCTION.....................................................................................................................................................2
CHAPTER I: A PORTRAYAL OF TRAUMA.........................................................................................................6
Chapter I.I.: Understanding Trauma..........................................................................................................................6
DEFINITIONS, THEORIES, AND APPLICATIONS.............................................................................................7
TYPES OF TRAUMA. GENERAL AND PARTICULAR APPLICATIONS..........................................................9
Collective trauma and PTSD...................................................................................................................................11
Post-war trauma......................................................................................................................................................12
Traumatic departure................................................................................................................................................13
Personal trauma in women......................................................................................................................................14
Sexual abuse............................................................................................................................................................14
Childhood trauma....................................................................................................................................................17
LITERARY REPRESENTATIONS OF TRAUMA................................................................................................19
Modernist history and literature..............................................................................................................................19
Virginia Woolf and the ideas of feeling...................................................................................................................21
Embodied cognitive aesthetics: dramatism and solitude........................................................................................22
CHAPTER II: COLLECTIVE TRAUMA AS PICTURED IN............................................................................23
MRS. DALLOWAY................................................................................................................................................23
II.I. A Modernist approach to literary trauma.........................................................................................................23
II.II. Post-war trauma and anxieties.......................................................................................................................25
A. Septimus Warren Smith..................................................................................................................................26
1. Unsettling perspective on reality and a fabricated reality.............................................................................29
2.Flashbacks............................................................................................................................................................33
3. Suicide.................................................................................................................................................................35
Chapter III: PERSONAL TRAUMA PORTRAYED IN MRS. DALLOWAY......................................................38
III.I. Modernist reliability.......................................................................................................................................38
A. Clarissa Dalloway...........................................................................................................................................40
1. Predisposition for solitude and perception of life.........................................................................................41
2. Consequences of one’s trauma.......................................................................................................................44
3. A wide range of emotions...............................................................................................................................46
CONCLUSION.......................................................................................................................................................49
References...............................................................................................................................................................51
INTRODUCTION

In recent decades, understanding trauma has become an increasing important endeavour, in a

variety of fields. Various approaches have led to the delimitation of what has become known
as trauma studies, a framework within which specialists from various convergent domains
have contributed a range of methods and concepts meant to shed light on this very complex
phenomenon. While understanding trauma became particularly important in the wake of the
great disasters of the twentieth century, such as the Second World War, the first steps towards
it were taken at the beginning of the previous century, when such topics became less taboo.

Generally speaking, trauma is recognized as a disruption of the body and mind that frequently
leads to other disorders and illnesses, such as (complex) post-traumatic stress disorder,
anxiety disorders, and mind-related illnesses like overanalysing things, a lack of acceptance,
and self-love when talking about sexual abuse. The tremendous effects that trauma has on
people's mental and physical health, as well as their interpersonal connections and society
dynamics, are the only way to understand its importance and relevance for the analysis. For
proper assistance, to encourage healing, and to develop resilience in people and communities
affected by traumatic events, it is essential to understand and cope with trauma.

In this paper, I will look at the way in which trauma is dealt with in Virginia Woolf’s novel,
Mrs. Dalloway, an illustration of early twentieth century literary representations of trauma.
Specifically, I will investigate the two types of trauma portrayed and analyse the way in which
they are articulated.

Mrs. Dalloway is regarded as a classic example of modernist literature and is renowned for its
innovative narrative style, psychological nuance, and sophisticated representation of human
awareness. It is still a beloved and highly read book that examines the depths of human
existence and the relationship between internal and exterior reality. Clarissa Dalloway, an
upper-class woman in her fifties, is the primary subject of the book and is presented as she
gets ready to give an evening party. The reader is given insight into Clarissa's thoughts,
memories, and impressions of the world from her perspective. To explore the complex

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workings of Clarissa's mind, Woolf uses free indirect speech narrative technique, frequently
using associative and nonlinear patterns of thinking. The narrative is set in London and takes
place over the course of a single day in June. It explores the characters' inner lives via their
thoughts and experiences. The work explores a variety of themes, including the nature of
time, the function of memory, the limitations of societal norms, the repercussions of war on
society, and the difficulties of identity and individuality. Highly poetic and evocative, Woolf's
work captures the subtleties of human experience and the beauty of ordinary moments.

Mrs Dalloway has been extensively analysed over time and has also been the object of
reconfigurations and rewritings. The aims of this paper are to compare and contrast two types
of traumatic encounters and to analyse what the aftermath of these events may cause to a
person, and specifically to the two main characters of the novel, Clarissa Dalloway and
Septimus Warren Smith. This analysis will use parts from the text itself as well as references
taken from trauma analysts who also took Mrs. Dalloway into consideration and will aim to
reveal how trauma can affect two individuals in a very different manner and how, despite the
differences, these two characters are similar to each other in their attempts to articulate
trauma.

The thesis is structured into three main chapters, preceded by this short introduction and
followed by a concluding section. Chapter I will provide the theoretical grounding of the
project. In the first part of it, I will talk about some general definitions and ideas of trauma,
types of trauma with its general and particular application, such as collective and personal
trauma, each having specific subtypes, namely anxieties and detachment and lastly, the
literary approach to trauma studies. Primarily, I aim to provide an overview of the main
approache s to the concept of trauma in order to situate my own analysis.

I will focus first on a more general point of view and present the notion of collective trauma.
Natural catastrophes, war, genocide, terrorism, pandemics, or institutional oppression are just
a few situations when collective trauma may happen. It has an impact on not just people who
are directly involved in the event, but also on the group or society as a whole.

The term "collective trauma" describes the psychological and emotional effects that a group
of individuals go through as a result of a common traumatic incident or set of events. It differs
from individual trauma, which is experienced by people because of their own encounters with
violence, loss, or other upsetting situations. Individuals and communities can be affected for a
very long time by collective trauma. It could affect political, social, and economic systems as
5
well as cultural narratives and collective memory. Trauma may be passed down through
intergenerational processes, wherein succeeding generations take on and bear the
psychological and emotional repercussions of previously traumatic experiences. In order to
provide the right conditions for healing, development, and general well-being, it is necessary
to acknowledge the feelings and experiences that traumatized people and communities have.

In the last part of this first chapter, I will narrow down on personal trauma. Personal trauma is
the experience of a profoundly upsetting or unpleasant occurrence that has a long-lasting
effect on a person's psychological health. It may include a variety of occurrences, such as
physical or sexual assault, accidents, natural catastrophes, witnessing violence, the loss of a
loved one, or emotional or psychological abuse. It is crucial to remember that every person's
experience of trauma is distinct, and that reactions to traumatic situations might vary. Personal
trauma recovery is extremely personalized and may require time, patience, and continuing
support.

Chapters II and III focus on the novel itself and analyse its protagonists separately. Chapter II
discusses Septimus Warren Smith at the intersection of personal and collective trauma. I will
analyse his life, his post-war trauma and anxieties with the fabricated and unsettling
perspective on reality, and lastly, his suicide as a form of coping with the aftermath of his
traumatic encounters. I will also go through his account of his horrific experience as one of
the novel's characters and look at how the war affected the man's catastrophic crises as well as
the character's innermost thoughts about post-World War II Britain, from war to alienation and
from flashbacks to suicide.

Chapter III discusses the female protagonist, Clarissa Dalloway. Her struggles seem to be
primarily of a personal nature but the backdrop of the crises of the first decades of the
twentieth century is still there. I will analyse her life, her predisposition for solitude and her
perception of life, and the wide range of emotions she provides.

In Mrs. Dalloway, Virginia Woolf contrasts two traumatizing experiences, one brought on by
the war and the other by disease and individual decision-making. Woolf's attempt to create
comparable characters (Septimus and Clarissa) and to develop a vocabulary and narrative
style that could start to "speak" their pain are what binds them together despite their
differences. In order to show the readers that trauma may affect anybody, regardless of their
personal circumstances, and that both soldiers and civilians may be affected by war, Woolf
created this relationship between these two characters.
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In the conclusion, I will provide the final thoughts of the analysis to understand how the two
types of trauma and the two characters affected are different, but also very similar in the kind
of narrative language they speak and the processing mechanisms they resort to. In order to
pursue the aims of this project, I will use definitions and explanations, I will situate myself
historically, and I will also perform text analyses through the theoretical lenses defined in the
first chapter.

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CHAPTER I: A PORTRAYAL OF TRAUMA

Chapter I.I.: Understanding Trauma

This chapter outlines the characteristics of the condition known as trauma. The term "trauma"
is derived from the Greek words "wound" and earlier "to pierce," respectively. Trauma might
be regarded as something external which then permeates our bodies and minds, an external
threatening act that causes serious damage to the entire body.

Trauma is generally understood to be an overpowering emotion that controls both the mind
and the body. This affects how the victim reacts to the traumatic incident, which is typically
followed by frequent repetition of the terrible incident that took place. Although for a long
time the medical profession did not have adequate terminology, one of the terms used
nowadays for trauma-related conditions is post-traumatic stress disorder. Trauma is generally
acknowledged as a disruption of the body and mind that frequently results in other disorders
and illnesses, including (complex) post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety disorders, and mind-
related illnesses, including anxiety, a struggle with self-acceptance, and self-love regarding
sexual abuse.

While the mind is the main site where trauma manifests itself and affects our emotions and
capacity to appreciate happiness, the body and its physical manifestations can be affected as
well. Trauma can become intolerable, whether viewed from a narrow or broad perspective.
Trauma victims have also an indirect impact on people around them. As a terrible incident that
impacts a whole community causes collective trauma, individuals may also experience trauma
from a personal perspective from the people around them, such as friends, family, significant
others.

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DEFINITIONS, THEORIES, AND APPLICATIONS

In this chapter I will attempt to analyse the complexity of trauma and how it is portrayed in its
general terms. Initially, as a most broad definition of trauma I will rely on Cathy Caruth’s way
of explaining this emerging dread, namely as an “overwhelming experience of catastrophic
events” (1995:11). Trauma has always been presented in several fields of knowledge because
of its paradoxical relationship between destructive nature and survival. Focus has been placed
on facets of the progression of trauma over time that have been built in an assortment of ways
using concepts that range from collective to personal and also recurrent incidents.

