Characters
This character stands alone and silent nearly all evening at Clarissa’s party.
Who is Ellie Henderson, Clarissa's cousin?
This motif is indicated by the chimes of Big Ben and imparts order to the thoughts, memories, and encounters of the characters in the novel.
What is time?
This theme is responsible for the death of Evans and the mental decline of Septimus.
What is after shocks of war?
What caused Virginia Woolf's first mental breakdown at 13?
What is her mother's unexpected death?
What is the timeline of Mrs. Dalloway?
What is a day?
"Fear no more the heat o'the sun/Nor the furious winter's rages."
Who is Clarissa Dalloway?
This character fiddles with what object they always carry as frequently as they struggle with romantic relationships?
Who is Peter Walsh and his pocketknife?
This motif threatens to pull Clarissa under in her silver-green mermaid dress.
What is water/waves?
Most of the novel’s characters are concerned with increasing, holding onto, or feeling inferior from this theme that is arranged by hierarchy and family history.
What is society/class?
What psychological disorder did Virginia Woolf suffer from?
What is bi-polar disorder/manic depression?
How does Clarissa Dalloway react when Sally Seton appears at her party?
What is delighted?
"Men must not cut down trees. There is a God."
Who is Septimus Warren Smith?
Who is the general practitioner Lucrezia seeks help from regarding Septimus’ behavior, who has a condescending manner and ultimately agitates the couple?
Who is Dr. Holmes?
What narrative mode does Woolf employ to portray characters’ points of view through the written equivalent of their thought processes, either in interior monologue, or in connection to their actions?
What is stream of consciousness?
This theme gives significance to the novel's title and is thrown into crisis for Clarissa who is consumed with performing the public role of perfect hostess.
What is identity?
What jobs did Virginia Woolf start her career as?
What is a teacher and journalist?
Name two of Clarissa's former love interests.
Who is Peter Walsh and Sally Seton?
"The death of the soul."
Who is Peter Walsh? (As he wakes from his dream.)
This character helps Lady Bruton write a letter to The Times and once kissed Sally Seton at Bourton after an argument.
Who is Hugh Whitbread?
The motif of this famous author is directly quoted, discussed, admired, and dismissed by many of the characters.
Who is William Shakespeare?
This theme is the primary vehicle through which the background information of the major characters is revealed. It is at times joyful, sometimes painful, and at other times lingering with regret.
What is flashbacks?
What caused Virginia Woolf's first suicide attempt?
What is her father's death?
Who invites Richard Dalloway to a luncheon, yet excludes Clarissa?
Who is Lady Bruton?
"What can one know even of the people one lives with every day? Are we not all prisoners?"
Who is Sally Seton/Lady Rosseter ?
Disillusioned with the English empire and its society, this well-developed character also serves as a double for Clarissa Dalloway.
Who is Septimus Warren Smith?
Mrs. Dalloway deals directly with the plight of veterans through Septimus Warren Smith and explores which effects caused by war?
What is anxiety and alienation?
Clarissa holds this theme and her emotional turmoil deep inside herself for fear of societal judgment. Septimus cannot keep his demons at bay and is judged harshly for it. Both characters also link this theme to sexuality.
What is repression?
What group was Virginia Woolf a founding member of?
What is the Bloomsbury Group?
What is the significance of the back-firing car and the sky-writing airplane?
What is reminders of World War I?
"After that, how unbelievable death was!-that it must end."
Who is Clarissa Dalloway?