“Mrs. Dalloway” by Virginia Woolf: Desire for Life, Death, and Shell Shock

Mrs. Dalloway is a novel by Virginia Woolf, published on May 14, 1925, which describes a 12-hour day in the life of Clarissa Dalloway, an upper-class woman living after the First World War.

The novel may seem ordinary and simple to some readers at first, but it gains significance when viewed through a variety of techniques and perspectives. In this article, we explore themes of post-war psychology and isolation, with a particular focus on the characters Septimus and Clarissa.

The fact that no real fighting is shown in this "war" novel is a significant feature. Rather, the story concentrates on what happened next: the trauma, the shell shock, and the after effects on the survivors. 

The events of Mrs. Dalloway take place five years after the war ends, but the characters frequently appear to downplay or ignore the effects of this time period, going about their daily lives as though nothing has changed. This is especially evident when compared to Septimus, who finds it difficult to find the good in life despite his hardships

“For it was the middle of June. The War was over, except for someone like Mrs. Foxcroft at the Embassy last night eating her heart out because that nice boy was killed and now the old Manor House must go to a cousin; or Lady Bexborough who opened a bazaar, they said, with the telegram in her hand, John, her favorite, killed; but it was over; thank Heaven—over. It was June.”(p.6-7). 

She constantly idealizes and she goes on everything is so poetic and forgetting about of the ww1. When considering "Mrs. Dalloway" from a historical standpoint, it becomes clear that the conservative prime minister husband of the protagonist—a representative of the ruling class closely aligned with psychiatry—is the cause behind the idealization and dismissal of World War I in the novel. As a group, they seek to create a "stoic society," encouraging emotional control and fortitude in the face of adversity. People tend to romanticize and idealize their surroundings because of this social system, which ignores the terrible reality of war and its aftermath. Clarissa Dalloway describes Septimus Warren Smith as follows:

“Septimus Warren Smith, aged about thirty, pale-faced, beak-nosed, wearing brown shoes and a shabby overcoat, with hazel eyes which had that look of apprehension in them which makes complete strangers apprehensive too. The world has raised its whip; where will it descend?”

Septimus looks fearful, and he makes other people fearful as well. It seems to him like everyone is against him. Having battled in the trenches and lost his close friend and officer, Evans, he is the most injured. He stands in for what befell these young men who had fought for the queen and for impersonal notions of duty. Septimus's shell-shock is a deplorable representation of how soldiers might suffer from combat and return home as lunatics rather than warriors. As a result of wartime shell shock, Septimus is prone to outbursts of rage and hallucinations.

“He sang. Evans answered from behind the tree. The dead were in Thessaly, Evans sang, among the orchids. There they waited till the War was over, and now the dead, now Evans himself—“(p. 50).

Septimus believes that he is in daily communication with his deceased companion through visions. Septimus leaves the battle having had a significant psychological impact even though he did not die. 

“Men must not cut down trees. There is a God. (He noted such revelations on the backs of envelopes.) Change the world. No one kills from hatred. Make it known (he wrote it down).”( p. 18). 

Septimus believes he is a tree, and Clarissa considers both death and life, believing she has returned to a tree. 

Woolf uses the characters of Clarissa and Septimus in "Mrs. Dalloway" to graphically examine her own crises, showing "madness" through Septimus and "health" through Clarissa. Both play essential roles in Woolf's split persona. Septimus can actually be thought of as Clarissa's alter ego.

.” Septimus, lately taken from life to death, the Lord who had come to renew society, who lay like a coverlet, a snow blanket smitten only by the sun, for ever unwasted, suffering forever, the scapegoat, the eternal sufferer, but he did not want it, he moaned, putting from him with a wave of his hand that eternal suffering, that eternal loneliness.”(p.18).

In his own mind, Septimus is a lone rescuer. He thinks he can at least teach people something from his suffering, and that is his message to share. Ultimately, it seems he is right: Clarissa learns a lesson from his death. Feeling sympathy for Septimus's suicide during her triumphant celebration, Clarissa turns away from the phony and pretentious people in her group and chooses to embrace Septimus. She said the following about the Prime Minister attending the party;

““One couldn't laugh at him. He looked so ordinary. You might have stood him behind a counter and bought biscuits—poor chap, all rigged up in gold lace. And to be fair, as he went his rounds, first with Clarissa and then with Richard escorting him, he did it very well. He tried to look for somebody. It was amusing to watch. Nobody looked at him.”(p.123). 

Woolf somewhat praises death in her book as a sign of defiance against social norms. She implies that she would rather die than follow such an order. 

Clarissa is the main character of the book, but Septimus is like a twin to her, exaggerating her responses to life to the point of disharmony. They both want a happy break from life, but they also want to blend in and blend with others. In her novel, Woolf explores her own psychological pains, the joys of life, and the ability to perceive beauty, while also acknowledging that death holds its own beauty, and she intertwines the connection between these two emotions through the characters of Clarissa and Septimus. 

She portrays the deaths in World War I and the attitudes of those left behind in the aftermath of the war, illustrating how people isolate themselves from others, conform to order and pressures, and cope with post-war traumas through the characters. All of this is presented to the reader within the span of about 12 hours in the novel, alongside the events and memories that come to mind.