Sigmund Freud is among the first theorists who attempted a systematic study of trauma and its
effects. One significant work in his respect is Mourning and Melancholia (1920), which
provides a nuanced examination of a psychological condition and helps us better comprehend
the psychoanalytic underpinnings of trauma. This condition typically transcends the
overpowering impression that historical events leave on the memory. In his writings, Freud
described trauma as an "experience of pain" that brings about melancholia. These
sorrowful sentiments emerge with aspects of mourning, yet individual manifestations can
differ. The traumatic cycle, which is "a reaction to the actual loss of a loved object," also
includes mourning (1920:250).

According to Freud, the only way to recover from trauma is by constantly referring to the
past. It is acknowledged that a victim must confront, discuss, and embrace their history in
order to learn how to cope with trauma. Additionally, he describes trauma as the feeling of
misery experienced while one is helpless. The loss of one's own body might enable one to
comprehend this grief. The absence of substance, followed by the context of mental processes
of troubling memories.

Lastly, time has a significant link with trauma. By recognizing the primacy of the present over
the past, Freud acknowledges in his writings that trauma has a temporal correlation. In most
cases, healing from trauma takes time and persistence. In order to deal with the present, the
survivor must overcome their past. Talking about the trauma is one step in the healing
process. By discussing these issues candidly, we can better comprehend the traumatic incident
and, usually, develop coping mechanisms over time.
9
By introducing two different experiences that were integrated with the central problem of
trauma, Freud laid the foundation of trauma theory. Although he granted the first one priority
throughout the course of his career, the second's influence was more profound. This allows the
transmission how trauma was perceived as a bodily process from both a literary and a medical
perspective. He recognized that there is a mechanism by which the second occurrence, which
subsequently becomes the psychical representation of the memories from the first trauma,
triggers the initial experience, which may not even exist in one's memory. According to the
hypothesis, there are encounters that can include components that are not generally seen, but
they can only be experienced so that "the ego must create barriers against it" (Kurtz n.d:25).
What is important for my thesis, however, is the idea that articulation of trauma is
fundamental for its understanding and for recovery from it.

In contrast, the neurobiologist Bessel van der Kolk (2006) claims that it could be time to
reconsider Freud's beliefs. He names this process "Leaving Vienna," which implies the idea
that individuals can recover from trauma by themselves. The development of Eye Movement
Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), in his opinion, "opened up extremely significant
new ways of looking at what else could be going that could help people" (2006:224). A
survivor's entire world view is usually affected by traumatic experiences, becoming stuck and
lacking the ability to adapt to any new interaction. Trauma is also described as "speechless
horror" (Kolk, 2006:56) since it is marked by repeating, mentally affecting images that cause
flashbacks. My aim is to articulate the importance of trauma analysis and how significant it is
to understand its deepest meanings in order to acknowledge its relevance.

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TYPES OF TRAUMA. GENERAL AND
PARTICULAR APPLICATIONS

Trauma is notoriously difficult to pinpoint. Although trauma is well known to have a vast
range of general applications, it is challenging to describe what exactly trauma means. As
described by Martin Modlinger in Other People's Pain (2011:22), traumatic encounters
fluctuate between "the extremes of keeping the wound open and looking for closure," with its
repercussions emerging on a broad scale. Trauma can also have an impact upon everyone else
around in addition to those who are directly exposed to it. The first barrier that is
compromised by the exposure to a traumatic event is the mind. According to Caruth
(1995:183), trauma filters through you and takes over as a dominant aspect of your internal
self.

To sum everything up, trauma possesses you. One significant part is that, in order to
understand trauma itself, we need to understand how it manifests itself. The repercussions of a
traumatic experience typically manifest as a range of subtle or complicated symptoms. For
instance, the warning responses, such as sensations of anxiety and helplessness, or even terror,
best depict the effects of trauma. One is more prone to relive trauma and develop post-
traumatic stress disorder, which is classified as an "extreme form of anxiety disorder," the
more severe the symptom is (2007:362). Trauma symptoms generally include numbness,
nightmares, negative thinking, and a heightened level of awareness. Individuals who have
been exposed to these symptoms experience acute awareness and a numbing sensation as a
result of these symptoms. Those who have undergone trauma throughout their life have a
tendency to look for traces of that trauma wherever they are. An individual is more likely to
develop a PTSD if they have been exposed to distressing events over an extended period of
time. The stress condition is more complex if that traumatic state of mind persists over time
due to defensive traits (C-PTSD). In The Body Keeps the Score, Van der Kolk (2014:113)
claims that people frequently experience "a fear of the bodily sensations associated with panic

11
attacks". Usually, anything the brain associates with a terrible experience, or an unreasonable
thought sets off this reaction.

The brain and our body have a close connection. The afflicted mind finds it difficult to accept
reality as it is, and whenever we experience fear, our subconscious mind, which controls how
we react to both external and interior stimuli, promptly engages with our brain. The main
connection between the body, mind, and trauma is the demand that we interpret trauma on a
perceptual level by training ourselves to respond differently to the triggers. This mechanism
has an impact on our perception of reality and how our senses work. Lingering effects of
trauma exposure may be seen as changes. A person who has experienced trauma just alters
their fundamental knowledge of touch, pain, and other basic bodily sensations.

According to Pedersen (n.d:157), acute distress is one of the most frequent reactions to trauma
of any severity and is often followed by recovery. “We are biologically primed to learn to be
fearful and avoidant of potentially life-threatening situations” (n.d:157). Individuals who find
themselves in a constant state of fear, anxiety and stress usually tend to develop other severe
illnesses, such as post-traumatic stress disorder, known as a severe anxiety illness.

In the following sections, I will attempt a review of forms of trauma, from collective and how
it manifests to veterans, to personal trauma in women. The review will consist in a broad
spectrum of general definitions and applications of collective and personal trauma, an analysis
of the aftermath of traumatic symptoms, such as post-traumatic stress disorders and post-war
trauma, following the traumatic departure. The personal trauma in women will be presented
through an analysis of sexual abuse and childhood trauma. My main intention is to articulate
the importance of understanding the aftermath of trauma and how this affects one’s life.

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Collective trauma and PTSD

According to Caruth in Unclaimed experience, trauma is “not simply an effect of destruction

but also an enigma of survival" (1996:71). Exposure to psychic illnesses as well as direct
exposure to external violence is likely to produce traumatic effects, which frequently manifest
themselves as uncontrollable and recurring flashbacks, dreams, or even intrusive thoughts.
Collective trauma is well acknowledged to be the cause of post traumatic illnesses. The
Holocaust, mass murders, or even revolutions serve as general representations of collective
trauma that are deeply rooted in history. An entire nation might experience collective trauma
since it is "a crisis which stimulates a search for meaning" (Hirschberger, 2018). Some
victims of this kind of trauma may recover by learning to cope with it, while others may
experience persistent symptoms that lead to PTSD.

In the following sections, I will analyze the aftermath of these symptoms, often known as
post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The common understanding of PTSD nowadays is that
it emerges from the direct exposure of the mind to a reality which cannot be escaped or from
direct exposure to what is known as collective trauma. According to the DSM-IV (Diagnostic
and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders), PTSD is a syndrome with a particular intensity
of unsettling episodes, intrusive thoughts, and amnesia. It is also associated with a state of
bewilderment and oblivion that is as common as strong trauma memories (Brewin, 2003:2).

Because "the part of our brain that is devoted to ensuring our survival [...] is not very good at
denial" (Kolk, 2014:14), the posttraumatic reactions of the brain may feel daunting and
inexplicable for the sufferer long after the traumatic experience has elapsed. One of the
important and acknowledged symptom is the triggering of the brain in key moments. For
instance, if a person was involved in a car accident nearby a flower shop, their central nervous
system will recognize the shop, the color of the car, or even the street's name. The amygdala,
the prefrontal cortex that perceives threats, preparing the “fight or flight” response, will
therefore send a trigger to the brain every time they pass by these key elements, causing the
victim to recall the traumatic event they were a part of. Therefore, in order to avoid recalling

13
the threat of the traumatic event, victims of collective trauma frequently experience responses
with a general feeling of numbness and anxiety symptoms.

Post-war trauma

According to Caruth (1996:11), today, the life of a soldier who fought in battle is most
commonly used to understand trauma. He struggled through the horrors of the fight, and once
he got home, he was left to deal with the trauma and go through all the horrors that he had
gone through during the battle. Veterans are among those categories heavily impacted
by this posttraumatic syndrome. Post-war trauma has also historical roots. Veterans who have
experienced severe traumatic events frequently develop a severe form of PTSD. They may
experience varying symptoms that respond differently to even the smallest triggers, such as
striking a bump in the road or even spotting a child playing in the park. Some victims find it
difficult to understand their feelings, which causes them to feel enraged, depressed, or find
themselves in a state of fear. The vast majority of the time, those who experienced combat
have come home wounded, but not only physically. The most common disorder for soldiers is
the post-traumatic syndrome, mostly in those who saw the conflict firsthand, and anxiety in
those who were not exposed, are the two conditions that affect troops the most.

Van der Kolk states in his writings that the hallucinations his patients experience could really
be "the fragmented memories of real experiences" (2018:37). Hallucinations and flashbacks
may sometimes be far worse than the traumatic event itself. Although it does not go away
completely, the victim may eventually develop coping mechanisms. However, the trauma can
re-emerge at any time, generally for persons with PTSD who have flashbacks, whether they
are awake, asleep, or not paying attention. Often, those who are experiencing severe
flashbacks must rebuild their lives around, so that they can manage to protect themselves from
the trauma.

It is therefore extremely difficult for the victim to be able to deal with the trauma or to forget
it if the reoccurrences keep happening. The mind isolates itself from the traumatic incident to
maintain a safe environment. This enables the victim to respond less viscerally or not at all
when the traumatic experience occurs.

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Traumatic departure

As it is understood now, PTSD is a direct consequence of mental contact and the undeniable
reality of traumatic experiences. By creating a connection between collective violence and
consciousness, it seizes control of the mind. Traumatic departures result from the complexities
of the trauma experience. Traumatic departures can set off strong emotional reactions, such as
emotions of abandonment, loss, grief, and despair. These feelings may be amplified by the
departure's abruptness or surprise, the importance of the relationship or surroundings being
left behind, and other factors. They may aid in the emergence of mental health conditions
including anxiety, depression or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Broadly speaking, this departure is referred to as a "conscious awareness of the threat to life"
(Caruth, 1996:62).

