100% satisfaction guarantee Immediately available after payment Both online and in PDF No strings attached
logo-home
Summary Virginia Woolf Mrs Dalloway Notes R100,00   Add to cart

Summary

Summary Virginia Woolf Mrs Dalloway Notes

 32 views  0 purchase

Detailed lecture notes and novel summary.

Preview 2 out of 10  pages

  • February 2, 2023
  • 10
  • 2021/2022
  • Summary
All documents for this subject (9)
avatar-seller
daniellehenning
VIRGINIA WOOLF - MRS DALLOWAY
Thursday, 03 June 2021 09:30

OUTCOMES
- Discuss:
○ Woolf's concern with time, memory and consciousness;
○ Woolf's treatment of gender issues and sexuality;
○ The preoccupation in the novel with trauma and Woolf's representation of the medical
establishment;
○ Identify and discuss the modernist aspects of the novel; and
○ Analyse an extract in detail, relating it to the novel as a whole

WOOLF IN CONTEXT:
- Biography:
○ Virginia Woolf
○ 1882-1941
○ Mother - Julia Steven (Calcutta, India)
○ 5 bouts of mental health issues
- Modernism & Feminism:
○ Kathleen Kuiper, 'Modernism' (2011): 'Modernism fostered a period of experimentation in the arts
from the late 19th to the mid-20th century, particularly in the years following World War I'
○ An era characterised by industrialization, rapid social change and advances in science and the
social sciences (e.g. Freudian theory)
○ New ideas in psychology, philosophy and political theory, searching for new ways of expression
- The Bloomsbury Group:
○ Progressive politically, aesthetically and sexually
- Relation to Ulysses, James Joyce:
○ Technique of stream of consciousness
 Kathleen Kuiper, 'Modernism' (2011): 'Commonly ignores sentence structure and incorporates
fragments of thought in an attempt to capture the flow of the characters' mental processes'
- Diary Commentary:

THE NOVEL
- Opening shows density (thematic and stylistic); seems steady and predictable enough (example of
realism)
- Influx of memory and then returning to current moment
- Woolf's stream of consciousness (interior monologue, free indirect discourse) technique as an attempt
at psychological realism
- We experience the flow of Clarissa's mind, experience the sensorial richness of that particular moment
in London, also of the past as it intrudes upon the present
○ The perspectival shifts of the book are announced in the early sections; what we receive is a
democratic vision as we move in and out of people's minds
- How Clarissa is haunted by the past even though she delights in the present
○ An indication if Woolf's treatment of time (2 perspectives)
i. Chronological authoritative, relentless, rational, masculine movement of Big Ben
ii. A far more fluid conception of time: repetitive, cyclical, emotional, preoccupied with
thwarting linearity by returning to the past
□ i.e. Woolf's 'feminine' subversion

, - Language is suggestive of ongoing mental processes and the flux of experience - stream of
consciousness
○ "oh, right, thinks Clarissa, Peter Walsh!"; "oh, that moment with Sally!"
- Subtly misogyny of Peter - "perfect hostess"
- Complexity of Clarissa
○ Snobbish, privileged, colonial in some of her attitudes, possibly racist (English women in India or
Indian women?)
○ Sympathetic capacity, critical and yet aware; full of contradictions
- Wool's psychological portraiture highlights Clarissa's realities as a woman, and, more importantly, as an
aging woman




- Reference to Shakespeare is a link to future introduction to character
- i.e. Clarissa may be overly privilaged and undereducated and a problematic character, Woolf's
treatment of her experiences is nuanced
- Car engine starting sounds like a pistol shot
- Mystery of who is in car (Prince of Wales, the Queen, Prime Minister?)
- Introduced to Septimus Warren Smith
- The backfiring car is a linking device that moves us away from CD to SWS, but also triggers a series of
perspectival shifts which allows us to enter the minds of other Londoners
- SWS is CD's foil:
○ CD's first thought: affirmative, related to celebration and privilege
○ SWS' first thought: cataclysmic, punitive
 CD's London is not SWS' London
- The 2 main characters are not actually diametrically opposed but existing side by side
- Patriotic zeal was revitalised after WWI (Royals are 'God-appointed representatives on earth)

- Skywriting aeroplane, novel mode of advertising
○ 'toffee'
○ An emblem of modernity and attention is diverted from the mysterious car
○ 'One of the most cinematic linking devices' in the novel (Showalter)
 Close0+-ups, chase scenes, flashbacks
- For SWS it is an acutely personal emanation that bespeaks his conception of himself, an ego-maniacal

The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:

Guaranteed quality through customer reviews

Guaranteed quality through customer reviews

Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.

Quick and easy check-out

Quick and easy check-out

You can quickly pay through EFT, credit card or Stuvia-credit for the summaries. There is no membership needed.

Focus on what matters

Focus on what matters

Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!

Frequently asked questions

What do I get when I buy this document?

You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.

Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?

Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.

Who am I buying this summary from?

Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller daniellehenning. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.

Will I be stuck with a subscription?

No, you only buy this summary for R100,00. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.

Can Stuvia be trusted?

4.6 stars on Google & Trustpilot (+1000 reviews)

72042 documents were sold in the last 30 days

Founded in 2010, the go-to place to buy summaries for 14 years now

Start selling
R100,00
  • (0)
  Buy now