Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf

First published: 1925

Type of work: Novel

Type of plot: Psychological realism

Time of plot: 1920s

Locale: London

Principal Characters

• Clarissa Dalloway,
• Richard Dalloway, Clarissa Dalloway's husband
• Peter Walsh, a former suitor of Clarissa
• Elizabeth, Mrs. Dalloway’s daughter
• Miss Kilman, Elizabeth’s friend
• Sally Seton, an old friend of Clarissa and Peter
• Septimus Smith, a war veteran

The Story

Clarissa Dalloway makes last-minute preparations for an evening party. During her day in the city, she enjoys the summer air, the many sights and people, and the general bustle of London. She meets Hugh Whitbread, now a court official and a handsome and sophisticated man. She has known Hugh since her youth, and she also knows his wife, Evelyn, for whom she does not particularly care. Other people come to London to see paintings, to hear music, or to shop, but the Whitbreads come to consult doctors, for Evelyn is always ailing.

Mrs. Dalloway shops. While she is in a flower shop, a luxurious limousine pulls up outside. Everyone speculates on the occupant behind the drawn curtains of the car, and everywhere the limousine goes, it is followed by curious eyes. Mrs. Dalloway, who suspects that the queen is inside, feels that she is right when the car drives into the Buckingham Palace grounds.

The sights and sounds of London remind Mrs. Dalloway of many things. She thinks back to her youth, to the days before her marriage, to her husband, and to her daughter, Elizabeth. Her daughter is a problem, mainly because of her horrid friend Miss Kilman, a religious fanatic who scoffs at the luxurious way the Dalloways live. Mrs. Dalloway hates her. Miss Kilman is not at all like the friend of her own girlhood, Sally Seton, whom Mrs. Dalloway truly loves.

Mrs. Dalloway wonders what love really is. She has loved Sally, but she has loved Richard Dalloway and Peter Walsh, too. She married Richard, and then Peter had left for India. Later, she learns that he had married someone he met on board ship. She has heard little about him since his marriage. The day, however, is wonderful and life is wonderful. The war is over, and Mrs. Dalloway is giving a party.

While Mrs. Dalloway is shopping, Septimus Smith and his wife are sitting in the park. Septimus had married Lucrezia while he was serving in Italy, and she had given up her family and her country for him. Now he frightens her because he acts so strangely and talks of committing suicide. The doctor said that there is nothing physically wrong with him. Septimus, one of the first to have volunteered for war duty, had gone to war to save his country. When he got back, he was a war hero and was given a good job at the office. The couple has nice lodgings, and Lucrezia is happy. Septimus begins reading Shakespeare, but he is unhappy and broods. He and Lucrezia have no children. To Septimus, the world is in such horrible condition that it is unjust to bring children into such a world.

Septimus begins to have visits from Evans, a comrade who had been killed in the war, and Lucrezia becomes even more frightened; she calls in Dr. Holmes. Septimus feels almost completely abandoned by that time. Lucrezia cannot understand why her husband does not like Dr. Holmes, for he is so kind and so much interested in Septimus. Finally, she takes her husband to Sir William Bradshaw, a wealthy and noted psychiatrist.

Septimus has a brilliant career ahead of him, and his employer speaks highly of his work. No one knows why he wants to kill himself. Septimus says that he had committed a crime, but his wife says that he is guilty of absolutely nothing. Sir William suggests a place in the country where Septimus could be by himself, without his wife. It is not, Sir William says, a question of preference. Since he has threatened suicide, it is a question of law.

Mrs. Dalloway returns home from shopping. Lady Bruton has invited Richard Dalloway to lunch. Mrs. Dalloway never liked Millicent Bruton because she is far too clever. When Peter Walsh calls, Mrs. Dalloway is surprised and happy to see him again. She introduces him to Elizabeth, her daughter. He asks Mrs. Dalloway if she is happy; she wonders why. When he leaves, she calls out to him not to forget her party. Peter thinks about Clarissa Dalloway and her parties: That is all life means to her.

Peter is divorced from his wife and had come to England. Life is far more complicated for him. He has fallen in love with another woman, one who has two children, and he has come to London to arrange for her divorce and to find a job. He hopes Hugh Whitbread will help him find work with the government.

That night, Clarissa Dalloway’s party is a great success. She initially was afraid that the party might not be, but when the prime minister arrives, her evening is complete. Peter meets Lady Rossetter, who turns out to be Sally Seton. She was not invited but just dropped in. She has five sons, she tells Peter. They chat. When Elizabeth comes in, Peter notices her beauty.

Later, Sir William Bradshaw and his wife enter. They are late, they explain, because one of Sir William’s patients had committed suicide. Feeling altogether abandoned, Septimus Smith had jumped out of a window before they could take him to the country. Clarissa is upset. Although the person who had committed suicide is completely unknown to her, she feels the death is her own disaster, her own disgrace. The poor young man had thrown away his life when it had become useless. Clarissa has never thrown away anything more valuable than a shilling. Once she had stood beside a fountain while Peter Walsh, angry and humiliated, had asked her whether she intended to marry Richard. Richard had never become prime minister. Instead, the prime minister came to her parties. Now she is growing old. Clarissa Dalloway knows herself at last for the beautiful, charming, inconsequential person she is.

Sally and Peter talk on. They think idly of Clarissa and Richard and wonder whether they are happy together. Sally agrees that Richard has improved. She leaves Peter and talks with Richard. Peter is feeling strange. A sort of terror and ecstasy take hold of him, and he cannot be certain what it is that excites him so suddenly. It is Clarissa, he thinks. Even after all these years, it is Clarissa.

Bibliography

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