Further on, I will analyze the traumatic departure, as a part of collective trauma, and its
symptoms. People who have experienced traumatic events frequently struggle with absent
thinking and lifeless glances, which are symptoms of the neurological freeze response. The
medical term used by specialists for this coping mechanism is depersonalization. This is
usually perceived as a sign of the acute dissociation, which is mostly brought on by trauma.
Due to the fact that "it is hard to feel truly alive after, [...] with almost no activity of any of the
self-sensing areas of the brain," memories of traumatic experiences can also operate as a
dominating depersonalization trigger (Kolk, 2014:89, 107). Patients have learnt to "shut
quiet" the parts of the brain that transmit the emotions related to the traumatic events as a
reaction to trauma and as a first step towards dissociation. Damasio (in Kolk, 2014:109)
proposes a pretty intriguing method of comprehending our thinking:

Sometimes we use our minds not to discover facts, but to hide them. One of the things the
screen hides most effectively is the body, our own body, by which I mean the ins of it, its
interiors. Like a veil thrown over the skin to secure its modesty, the screen partially removes
from the mind the inner states of the body, those that constitute the flow of life as it wanders
in the journey of each day.

15
This might be considered a further understanding of the manifestations of trauma and the idea
that maintaining a body in a permanent anxiety state interferes with the healing process by
making it more difficult until the emotion becomes accustomed.

Personal trauma in women

Within its wide spectrum of issues, trauma has a variety of components. In this section, I will
focus on personal trauma, which develops in more intimate situations and is experienced only
by a particular individual. Contrary to collective trauma, which affects a large group of
people, personal trauma is related to specific, individual occurrences.

According to Pedersen (n.d:155), “trauma is not only a consequence of such large-scale

events but also a common occurrence in domestic life”. Some individuals face trauma after
being harassed by a partner or a family member. The various types of traumatic experiences
include physical, psychological, , and sexual abuse.

Sexual abuse

According to World Health Organisation, in a relationship, half of women between the ages of
15 and 49 encounter either physical or sexual abuse over time from their partner or ex-partner,
"at least once in their lives" (2021).Anyone can experience sexual abuse. These kinds of
experiences are common and often fall within the "spectrum of human experience," according
to Brown (in Caruth, 1989). When a victim is not able to control what happens to them, they
typically place the blame on themselves. Rape victims typically feel perpetual guilt and the
sense that their lives have been irreparably damaged. Various people have different
perspectives on the effects of abuse. They range from a dread of the dark and of going outside
16
to a terror of contact, touching, and males in general. Similarly to collective trauma, sexual
abuse victims may also develop flashbacks and anxieties whenever they are touched or when
they lie in the same bed where the assault happened.

Women usually tend to find themselves in a state of fear to experience a contact with a male
figure, in general. At specific critical moments, flashbacks or even slight triggers might
emerge. Following an assault, a woman's body experiences trauma that leaves it feeling like a
crime scene. The trauma is not visible from outside. It can only be noticed in specific
behaviors or nonverbal gestures, mainly in adolescents.

A woman expresses different sentiments regarding her body and makes comments such, "It is
awful now," "I am unattractive now," and "it is not me" (Shapiro, 2010:246). When a victim
acts in a way that they do not completely understand, sexual issues could develop. They
could respond a specific way to normal activities. The symptoms might vary. Usually,
hopelessness follows shame as the first sign of the traumatic event. Typically, a woman who
has experienced sexual assault certainly feels that way. The lack of choice is what makes the
abuse traumatizing rather than the loss of virginity. The victim frequently feels powerless and
defenseless. Throughout their lives, each individual has their own strength, but during such
challenging situations, all of that power is lost.

If a loved one or trusted adult assaults individuals, they are more likely to form subliminal
conceptions such as the idea that they are to blame for the assaulter's actions and by that their
ability to trust is weakening. Overall, a sense of significance loss might be perceived. The
abuse victims begin to doubt themselves and place the blame on them rather than the abuser.

The most frequent aftermath of abuse trauma is the body image disturbance. The survivor
feels no longer safe in their own body, and they tend to develop a sexual anorexia. This type
of illness can vary in forms and in intensity and it is recognisable through the fear sexual
contact and distortions of body appearance. Those who suffer from this are usually tied with a
sexual abuse from the past. The sexual anorexia features the “essential loss of self, the same
distortion of thought, and the agonizing struggle for control over the self and others” (Carnes,
1997:20).

Additionally, sexual abuse trauma can be passed down across whole communities and even
generations in some cultures. When it comes to experiencing sexual violence, it can happen at
any age. The worst possible experience is still being sexually abused as a youngster. Denial

17
yet persists. Abuse of children can have a lifetime impact; it typically develops in the child's
familiar environment. Early infancy can be the beginning of it, and it can persist to re-
traumatize the victim far into adulthood. They frequently think that the abuse is what they
have been meant for if they were sexually molested as young children by adults or even by
other kids they trusted. Usually, those who work in the sexual industry or who have a sexual
addiction develop this. Nevertheless, the straight path to dissociation is from poor attachment
issues followed by early sexual abuse. By failing to remain present and complete while being
abused, this evolves. As a result, the victim becomes more dissociated and the trauma
becomes linked to them. Someone may be regarded as a "victim" of a certain occurrence
when they are the subject of a traumatic experience, such as physical or sexual assault, marital
violence, or childhood abuse, and this causes dissociation. Dissociation is a coping strategy
used by the mind to deal with demanding or traumatic situations, especially those connected
to sexual abuse, and it might be a protective mechanism. It enables the mind to disengage
from the demanding and upsetting components of the abuse, resulting in a psychological
separation or distance.

My aim with this brief survey of these trauma-related aspects is to begin to reveal the
complexities associated with such occurrences. Such complexities mean that any form of
representation is necessarily limited and also that any form of analysis will be limited.

Childhood trauma

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In this chapter, I will analyze the various traumas that kids might go through, from early
sexual assault to neglect and abuse. Although every small incident may seem traumatic to a
child at the time. Our prior life experiences have always had an impact on our brain. Even if it
is mistreated , or pleased, a child's connection with their parents is essential to their
development. In order to survive the stress in a dangerous environment, their brain has
developed coping mechanisms. A child's growth is largely impacted by human interaction and
early, solid relationships, along with nutrition. Early parental abuse and neglect can have a
negative impact on a child's brain development and increase their risk of developing major
mental health issues. For instance, trying something new might be stressful. The child is
unable to adapt to the new outside situation, and as a result, they are unable to see the positive
aspects of an opportunity. Even unfamiliar faces feel threatening to them. This can result in
social thinning, which is a way of coping with the anxiety caused by the neglect in the
household.

Professor Eamon McCrory (2021) defines social thinning as "an attenuation in the number
and quality of interactions over time." It is understood as a coping technique wherein children
withdraw themselves from others. Early on, a kid who has a secure relationship with a
caregiver feels empowered to explore the world in confidence, but if the bond is insecure, the
child may lack social skills and develop a fear of other individuals.

The memory system, reward system, and threat system are three of the brain's major
functional systems. On one hand, the last instance, the threat system is connected to neglect.
The amygdala alerts the treat system when a child witnesses or experiences abuse in the
household; the child learns to deal with these experiences, but the triggers will always exist.
In certain circumstances, the threat system is the main mechanism that is engaged, which may
be detrimental for the child's future development. On the other hand, the system which helps
us learn about the positive aspects and motivates our future behaviour may be not fully
working if the basic needs for care and affection of the child are neglected. The reward system
can be positively triggered by a strong bond with the caregiver. If a child has a positive
relationship with someone in its early days, he tends to develop his cognitive reactions in a
positive kind of way throughout his life.

Ultimately, the early adolescent years, when the child has an open perspective on life, are
often when the memory system is most active. Typically, the memory system strengthens the
19
memory resilience and generates a cycle of the negative experiences from the past. In this
situation, positive childhood memories often become unclear, and the adolescent would only
recall the incidents of misery, abuse, conflicts, or even physical molestation from their past.

Moreover, when a child experiences traumatic events at home, such as an absent or

unempathetic parent, or even a situation where a parent does not take pleasure in anything
their child actually achieves and expresses resentment toward them, the brain produces stress
hormones, which are the fundamental building blocks for the child's repression and cognitive
and emotional well-being. If these situations occur regularly and the body tries to create these
stress hormones, it may be harmful for the child's further cognitive development.

Childhood trauma can also be developed from sexual abuse. As stated in the last section,
when talking about physical abuse, age does not matter. Early abuse can cause more damage
to the brain than any other type of abuse because the child may develop an addiction or even
mental illness by thinking that the experiences, they suffered is a normal thing to happen and
they deserve it. It is difficult to understand how a child can tolerate the abuse, but this type of
abuse is often followed by other types of neglect, and it tends to create a deep imprint of
psychological conflict by being a form of trauma.

There are several reasons why sexual abuse is still not acknowledged as widely as it should
be. The child could assume that no one will believe them, for one instance. Because a child
lacks the maturity to grasp things yet, they may also believe what happened to be natural. The
primary reason a kid or adolescent would not disclose the assault is that they could have
experienced a natural sexual arousal at the time. This traumatic factor is not often discussed,
but it might cause the victim to doubt themselves, which makes it difficult for them to confide
in others.

The relevance of these elements is used to show how impactful can trauma be and how many
causes can generate trauma as well as many other aftermaths of psychological and physical
problems. Also, attempts to articulate it can backfire and exacerbate rather than ease the
tension.

20
 LITERARY REPRESENTATIONS OF TRAUMA

In this chapter, I will analyze the various approaches as trauma has been shown and
interpreted throughout history and in literature. This analysis will cover the importance of
feelings in a variety of contexts, from historical literary trauma to Virginia Woolf's embodied
cognitive aesthetics.

The association between trauma and literature dates back to Freud's psychoanalytical
framework. Regarding mental processes, he described trauma as a "release of unpleasure"
(Freud in Kurtz n.d:23). Trauma theory makes the connection to our issue with interpretation
to the development of our response to the outside environment throughout history. In
consideration of this, the relationship between "internal laws" and "external relations of
literature" (Paul de Man in Buelens 2014:12) Is the main element of the best resource for
connecting the general to the individual in literary studies, honoring both the body and the
brain, which are included in literary trauma studies. Additionally, literary trauma studies
concentrate on intertextuality, language alteration, and text disintegration in order to provide
meaning to a particular traumatic suffering.

Modernist history and literature

Taking into consideration both the first theoretical considerations on trauma and the writer I
am focusing on, it is important to present a brief overview of Modernism as that turning point
in the Western cultural history when trauma-related issues begin to be articulated.

