Pratima Shah

INTRODUCTION "Mrs. Dalloway" is a novel by Virginia Woolf, set on a single day in June 1923 in London. It follows the lives of two very different characters, Clarissa Dalloway, a 51-year-old socialite preparing for a party, and Septimus Warren Smith, a 30-year-old WW1 veteran dealing with shell shock. Initially, Woolf intended Clarissa to die, but later introduced Septimus as the character who would die. Through these characters, Woolf explores themes of love, death, and the meaning of life. The novel's structure and interconnectedness of characters are influenced by Joyce's "Ulysses." Woolf uses narrative techniques like free indirect discourse and "tunneling" to delve into characters' thoughts and emotions. NARRATIVE TECHNIQUES ARE AS FOLLOWS:   1.    Stream of Consciousness  2.  Symbolism 3.    Manipulation of time   BRIEFING OF THE TECHNIQUES: 1.     STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS             ...

  Virginia Woolf was considered as one of the major English authors of the 20 th century. She was a forerunner in exploring the stream of consciousness as a narrative technique. “Mrs. Dalloway” is considered as one of her most renowned works of her career. Published on 14 May, 1925, “Mrs. Dalloway” focuses on the events of a particular day in the life of an upper-class Londoner named Clarissa Dalloway. The narrative of "Mrs. Dalloway" is devoid of any sense of continuity . The majority of the novel takes place in the mind of the protagonist. The novel deals with the idea of time in relation to personal experiences through a number of interconnected stories , particularly that of Mrs. Dalloway, who is preparing to host a party at her home, and the story of a victim of the horrors of the World War I, Septimus Warren Smith, who is afflicted with  Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Mrs. Dalloway is critical of the conservatism and traditions of the upper classes of the time,...

The word ‘Social Criticism’ means to criticize the social system of a particular society. Here, the author has criticized the superficial British upper-class society in the novel ‘Mrs. Dalloway’. Mrs. Dalloway is shown in the era when the British society was still facing the after- effects of the World War 1. This war had destroyed not only the architecture of London but it had also impacted the social system. Woolf shows London as people with different disabilities, socio- economic status and sexualities. Mrs. Dalloway shows how English society stuck to its old, outdated traditions and pretends that nothing has changed with time. Woolf criticizes social conventions through internal monologue of Clarissa Dalloway, Lady Bruton, Hugh Whitbread, Septimus, etc. in post-World War. Woolf in her novel shows how power and money can seize people’s real identity. Woolf demonstrates the mental repercussions of each character and their perspectives, experiences and backgrounds past the World War...

  What is stream of consciousness? "Stream of consciousness" refers to a narrative technique that aims to depict a character's unfiltered and continuous flow of thoughts, feelings, and perceptions. This technique, inspired by William James' concept of the ceaseless progression of thoughts in the mind, captures the inner workings of a character's mind in a raw and organic manner. It often involves sensory descriptions, fragmented ideas, and unconventional sentence structures to replicate the way thoughts naturally occur. This technique emerged during the modernist movement and aims to offer readers insight into a character's inner world, departing from traditional narrative styles. It was initially a psychological term that later gained significance in literary criticism. What makes stream of consciousness different ? Stream of consciousness stands apart due to several distinctive features. One key aspect is its exploration of human relationships through th...

INTRODUCTION   A valid point is made by Woolf in her work “A Room of One’s Own” where she portrays females as the most imaginative characters in Literature. Women have been denied education and have always been seen as inferior to men since ages. In 1929, Virginia Woolf observes that though authors like Jane Austin and the Bronte sisters had a significant impact on writing, there was still a great deal of work to be done. Woolf is unwavering in her belief that one’s own freedom, financial independence, and a personal space are essential for her to write creatively, and this declaration was unparalleled after the publication of this work. The novel A Room of One’s Own is based on two lectures Virginia Woolf gave in 1928 at Cambridge University’s Newnham College for Women. In 1929, she expanded the lectures and published them as a single lengthy essay. Woolf starts talking about women and fiction in it, but she rapidly moves on to a larger discussion of sexism in art and how it...