The foundation of trauma literature is found in the modernist era, which peaked at the
beginning of the 20th century. In addition to being a passionate and avant-garde literary style,
21
Modernism also marks a definite departure from the traditions and paradigms of the past.
Therefore, the modernist age might be credited with giving rise to trauma literature. At the
time, trauma was acknowledged as a medical condition, but it took another three decades for
psychiatrists and psychologists to understand it (DeMeester, 1998). Trauma is a term that
dates back to ancient Greece and means "wound." Although the phrase was once intended to
refer to physical injuries, it is now used to refer to mental injuries. Trauma inevitably damages
the victim's sense of self and sends them on a quest to continuously seek out new, more
reliable beliefs in an effort to give the experience clean meaning (Henke, 2010). Like trauma
patients, modernist authors had lost a great deal of trust in earlier ideologies and literary
conventions.

Because it best mirrors the wounded mind of a trauma victim by merging it with their
isolation, terror, and confusion, modernist literature is known as the literature of trauma.
Trauma is experienced and explored in literature as well as in psychoanalytic and medical
fields. Numerous literary works examine the individuals and offer a wide range of
experiences that capture their emotions.

It is essential to remember that tackling difficult subjects like trauma in writing is not
exclusive to Modernism, even though it is true that Modernism in literature frequently
questioned conventional norms and conventions, including the investigation of taboo issues.
Literature from numerous eras has addressed sensitive and difficult topics, such as trauma, in
a variety of ways. The treatment of difficult subjects in literature, such as trauma, is not
necessarily new but Modernism is fundamental in bringing the discussion to the fore and in
trying to dispel the stigma associated with manifestations relating to the aftermath of trauma.

Virginia Woolf and the ideas of feeling

22
As a main representative of Modernist literature, Virginia Woolf can also be read as an author
that dealt with trauma in her works. An intricate linkage between the body's textuality,
sexuality, and trauma exists in Woolf's writing. Now regarded as one of the most important
authors of the 20th century, Woolf tried to articulate a psychological state that was not entirely
understood at the time. The writings of Virginia Woolf depict a literary form, but an assertive
one. Her writings reflect an abstract approach rather than one based in empathy, creating an
objective narrative voice. Moreover, rather having a personal narrative voice, it typically uses
an impersonal one. All genres of literature can act as a shield against awful circumstances.

Despite the fact that few people at the time were aware of trauma or post-traumatic stress
disorder (PTSD), Woolf used the label "shell shock" to characterize in her books some of her
characters’ experiences. The idea of shell-shock was utilized to distinguish in between
correlations involving PTSD symptoms in women and "male hysteria" (Kurtz, n.d.), which
was understood to represent the post-war neurosis that affected the veterans. By mirroring the
fragmentation of memory that happens in the wake of trauma, her narrative structure retains
the psychological disorder brought on by trauma. Virginia Woolf reflects reality through the
relationship between internal life with the outside world, giving readers a broad view of life as
it actually is. In all of her writings, Woolf expresses a basic anxiety about being rejected or
dying, which is closely related to a particular form of trauma.

However, literary genres could be an important idea for the total change in feelings.
Modernist writers, like trauma victims, had lost a lot of faith in previous ideologies as well as
literary norms that had previously existed. Virginia Woolf enables access to the innermost
perception of reality of her protagonists. These are driven mostly by the character’s voices
and traumas, being unrestrained in logical sequences in order to bring to the public eye the
diversity of one’s thoughts. Trauma in Virginia Woolf’s literary works is depicted through
wide assortments impacting the main characters in varying circumstances and intensities.

Embodied cognitive aesthetics: dramatism and solitude

23
In this concluding section, I will bring together the body, the mind, and Woolf's concept of
embodied cognitive aesthetics. This is commonly associated with the notion of how certain
people would react to art by being totally present with their mind during the portrayal of it.

Virginia Woolf is recognized for establishing a distinction between the linear prose narrative
style and the blended narrative form she regarded, offering more from the concept than from
the specifics. Being the definition of "the relation of the mind to general ideas and its
soliloquy in solitude" (Woolf, 1927), Woolf's dramatization of sensory interactions and the
dominance and indifference of nature are inextricably linked with accepting things as they
truly are.

However, Woolf's concern with solitude transcends beyond the essentially esthetic. It is
fundamental to her unusual approach to illness, loss, and trauma, where these characteristics
become recognisable, along with quiet and apathy. The two different outcomes presented in
the novel could be seen as corresponding to two versions of the conflict between the social
and the individual. The priority she sets on solitude, dramatism, and serenity is split between
the concept that trauma demands an attentive listener to overcome it . Virginia Woolf's
literary works are best represented by the ideal blend of dramatism and loneliness. The
portrayal of trauma in Virginia Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway is done by reference to two main
dimensions: a more general, communal one, represented by Septimus' shell-shock, and a more
intensely personal one, represented by Clarissa's struggle with depression.

24
CHAPTER II: COLLECTIVE TRAUMA AS
PICTURED IN

MRS. DALLOWAY

II.I. A Modernist approach to literary trauma

The heart of trauma literature has its roots in the modernist era, which peaked at the turn of
the 20th century. In addition to being an emotionally charged and avant-garde literary style, it
has also heavily highlighted and purposefully strayed from the past. Thus, the modernist age
might be credited with facilitating the emerge of trauma literature. At the time, trauma was
acknowledged as a medical condition, but it took another 50 years for psychiatrists and
psychologists to fully comprehend it (DeMeester, 1998). Trauma is a term that dates back to
ancient Greece and meant "wound." Although the phrase was once intended to refer to
physical injuries, it is now also used to refer to mental injuries. Trauma eventually diminishes
the victim's sense of self and sends them on a quest to continuously seek out new, more
reliable beliefs in an effort to give the experience fresh meaning (Henke, 2010).

Like trauma patients, modernist authors had lost a great deal of trust in earlier
ideologies and literary conventions. Virginia Woolf gives readers access to her characters'
deepest understanding of reality. These are mostly led by the voices and traumas of the
characters, and there is no clear logical connection in order to show the audience the variety
of one's ideas.

Trauma in Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway is depicted through wide assortments of situations
and forms of representation impacting the main characters in varying circumstances and
intensities. A likely sufferer of early childhood trauma herself, Woolf takes the brave decision

25
to tackle this issue in her fiction and she does it both by reference to a more collective form
and a more individual one. Regardless of the fact that hardly anyone knew about trauma or
post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) at the time, Woolf used the term "shell shock"
throughout the novel to describe what the characters have been through as a result of
participating in the First World War. This medical condition manifests itself by strong
recollections and nightmares, as well as anxiousness and thoughts about the events that have
happened that one does not control. However, throughout the story, it is shown that there are
two types of traumatic disorders, namely the one developed from one’s choices in life and the
post-war trauma. On this premise, the story will focus on the protagonists, Clarissa Dalloway
and Septimus Smith, a war veteran.

Virginia Woolf emphasizes how the characters are affected by their traumatic encounters by
using specific narrative techniques. Her use of free indirect speech serves as one of her
essential analytical pillars. This specific narrative approach combines elements of first-person
direct speech with third-person narration. It is used to convey a character's voice, frequently
mixed with the author's opinion to emphasize certain points of view. The word "free" refers to
the author's ability to flip between points of view rather than keeping the reader's attention on
just one character the entire story. In doing this, such a narrative technique is in keeping with
the fluidity of the mind in general but, more specifically, with the fluidity of a mind struggling
to regain balance.

In Mrs. Dalloway, Woolf refrains from explaining what the characters feel or think, but rather
she places the reader directly in contact with various viewpoints and ideas, which is directly
exposed to different perspectives and ideas. The reader is left to understand alone both
perspectives and emotions as the viewpoints alternate mostly between Clarissa and Septimus.
For example, at the beginning of the story the reader is introduced to Clarissa’s viewpoints
while roaming the streets of London, then Septimus and Rezia’s feelings when the explosion
happened and then back to Clarissa.

Woolf employs the free indirect speech style in her writing to convey characters' ideas as they
are processed in close relation with their actions. It is typically considered as a method of
storytelling whereby incomplete thoughts, sensory pictures, or even unorganized syntax are
used to help the reader grasp the character's cognitive processes. It is a deep connection
between the outside world and the inside feelings of the characters and as different form

26
interior monologue, free indirect speech offers the reader an illusion of distance from the
character.

II.II. Post-war trauma and anxieties

In Mrs. Dalloway, Virginia Woolf presents two apparently contrasting versions of trauma, one
inflicted by the war and the other the result of illness and personal choices. Although
different, what brings them together is Woolf’s attempt to build similar characters (Septimus
and Clarissa) and to articulate a language and narrative technique that could begin to ‘speak’
their trauma. In this section I will analyse the traumatic narrative of one of the novel’s
character, Septimus Warren Smith and I will examine the implication of war in the traumatic
crisis of this man and the character’s innermost feelings in regarding the British post-war
society.

Combining the Freudian Psychoanalysis with Virginia Woolf’s narrative of trauma can lead to
a better understanding of the significance of blurring the two voices in order to examine the,
as Woolf called it, a “study of insanity and suicide” (Diary 2, 1920: 207), which can be
understood as a double perspective of life, the sane and the insane one. Some victims
experience defiance, depression, or dread because they find it difficult to comprehend their
emotions. Those who have taken part in battle typically return home wounded, not only
physically, but also psychologically. The two disorders that afflict soldiers the most are post-
traumatic syndrome, which is usually present in those who witnessed the combat personally,
and anxiety in those who were not exposed.

Trauma is recurrent. Occasionally, hallucinations and flashbacks are far worse than the actual
traumatic experience. People who are having strong flashbacks frequently need to start again
in order to manage to insulate themselves from the trauma (Kolk, 2014:37). So, victims may
ultimately come up with ways to cope, even if it never totally fades from sight. For those
suffering from PTSD who have flashbacks, the trauma can resurface at any time, whether they
are active, asleep, or not focusing on the surroundings.

Regarding the war, Woolf portrayed not only a war victim, who was shell shocked, but also
offered to the world the representation of a former soldier in order to encourage a better

27
understanding by the ones who did not encounter the war and the problems people such as
Septimus had.

A. Septimus Warren Smith

I will start with Septimus Warren Smith as the subject of my first character analysis because
he is a bold representation of the psychological impact that war can have on a person's mind
and the destruction that trauma can cause, including one's resorting to suicide as a means of
coping.

Septimus Smith, a World War I survivor who served alongside his commander Evans, has
spent his entire life dealing with the war's aftermath. On the one hand, throughout the story,
he is portrayed as a soldier who is not scared to think about the war and disclose the truths
about it. That would be one step away from ending it all for a young man who was devoted to
literature. He had morphed into a man who just could not feel anything and did not even know
who he really was.

Woolf focalizes the war through his mind, in contrast with his thoughts and actions. He needs
to be acknowledged by the world in order to be a good pillar for traumatic recovery, as a
result from re-telling trauma. Regarding this, Woolf created Septimus as Clarissa’s foil
character. Considering the fact that both characters experienced trauma in a different situation,
they are remarkably similar to one another in times of need.

Due to his previous military experience, Septimus was deeply affected by the horrors he
witnessed on the battlefield, not to mention his best friend passing away in front of his eyes
and the world collapsing around him. It may be stated that for him, the battle never truly
ended since he can now see and feel everything he did throughout those trying days. Instead,
the war continues to exist as a type of internal conflict which he did not survive.

Before all the shattering events had happened, Septimus is known to have been drawn to
poetry, art and Shakespeare’s works and when the war broke out, he immediately chose to
enlist for romantic patriotic reasons, because his England existed only in literature, in
comparison to other soldiers’ country. He displayed a sense of male strength and showed no
concern when shells burst out all around him. And when his friend dies unexpectedly next to
28
him, he doesn't express any sympathy. Septimus “far from showing any emotion or
recognising that here was the end of a friendship, congratulated himself upon feeling very
little and very reasonably” (Woolf,1996: 80).

Before the war, Septimus wasn't paying attention, or at the very least, he was not concerned
with enough to notice social customs. He neglected his health, he spent his hours tirelessly,
engaged in a number of relationships, and was viewed by his company as being seriously
disorganized and lacking in commercial ambition. Although the issues mentioned are minor,
Virginia Woolf's enlarged style of writing shows through these hints that he had an element of
rebellion in him.

During the war, Septimus spent his times of terror with his comrade Evans; while “in the
trenches” he “develops his manliness” (Woolf, 1996:80). It is attainable to see the nature of
their friendship as unresolved but also as going beyond platonic understanding and
heterosexual needs.

There in the trenches […]; he developed manliness; he was promoted; he drew the attention,
indeed the affection of his officer, Evans by name. It was a case of two dogs playing on a
hearth-rug: one worrying a paper screw […] the other lying somnolent, blinking at the fire,
raising a paw, turning and growling ood-temperedly. They had to be together, share with each
other, fight with each other, quarrel with each other. (Woolf, ibidem)

A homoeroticism component merged by the conflict and beliefs is eroded from this approach.
In order to evoke their necessary physicality, Woolf compares them to two playing dogs and
openly exposes their closeness by mixing the fight with the words "attention" and "affection"
and adversely affecting both of their relationships in this manner. Woolf presents Septimus
and Evans as being cheerful and naïve, which stands in sharp opposition to their sexless
marriages and their homoerotic connection. And when Evans passes away, Septimus realizes
that his feelings and desires were already gone away. He no longer feels a thing, but as time
goes on, he begins to feel bad about lying to and marrying Lucrezia. He perceives this as
feeling guilty about not confessing his feelings to Evans, and he is continually wondering
what would happen “...if he confessed? If he communicated? Would they let him off then,
his torturers?” (Woolf,1996:98). Woolf depicts his connection with Evans in an affirming and
29
innocent way, mixing the absence of sexual contacts in his marriage with the decline of
heterosexuality. After the war is over, he begins to doubt himself, his choices, and he starts to
wonder if existence still has any purpose.

Septimus Smith is the key element to the study of insanity. In an attempt to become a man, he
went to war, to serve the country, but the experience was one of loss. He did not lose only
friends and hope, he had lost himself, too. After the war, the only thing that remained of him
was his body. His mind shattered.

The two key elements that provided the analysis are what significantly contribute to Septimus'
mental disintegration. On the one hand, the war and its traumatic aftermath are to blame for
his breakdown.

In addition to the war trauma he experiences, he also has a dread of losing his ability to feel.
The primary cause of his sense of anxiety is his lack of emotion. He attempted to grow his
sexuality in this way while in battle, worrying that if he did not learn to feel, he would
completely lose himself. Therefore, he begins to see his warped sexuality as a type of
repression by highlighting the things he lacks and attempting to forget them.

To conclude, it may be stated that the war physically and mentally shattered him by changing
his view on life, his perspective of the reality he lives in and the ways of perceiving things.
What the novel presents is a trajectory of attempts to articulate this post-war reality for
Septimus, a reality that has factual and imagined characteristics.

30
1. Unsettling perspective on reality and a fabricated
reality

The interplay of experience and imagined reality plays a very important role in Septimus’
undoing as a character. My analysis will start from the point of his fabrication of a new
distorted reality, as a result of his ongoing trauma. This is illustrated by his thoughts about his
life after the war, the aftermath of his alienation and the reality he fabricated in order to
escape. Then, I will examine his troubles with the aftermath of the trauma – flashbacks and
anxiety, finishing my analysis with his way to cope with the post-war life, his suicide as a
form of expression.

Septimus' sanity is starting to shatter as a result of his experience in the battle and
transformation into a ghost of a man; a man who can’t feel anything or understand his
perception of the life he lives in. He starts creating his own internal realm in which he
perceives things that are not physically present. Throughout traumatic dissociation, victims
begin to create their own unique viewpoint and sense of reality. Some victims, such as
Septimus, also acquire the capacity to observe the world from different perspectives as
opposed to other afflicted. So, Septimus can now perceive the evil in the world, but he also
becomes detached from it by fabricating his own insane truth.

Woolf illustrates Septimus’ transformation through vocabulary choices reflecting his before
and after the war existence, and through the narrative technique she relies on for his character
development. The existence Septimus had once poeticized started to terrify him. His
perception of the world began to change as a result of the impact of flashbacks. Trauma is a
sort of evolution that combines the two key components of healing: keeping the scar
transparent and embracing it and seeking for coping mechanisms (Modlinger, 2011:60). His
response to things on the streets of post-war London might be seen as a horrific illustration of
trauma and his response to the sound of a car backfiring holds an echo by amplifying the
situation and the noises. While others around him appeared to be alarmed Septimus froze in
31
terror, imagining the noise as a whip bursting. "The world has raised its whip; where will it
descend?" (Woolf, 1996:15). For Septimus, London is now merely a vague memory, and
because he is unable to control his anxieties, he sees the world as frantic and overwhelming.

His alienation from reality stems from the fact that he has become increasingly isolated from
others. He also lacks sympathy and believes he has lost touch with his impulses. In direct
opposition to this idea, he gives an unsettling and sensitive take on reality. Septimus is known
to have flashbacks as a by-product of his friend's death, as he manifests various side effects of
post-traumatic stress disorder. He is now haunted by a deep sense of guilt, and his anxiety has
caused him to encounter a world that he does not recognize, as he begins to lose his
personality and true understanding of everything around him. Given that they each have a
distinctive perspective on the world they live in and the interactions they have had throughout
their lives, they keep each other in contrast to the world around them.

However, the planet has been divided in half. On the one hand, Septimus dwells in a grim and
evil-filled planet. He struggles with his despair and considers his options as he attempts to live
his new life in London. On the other hand, Septimus' trauma starts to become more clearly
visible as a result of his persistently depressive feelings. Flashbacks—strong recollections of
formerly painful events that frequently happen to trauma survivors—are produced as
representations of what he experienced while being on the front. He starts to believe that the
experience of war was trying to deceive him by lying to him regarding all expectations of
dreams. However, he finds controlling his emotions painfully impossible by living in the war
time constantly.

Due to Septimus’ ways of returning from the battle and changing into a man he never knew,
his mind disintegrates further. He can now see the bad in the world as a whole, but by creating
his own irrational truth, he also distances himself from it. What keeps him in a constant state
of terror is that he cannot feel a thing and care for other

He has created his own personal world, which allows him to sense things that aren't actually
there, and he began to forget about everything beautiful surrounding him. The only time he
saw anything pleasant around him was just before encountering Peter Walsh. “He lay very
high, on the back of the world” (Woolf, 1996:74). When he first opened his eyes, he was
struck by the beauty of the leaves, but he also noticed Evans behind them, a fellow soldier
who had been killed in battle. As Peter approached Evans, he erratically believed that Evans
was returning from the dead.
32
Even though Septimus aims to make an effort to organize his ideas adequately, he still
struggles to maintain a separation between the outer world and his thoughts in order to
prevent his imagination from wandering and to silence the voices that continue to afflict him.

Understanding the brutality that exists in a society that exposed him to things that no one else
can understand, he feels as though he no longer belongs there. He isolates himself and
constructs a dark, impenetrable world for himself. He aspires to blend into the surroundings
and leave no trace, but he fears losing himself, getting swallowed by the fires or the waves
that would sweep him away. He therefore aspires to live a perfect lifestyle, yet he is unable to
accomplish it on his own.

He chooses the flowers, ribbons, and beads for the hat design while his wife Rezia sews
beside him since he has a "wonderful eye" (Woolf, 1996:145). This may be explained by the
fact that he was unable to pull himself together and "sew" the pieces of himself that were still
present, and because of his inability to live up to his ideal existence, he chose to cease being
and cut himself off from everyone.

Septimus is portrayed in the first pages of the book strolling outside and observing everything
around him. He was making an effort to take in the beauty around him, but all that was on his
mind was the sensation of anxiety that had been born out of all he had experienced and seen.

In order to analyse Septimus' imbalanced world and his perspective of time and space in
relation to his detachment, Woolf employs the free indirect speech. For instance, when
Septimus was waiting for his meeting with Sir William Bradshaw, he experienced a
combination of genuine and imagined events, including seeing his deceased companion Evans
approaching him.

I must tell the whole world, Septimus cried, raising his hand (as the dead man in the grey suit
came nearer) … like some colossal figure who has lamented the fate of man for ages in the
desert alone with his hands pressed to his forehead, furrows of despair on his cheeks, and now
sees the light on the desert’s edge … (and Septimus half rose from his chair) … with legions
of men prostrate behind him he, the giant mourner … (Woolf, 1996:70)

33
The role of free indirect speech is to emphasize how closely his distorted perspective of
existence is tied to the reality he genuinely lives in. His daily experiences are dominated by
recurring visions of his warped reality and the memories that never leave him. By using this
narrative style to dramatize his sense of estrangement from the outside world, his point of
view alternates between the actual and the imagined as well as inner and outer consciousness.
The text also contains the consequences of interruption. Woolf directs the reader's attention
away from the action itself and toward the emphasis of what produced the action in the first
place by using the free indirect speech approach. For instance, " [...] Septimus wept [...] (as
the dead man in the grey suit came nearer)" (Woolf, ibidem). By consistently focusing on
what the characters do at that particular moment rather than how they feel, this change of
viewpoint helps the reader comprehend the purpose and structure of the story. Additionally, it
draws attention to the surroundings in order to highlight a particular component (the "colossal
figure").

He experiences vivid memories of what he experienced throughout the war, as do all trauma
sufferers who fought in the course of these events. His consciousness has maintained these
memories top-of-mind as a result of the trauma and what emerges from it, which may include
flashbacks. Flashbacks are a fairly common occurrence among combatants, veterans, and
those who were directly or indirectly impacted by the conflict in question. They are typically
viewed as an agonizing means of remembering tragedies given that the person must
constantly be reminded of the trauma.

34
2.Flashbacks

I am going to start by analysing flashbacks as the initial trauma-related aftereffect. It is an

illustration of trauma trying to bring forward every memory that was sparked by a significant
traumatic experience; the cognitive system is trying to remind the individual of everything
that occurred.

Flashbacks are a form of trauma, as I previously pointed out, which typically happen to post-
war trauma victims. According to Brewin (2003:3), flashbacks are referred to as "the most
frequent intrusive cognition" that can occur alone, in their simplest logic, or in association
with persistent imagery. Septimus' sanity is eroding from the means of his return from the
battle and transformation into a ghost of a man. As previously said, he has his own internal
reality in which he perceives things that are not physically present. He can now perceive the
evil in the world, but he also becomes detached from it by fabricating his own insane reality.

The first indication of his trauma is his unstable mental state, which is shown by Woolf in the
terms he acquires after the war. His lack of genuine love for Lucrezia, the Italian girl he
married, causes his sense of remorse and disgrace to develop. After that, he begins to feel bad
about the decision he made to wed a lady he does not love in an effort to end the loneliness
the war has caused him. He believes that a person like him could only receive death as a
sentence. After what he had done in the war, he felt that he did not deserve to live a happy
life. He completely collapsed, fearful of everything around him and with no will to survive.

Due to the emotional toll of the war, Septimus Smith fights to hold on to the hope of a regular
existence. The post-war London that is all around him is now dark, dreary, and filled with
terror. Septimus, who sees evil in everything, had started to worry about the cars, the leaves
on the trees, and the lovely sunrise. He loses his harmony with the world, but he does not pay
attention to the surroundings. His wife, Lucrezia, tried to capture his attention, pointing out
the aeroplane, advertising for toffees. Septimus is lost, as he stays there, while the crowd is
mesmerized by the view, and when Rezia spoke to him, pointing to go ahead, he simply starts
walking startled. He also lacks sympathy and believes he has lost touch with his impulses. In
direct opposition to this idea, he gives an unsettling and sensitive take on reality. Septimus is
known to have flashbacks as a by-product of his friend's death, as he manifests various side
35
effects of post-traumatic stress disorder. He is now haunted by a deep sense of guilt, and his
anxiety has caused him to encounter a world that he does not recognize, as he begins to lose
his personality and true understanding of everything around him.

Septimus has been through the danger of becoming lost in his own mind since the war, and
since his base commander tragically died. He was distraught and devoid of emotions as a
result of the traumatic encounters.

He can now see the wickedness of man as well as the gloom in one’s soul. His current
condition of emotional neediness, combined with his inability to maintain his sanity, are the
primary symptoms of his post-traumatic stress disorder, also known as shell shock at the time.
After these events had happened, Septimus has been portraying the intrusive type of trauma,
manifesting delusions about his fellow comrade. He starts to see Evans in everything and
everyone. “It was Evans. But […] he wasn’t changed” (Woolf, 1996, p. 50). He started seeing
familiar faces in everyone and also began to perceive the world in a more detrimental way.
The only things he acknowledged and recalled were those that haunted him during his
flashbacks. His mental health suffered to the point that he considered ending everything in
order to comprehend why no one accepted his observations of what he had seen after the war.

36
3. Suicide

In this section, I will analyse the meaning and significance of suicide for an individual who is
unable to get past their own trauma. For some individuals the trauma recovery never fully
completes because they are unable to comprehend and learn how to cope with their trauma. In
this instance, Septimus belongs to this particular category of trauma sufferers for whom
committing suicide is a way to get away from every terrible thing in life.

Some trauma victims gravitate toward suicide as a means of escaping whatever circumstance
they find themselves in. Some trauma survivors have a tendency to detach from what they
have gone through in order to cope. These dissociations are a result of their attempts to deal
with the constant flashbacks they endure; persistent recollections of one's experiences in the
times of war and a shift in perspective on life.

When the war ended, Septimus returned only with his ghost, tormented to the point of suicide.
Despite the fact that Septimus is receiving assistance from a doctor, Sir William Bradshaw,
who was the only doctor who noticed his terrible condition, he has lost his voice because he
was no longer able to express himself. Sir William was an expert, he was “powerful […]
being the ghostly helper, the priest of science” (Woolf, 1996: 87). He immediately identified
Septimus as having a severe mental breakdown, a wholly bodily response to symptoms that
had manifested. He was informed by Rezia that Septimus had made suicide threats, therefore
he determined that it would be better for him to be admitted to a mental institution. The image
of Sir William Bradshaw is one of ignorance, indifference to interpersonal relationships, and
disregard for others. Even though Septimus sees no end to his pain, he is left alone with his
guilt.

However, not everyone accepts Septimus' lunacy, and according to his psychiatrist, his
behavior is habitual but compulsive. Even his wife, Lucrezia, who is presented as being a
newcomer to his country, is depicted as feeling lonely in her existence as well. The only time
she experienced bliss was just before her husband took his own life. She said that he joked
around with her and spoke to her normally. Just before the horrible events she was about to

37
experience, he took care of her and showed interest in her, and for her, that time was one of
perfect happiness.

The reader is the only one exposed to his mind and acknowledging the beauty of darkness that
exists there. Throughout the novel, Woolf has introduced some interior monologues,
interludes and directly exposition of conversations. Septimus is shown as capable to blend the
internal with the external, showing his emotions as translated to physical metaphors, such as
open sea, leaves, tree, pain. Even more, he was told that he needed to be taken to a psychiatry
hospital due to his reality detachment. Septimus decided that he better died than to be locked
in a room alone.

By being left in this situation alone, while everyone was expecting him to recover from his
shell shock, Septimus could not bear any second more and decided to throw himself out of the
window, losing what was left of him. His suicide was a result of his loneliness and the fact
that the world has left him without the only thing he was not afraid to do, to express himself.
He has finally escaped all of his problems and is no longer burdened by the trauma and
illnesses he has experienced throughout his life. Virginia Woolf viewed Septimus' suicide as a
means of escape from the world, rather than a sorrowful demise. His suicide is also seen as a
means of protecting his soul in order that he may die from horror rather than allowing it to kill
him.

The justification for Septimus' suicide lies in the fact that he was unwilling to describe his
emotions, what he went through during and after the war, and to give them any substance.
This hindered him from truly understanding what was going through his mind. him struggle
trauma, which is also an emerging type of the post-war trauma that is widely acknowledged,
and which affects veterans of war to the point of demeaning them, caused him psychological
damage after the war. Recognizing and comprehending veterans' trauma, such as in the
instance of Septimus, may be successfully achieved solely by having an awareness of the
psychological consequences trauma has on its victims and on long-term rehabilitation. There
was no evidence pointing to traumatic events in after-war London, when Virginia Woolf used
the term "shell shock" throughout the course of the novel to describe the characters'
occurrences, despite the fact that only a few individuals were aware of trauma or post-
traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in its entirety at the time. Strong memories and nightmares,
as well as anxiety and uncontrollable thoughts about the past, are characteristics of this

38
medical condition (Carll, 2007:95). These symptoms can easily lead to suicide for the trauma
victims which are squeamish and terribly affected by the traumatic events they encountered.

Nonetheless, his suicide serves as a form of salvation for Clarissa. By creating Septimus as
her double, Woolf wanted to acknowledge the fact that one can recover from trauma if helped.
“Unified, Clarissa-Septimus performs a “multiple transcendence of social boundaries—
between the genders and classes as well as between soldiers and civilians” (Darrohn in
McDonald, 2006: 3). So, Woolf created the key elements to the sane and insane study through
her characters and through the representation of their feelings and traumas they go through.

Virginia Woolf illustrated the terrible impact that war may have on a person's life via
Septimus. Even if society fails to demonstrate the correct emotions regarding the long-term
repercussions of the war, it serves as an indication that sorrow does not end with the burial of
those who died and an understanding of the true extent of the destruction of civilization. It is
also generated a picture of the individual's struggle to remain resistant to the destruction and
to disregard the death via the portrayal of how the members of the society might show their
sorrows.

The war inevitably claims Septimus' life. In practical terms, the war took on a life of its own,
and the fallout from it served as the justification for ending it all. He is left with just those
vivid memories of the battle, his friend, and the scenes of the world crumbling around him.
He has no further recollections of his previous life, only war and sorrow.

Because he is unable to appreciate the beauty in the people, the surroundings, and nature, he
frequently declares to himself over the course of the novel, "I will kill myself" (Woolf,
1996:19). With his constant state of terror and agony, Septimus starts being bothered by the
world around him. He assumes that everyone is out to invade his privacy and take what was
left of him, his soul. And in the end, he kills himself to get rid of the terror he has created for
himself. This proves that his method of dealing with trauma and depression was mentally to
distance himself from the world and physically to end his life.

39
Chapter III: PERSONAL TRAUMA PORTRAYED IN
MRS. DALLOWAY

Trauma has many different aspects within its broad range of concerns. In this section, I am
going to focus on "personal trauma," which happens in more private settings and is unique to
one person. There are numerous different kinds of traumatic events, including harassment,
terrorism, war, and psychological trauma. Sexual or gender related trauma is among the kind
of trauma most often affecting women. The psychological stress that follows a traumatic event
may influence a woman's physiological responses. Personal trauma is a form of traumatic
encounter, which can mainly be seen at women.

III.I. Modernist reliability

To show how the characters are impacted by their revolting interactions, Virginia Woolf
employs various literary devices. Among them, as previously mentioned, she uses the free
indirect speech to convey the thoughts of her characters as they are processed in close
proximity to their actions. Free indirect speech is one of the key narrative foundations she
uses to combine elements of first-person direct speech with third-person narration in order to
convey the character's voice and to emphasize a particular point of view. Through the use of
fragmented ideas, vivid descriptions, or even jumbled grammar, the author hopes to make the
reader aware of the character's mind processes. The interior feelings of the characters and the
surrounding surroundings are closely related.

Clarissa's identity is portrayed by Woolf as a turning point toward achieving her objective by
means of the free indirect speech narrative. Clarissa, the book's protagonist, struggles to cope
with her turbulent existence and strike a balance between her inner life and the realities of the
outside world. She is the kind of character that is outgoing and pays close attention to what
other people think of her while also being reflective of herself.
40
Constantly thinking of the past and merging these images with the present, Clarissa feels
detached from herself. She tries to bond with her inner self and does things which seem life-
affirming to her. In the beginning of the novel, she is portrayed as wandering to buy flowers
for her party herself, thinking about her life.

According to Wang (2017:3), her inner world is one feature of her personality that coincides
with modernist literature. In a narrative style that is written in a free and indirect manner,
Woolf explores Clarissa's feelings and ideas, giving the readers a glimpse into her inner
world. As with the modernist emphasis on capturing the richness and subjectivity of human
perception, Clarissa's mind is a complicated tapestry of memories, impressions, and thoughts.

The emotional spectrum of Clarissa Dalloway's character captures the complexity of the
human experience, depicting the swings between happiness and despair, satisfaction and
desire, and the quest for self-identity in relation to social expectations. Readers may interact
with the multifaceted nature of the human mind thanks to Woolf's investigation of Clarissa's
emotions, which gives the book depth and complexity.

The reader is exposed to both viewpoints and emotions in Mrs. Dalloway since Clarissa and
Septimus' points of view are frequently shifted. For example, in the beginning of the story, the
reader is exposed to Clarissa's perspectives as she explores the streets of London, then
Septimus and Rezia's feelings when the explosion happens, and finally Clarissa is shown once
more. Nevertheless, it is made abundantly obvious throughout the story that there are two
separate types of traumatic disorders: those brought on by a person's own decisions and those
brought on by post-war trauma.

41
A. Clarissa Dalloway

In what follows, I will analyse the main character’s traumatic responses, the character who
gave the novel its meaning and title, and the character who is also the foil of Septimus, both
keeping each other in balance without knowing one another. Clarissa Dalloway also is a
trauma victim by suffering from a more personal type of traumatic encounters.

Virginia Woolf provided a wide vision of life as it is by reflecting reality through the
interconnection between internal life and the world. Clarissa Dalloway, the major character in
Virginia Woolf's novel, is an upper-middle-class woman who epitomizes the bright and
empathetic woman in her social circle. She developed a vision of high society and a
systematic regularity for parties throughout her life. Clarissa is yearning for her higher
purpose throughout the novel. She lives in a society dominated by people that are perfectly
capable of adapting to change, such as maturing, war and prosperity, and the ordinary course
of life. Her sphere focuses on high society events and exquisite attire. Despite this, she is
constantly anxious about her appearance. She has a motivation for change and a higher
purpose in her life as the story progresses. She demonstrates a good empathetic attitude and a
predilection for contemplation. Clarissa is never letting go of her misgivings about the
decisions that have structured her life, as she constantly merges the past with the present.

Her constant thinking of the past is acknowledged as a form of personal trauma, but merely
different from Septimus, who is reliving everything from his past. Nevertheless, it can be said
that a transcendentalist analysis characterized out the outcome of her life. Czarnecki claims
that there is a part of ourselves that may stay hidden as long as we conceal it but that it can
only survive in deep connection with the person who generated it and can even haunt the
portion of one's life and this is what allowed Clarissa to live (2015:71).

Clarissa is initially portrayed as going through the city of London in search of flowers for her
forthcoming party at the very beginning of the book. Even though war was not pointed out,
Clarissa's overview is portrayed through pain and loss as her mind wanders around reality and
absorbs knowledge on everything she loves, especially flowers, that time in June, and life.

Therefore, despite the fact that Clarissa's depth of emotion is viewed by others as superficial
at the time, she only expresses her internal sorrow when she is alone in her room alongside
42
her thoughts. When she is hiding her emotions from other characters, she tends to withdraw
within herself, and when she is by herself, she experiences "alienation caused by a traumatic
shattering of her identity" (Conner, 2015:9). Given that she is only referred to as Mrs.
Dalloway or "Mr. Dalloway's wife" indicates that she does not have an identity of her own
and represents the element of her sex. After her marriage, she was demoted to the status of a
wife - a possession of a man.

1. Predisposition for solitude and perception of

life

In the following sections, I'll analyse Clarissa's viewpoint on life, its effects, and the fallout of
being drawn to the misery of one's life decisions while having an inclination for solitude—
Clarissa always finds herself alone in her room, where she feels most secure.

Through time, Clarissa also develops a predisposition to solitude as a consequence of her

desire for isolation, which further affords her a tremendous capacity to construct emotions.
According to Ethel (2018:5), she is the sort of character who actively engages but keeps her
thoughts and emotions to herself, rarely disclosing them to other characters. She keeps her
personal life veiled from the public eye while also seeking to redeem herself In addition,
when being exposed to traumatic events, victims tend to isolate themselves from others in
order to be able to understand their mind better.

Clarissa’s predisposition to solitude is also emerging from her constant contemplating life
and, mainly her life and family. She is constantly remembering details from the past, merging
them, or even comparing them with the present life.

Even though she creates her own reflections of the past, she is aware that these are not actual
occurrences. She can distinguish between the two points of view that her mind alternates
between, unlike Septimus, which makes it simpler for her to maintain her sanity. Clarissa
tends to be more able to handle life experiences than Septimus, and proves to have more

43
control over her mental disturbance, wandering at her own will through memories without
them affecting her consciousness, despite feeling like it when she is struggling with her
thoughts in the solitude of her room. Her constant predisposition to solitude can be also
understood as the emerging point for the change in her perspective of the world around her.

As Mrs. Dalloway is formed of two independent narratives focusing on different, but at the
same time similar, points of view, Clarissa’s perspective of reality is a small but different one,
where she made her own interior space, which symbolizes her loneliness. Her understanding
of reality differs from what Woolf portrays and even from what Septimus understands. On the
one hand, Clarissa sees the world in a "beautiful" and "calm" manner, savouring everything
from the vantage point of a high-class woman whose life is rich in wealth and ease. The
world, on the other hand, has been divided into two halves. Septimus lives in a world that is
gloomy and filled with evil. As he tries to deal with his reality in London, he agonizes over
his sadness and his next moves.

Nonetheless, her perception of life changes after he hears about Septimus’ death at her party.
She was the only one affected by the news, feeling that she was “somehow very like him”
(Woolf, 1996:186). Woolf forges this connection within these two characters in order to
demonstrate to the readers that trauma can be experienced by any individual, regardless of
their particular circumstances, and that both soldiers and civilians may be impacted by war.

Clarissa is able to see the beauty in death, even when it indirectly challenges her during her
party, seeing Septimus' suicide as a type of artistic manifestation of feelings. She swiftly locks
herself in her room - her safe place - after hearing about Septimus’ suicide. Not only she was
trying to understand what Septimus felt, but also was feeling that herself: “Her dress flamed,
her body burnt” (Woolf, 1996:184). There, she acknowledges that Septimus let her "feel the
beauty" (Woolf, 1996: 190). She then came to the understanding that dying is an unforgettable
experience that should not be grieved but rather cherished. She manages to cope with the
ongoing aftermath and her own personal trauma through creating a shield for covering up
every feeling she experienced, but she will ultimately encounter death indirectly. Woolf
emphasizes how difficult it is to escape such loss and grief, despite one's best efforts to
conceal their emotions and pursue a better and happier life.

Other characters she interacts with have a big impact on her trauma and choices. Peter Walsh,
for instance, has come to represent both her influence and her anguish over time. Woolf's use
of narrative method makes it evident that he grew more and more aloof, absent, and
44
preoccupied with his own troubles. It became more difficult for him to focus as he tried to
comprehend Clarissa and why she did not just attempt to connect with Daisy. By "seeing the
man she thought the world of" and the scenario she felt most despairing of, when Daisy
requested him "as she would" for a kiss, this results in the growth of the consequences of her
actions and the destruction of her images (Woolf, 1996:146). While they met, they were both
reminded of a long-forgotten circumstance: Clarissa's rejection to marry Walsh while they
were each still in their youth. Both of them are affected by such recollections in different
ways; Clarissa is still fond of the idea of being married to Peter, and he still becomes wrecked
without her, indicating that he still desires her. Here, the relationship between the past and
present is apparent because their interaction in the present generated feelings from their
previous experience. They physically cross paths, but their souls are linked by events from the
past that are deeply related to the anguish and regrets of both subjects.

Her fondness for solitude is also evident in her vocabulary, as Woolf illustrates in Clarissa's
interior monologue by continuing to refer to her body as "an unfeminine, aged body" without
using the possessive pronoun and instead using the phrase "this body" as an example. She
continually laments her adolescence and feels that the feminine standards she adheres to are
harming her self-identity since they cause her to feel as though she is gradually losing herself.

When Clarissa tries to describe her life and soul, she mostly uses the word dark. This can be
understood not as something to fear of, but something hidden from the public world, so no
one can see the dark in her soul. She keeps her soul as a place of retreat, a place where she can
go when she felt lonely, a secret garden full of memories and sorrows. Although she often
manifests a strong predisposition to solitude and tends to detach herself when she has
problems, Woolf describes Clarissa as being the sane character. So, the view of life described
by Clarissa is the sane one.

2. Consequences of one’s trauma

45
In this section, I will discuss the effects of Clarissa's life decisions, including those that led to
the trauma, her marriage with Richard Dalloway and her other love interests, Peter Walsh and
Sally Seton. Going through trauma can affects one’s well-being and shatter their
consciousness, and it also has effects on the choices one makes throughout life.

Apart from Septimus, who suffers from severe post-traumatic stress disorder, Clarissa
Dalloway questions her acts since they are a result of her own traumatic events. Clarissa
shows herself to have a distinct perspective on the world when it comes to her personal
choices. She has an excellent sense of empathy and a preference for reflection. Clarissa is
continuously fusing the past and the present, never letting go of her doubts about the choices
that have shaped her existence. She keeps second-guessing her life choices as she spends
more and more time alone herself.

Clarissa Dalloway is also a survivor of the Spanish flu that ravaged the world in the wake of
WWI. While not man-made, the epidemic compounded what was already a disastrous state of
affairs. Clarissa’s sense of self is undermined not only by her choices regarding her personal
life, which mainly respond to an oppressive need to confirm, but also by the threat to her very
physical being.

Clarissa’s marriage to a man she didn't want was the outcome of her abiding by the moral
standards of the day. This may have been seen at the time as losing one's sexual identity
(Ethel, 2018). After that, she was only a wife, and no one else valued her as a woman in a
significant position. This act of conformity also means that she represses what we may guess
as her real erotic drive, which is towards Sally. While not full-blown traumatic, such
repression can undermine the person’s sense of self and the solidity of their presence in the
world.

In a manner similar to Septimus, Clarissa allows her past influence over her thoughts. As she
accepts positive as well as negative recollections from her past while comprehending how
lonely she was in post-war London, it is clear that it is crucial to connect the past with the
present and to circulate through memories rather than to break them apart.

Clarissa's trauma is significantly influenced by her prior love interest, Peter Walsh. Back then,
the two of them shared an intense connection that made it seem as though "they went in and
out of each other's minds without any effort" (Woolf, 1996:70). Although she didn't know
what she felt for Walsh at first, Woolf tries to indicate that after she made the decision to give

46
up their romance and marry Richard, she realized her affections for him. This is a trauma
reaction that causes its victims to make decisions that are not good for them, but for the
society in which they live. Clarissa was concerned that she would have failed as a woman in
that society if she did not marry the most powerful member of the Parliament and instead
choosing the middle-aged Peter, who cannot dedicate himself to anybody and is afraid to
admit what he is feeling.

She is now able to see how challenging a life with Peter would have been, but her sacrifices in
pursuing her life's purpose and aspiration for social advancement have left her feeling alone
and unable to comprehend her emotions. When she only ever had a moment of clarity, she
witnessed her neighbour Septimus attempting suicide by jumping out of the window.

Mrs. Dalloway, according to Woolf, is a "study of insanity and suicide"; it offers an insider's
view of the world as well as an outsider's viewpoint on life itself and a better understanding of
trauma from the outside perspective (Woolf, 1920: 207). In order to emphasize the
distinctions between her characters, Woolf indicates that time has an unbreakable bond with
those who wander while mindful as well as with those who are connected even if they have
never met.

In practical terms, trauma binds individuals together. In this case, one cannot escape the past
and its thoughts, and one still allows her awareness to be influenced by shifting perspectives
while being aware of time, much like Clarissa and Septimus do even though they have never
met.

Nonetheless, Woolf emphasized the devastation of society and its ignorance of the
consequences of war, such as the psychological damage of trauma. Mrs. Dalloway reflects
those whose lives are not just in some manner impacted by the war but who are the war itself.
Clarissa and Septimus serve as powerful illustrations of how trauma and conflict can
devastate people's lives and cause them to lose their sense of hope

3. A wide range of emotions

47
In this section, I will explore Clarissa's emotions and her struggles to discover joy and
harmony in the world. What builds and what degrades one's existence and sense of self are the
main concepts of Mrs. Dalloway.

Her existence is characterized by feelings of uneasiness about her physical appearance and
social abilities, and she questions whether the choices she made and the teenage desires she
gave up for security and a good reputation were worthwhile. Clarissa has experienced lifetime
estrangement, current anxieties, and internal ideas that may develop as a result of the outside
influences that haunt her. All of these insights are provided by Virginia Woolf's narrative
approaches.

In Mrs. Dalloway, Woolf portrays a world full of repression. On the feminine side, Clarissa is
constantly holding onto emotions which can allow her to integrate better in the society by
following London’s social standards. The contradiction between her emotions and what she
projects is the main element in her character’s analysis.

“Clarissa was positive, a particular hush, or solemnity; an indescribable pause; a suspense (but
that might be her heart, affected, they said, by influenza) before Big Ben strikes” (Woolf,
1996:4). She views the concepts of becoming older and dying as being imminent for most of
the story and approaches them with apprehension. The lurking concern of the disease and its
aftermath are making their presence known.

Considering that her conflicts are driven by needs and emotions and recognizing that the other
characters are suffering from the absolute dominance of their emotions might result in a
certain level of defeat. Throughout her life she dealt with overcoming the conflict between
love and fulfillment. Even though she got herself the higher place in the society which she
longed for her entire life, she still feels unfulfilled because of the lack of affection from her
husband and the regret she has for not choosing Peter Walsh.

Woolf portrays the idea that Clarissa felt happiness and identifies the moment as ‘the most
exquisite moment of her whole life’ (Woolf, 1996:34) only when Sally kissed her. She feels
like this moment was nothing more than “a present, a diamond, something infinitely
precious’’ (Woolf, ibidem). She constantly remembers this moment when she longs for her
past life in a tactile and present form represented by her constant recollections of the past.
Clarissa frequently experiences guilt, dissatisfaction, and repression of her sexual desire to
women while living her life in the spotlight of her internal conflict with herself and pondering

48
her friendship with Sally. Her husband’s lack of affection towards her can lead Clarissa to
wish for her desire for Sally to resurface in order for her to cope with the trauma in her life
and the lack of deep contact. She is the type of conventional feminine character, which
flourishes through her trying do be the good, charming housewife she was meant to be.

Mrs. Dalloway portrays a wide range of human emotions, which strongly affects their
characters’ life by making them aware of their inner struggles. The main element that is
emphasised throughout the novel is the success and failure. According to Högskolan
(2012:15), the feelings of success and failure are often associated with personal points of view
of themselves and the linkage between various standards and behaviours. As a result of
realizing how short and fragile life is, Clarissa feels a deep grief. She thinks back on her past
years, her decisions, and the routes she chose not to follow, which cause her to experience
melancholy and regret.

Her relationship with Richard and also his high status of being a politician are Clarissa’s
causes of anxiety by trying to manage her position in the society and to look good besides her
husband’s fame even in her very own sorrowful moments.

[…] growing more and more irritated, more and more agitated, for there's nothing in the
world so bad for some women as marriage, he thought; and politics; and having a
Conservative husband, like the admirable Richard. (Woolf, 1996: 40)

She feels lonely, isolated, and that she is starting to lose her independence as a result of this
relationship and the obligations that come with it, which has an impact on her life and her
attempts to connect with the outside world. The primary cause of her melancholy thoughts,
which are a manifestation of both her internal and external life challenges, is the distinction
between her life before and after the marriage. In her life, melancholy is a recurrent motif. She
is plagued by memories and the passage of time, and as a result, she frequently has a sense of
loss and longing.

Through Clarissa, Woolf explores the complexity of feelings like sadness and regret for a
better understanding of the human condition. Another strong emotional current that flows
through Clarissa's mind is regret. She reflects on her choices and imagines how her life could
have turned out differently if she had taken various courses of action. The sense of lost
49
possibilities and unmet goals that Clarissa carries contributes to her sad mood. She doubts the
sacrifices she made for and wishes she had pursued a relationship with Peter Walsh.

Even though Clarissa Dalloway is a character who resides on social connections and
meetings, there are times in Virginia Woolf's novel when she feels lonesome by frequently
feeling distant and cut off from others around her while being surrounded by people and
participating in social activities.

50
CONCLUSION

The current paper has looked into the way in which Virginia Woolf explores the topic of
trauma in her novel Mrs. Dalloway. This is done mainly through the two protagonists of the
text, Clarissa Dalloway and Septimus Smith. The two represent two versions of trauma but
are united in how they’re trying to articulate their responses to it.

The general effects that trauma may have on a person's psychological health, their
relationships with other people, and their capacity to find purpose and fulfillment in life are
highlighted by Woolf's depiction of characters who have had traumatic experiences. The story
examines the intricacies of trauma and how it affects a person's sense of identity, time, and
interpersonal relationships. Woolf also highlights crucial concerns about how society handles
trauma, the value of compassion and understanding, and the stigmatization and neglect of
those dealing with mental health problems brought on by trauma.

As a main representative of Modernism, Virginia Woolf is among the first to try to remove the
stigma around literary representations of trauma. Her handling of the topic is influenced by
her own mental struggles and also by the limited understanding of these issues by the medical
establishment at the time. What Woolf manages to do is try to find a common language that is
trying to articulate the characters’ struggles through the use of free indirect speech as a
narrative technique.

Septimus represents the trauma of the war and Woolf is intent on providing a picture that is
devoid of any heroism or positive outlooks on the war. Septimus' story ends tragically in the
novel. When he is unable to find comfort or respite from his pain and feels imprisoned in a
society that ignores and pathologizes his illness, he takes the tragic decision to commit
suicide. The tragic commentary provided by Septimus' suicide on society's handling of mental
illness and the ramifications of ignoring the psychological damage and emotional upheaval
that war causes to people is profound. Ultimately, his fear of losing his feelings and his lack of
affection are the main elements of his trauma. Sensing that he is starting to lose his feelings
and his fear becomes true, he begins to alienate himself from the world.

51
On the other hand, Clarissa Dalloway may have seen the complexity and depth of life's
moments, especially in light of mortality, as one possible outcome. Clarissa ponders the
passing of time, the transient nature of life, and the value of unique experiences throughout
the whole book. She seeks out beautiful, meaningful, and joyful moments as a result of her
understanding, enjoying both the common and remarkable facets of life. Through the course
of the story, she embarks on a voyage of self-reflection and introspection. Although Clarissa
does not have a clear resolution in the book, her character journey hints to a number of
important themes and concepts. A conclusion about the value of empathy, compassion, and
human connection is also implied through Clarissa's relationships with other characters in the
book, such as Septimus Smith, who symbolizes the effects of war and social negligence. The
people Clarissa meets and the lives she considers remind her of the universality of human
experience and the value of compassion and understanding.

The focus on time, identity and human condition, which helped to build my analysis are the
base elements of Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway. This paper aims to bring the idea of the
individual attempting to live with the trauma and also to show the representation of trauma
through literary techniques and modern trauma theories, feminist literary criticism, and
advances in the field of trauma studies, as well as new viewpoints on trauma in the work
itself.

52
References

Henke, Suzette A. (2010). 10- Modernism and trauma, article published by Cambridge
University Press, [online] available at

https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/cambridge-companion-to-modernist-women-

writers/modernism-and-trauma/A9FB645C0BF4C3434EDFD8039FAB1FA1 .

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