Mrs. Dalloway: Ahead of its Time
Mrs. Dalloway is a groundbreaking novel for many reasons, one reason being the topics that it touches upon. Virginia Woolf doesn’t shy away from stigmatized topics including PTSD, suicide, and sexuality. The raw and intimate depictions of these concepts shed a light upon undiscussed matters prevalent during the 1920s.
PTSD is present through the character Septimus, as he is severely impacted by the death of his friend Evans from the war. This is shown throughout the novel, for instance as seen on page 91, “A voice spoke from behind the screen. Evans was speaking. The dead were with him. ‘Evans, Evans!’ he cried.” Septimus consistently has vivid memories of the war and the death of his friend. This is partly due to him surviving through four years of the war, something that was an uncommon feat given the time period. While Septimus does go to receive help for his PTSD from Dr. Holmes and Sir William Bradshaw, Dr. Holmes claims that Septimus is in a funk, and Sir William seems more accusatory of Septimus’ circumstances rather than helpful. Woolf uses both the experiences of Septimus and the reactions of Holmes and Sir William to show the dismissiveness and undermining of people with PTSD.
In addition, Septimus’ suicide is depicted with detail, showing some of his final thoughts and the means in which he commits suicide. Readers are able to see his stream of consciousness in those moments, as Woolf writes in his point of view. Furthermore, from class discussions we learned that Woolf had personal experiences with suicide. The depiction and style of writing is powerful in itself, as she ties her personal experiences into the character to further shed light to tabooed areas of conversation regarding mental health and suicide.
Lastly, there are multiple mentions of characters in Mrs. Dalloway having attraction towards the same gender, with Clarissa and Sally as well as Elizabeth and Miss Kilman. The depiction of Clarissa and Sally together when they kiss is described as an “intense secret moment.” Similarly, Elizabeth and Miss Kilman seem to have something going on between the two of them, since Clarissa is reminded of herself and Sally when looking at them. Relationships like these were highly unconventional and not widely accepted in the 1920s, thus showing the versatility and novelness of Virginia Woolf’s writing.
Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway touches upon topics that were under addressed and generally ahead of the time. It makes me question how readers and the general public during that time period would have reacted to her reading, as I am assuming their thoughts would differ from the viewpoints we have today.
PTSD is present through the character Septimus, as he is severely impacted by the death of his friend Evans from the war. This is shown throughout the novel, for instance as seen on page 91, “A voice spoke from behind the screen. Evans was speaking. The dead were with him. ‘Evans, Evans!’ he cried.” Septimus consistently has vivid memories of the war and the death of his friend. This is partly due to him surviving through four years of the war, something that was an uncommon feat given the time period. While Septimus does go to receive help for his PTSD from Dr. Holmes and Sir William Bradshaw, Dr. Holmes claims that Septimus is in a funk, and Sir William seems more accusatory of Septimus’ circumstances rather than helpful. Woolf uses both the experiences of Septimus and the reactions of Holmes and Sir William to show the dismissiveness and undermining of people with PTSD.
In addition, Septimus’ suicide is depicted with detail, showing some of his final thoughts and the means in which he commits suicide. Readers are able to see his stream of consciousness in those moments, as Woolf writes in his point of view. Furthermore, from class discussions we learned that Woolf had personal experiences with suicide. The depiction and style of writing is powerful in itself, as she ties her personal experiences into the character to further shed light to tabooed areas of conversation regarding mental health and suicide.
Lastly, there are multiple mentions of characters in Mrs. Dalloway having attraction towards the same gender, with Clarissa and Sally as well as Elizabeth and Miss Kilman. The depiction of Clarissa and Sally together when they kiss is described as an “intense secret moment.” Similarly, Elizabeth and Miss Kilman seem to have something going on between the two of them, since Clarissa is reminded of herself and Sally when looking at them. Relationships like these were highly unconventional and not widely accepted in the 1920s, thus showing the versatility and novelness of Virginia Woolf’s writing.
Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway touches upon topics that were under addressed and generally ahead of the time. It makes me question how readers and the general public during that time period would have reacted to her reading, as I am assuming their thoughts would differ from the viewpoints we have today.
This is a great post! I definitely think that Virginia Woolf was incredibly progressive and radical in many ways, be it through activism or her writings. As a whole, I felt that reading Mrs. Dalloway to be an experience unlike anything I've had before... Her goal was to make her writings like-like and she just nailed it right on the head. Even with all the really depressing scenes, Woolf is just able to make these issues that we understand now seem normal in her book, but putting it in perspective, this type of stuff was revolutionary at the time of writing.
ReplyDeleteThese are great thoughts. The ideas of mental health and sexuality were rarely accepted until much later in history. It makes me wonder how someone who read it back when it was published would have perceived these ideas.
ReplyDeleteAnother thought about Virginia Woolf's depiction of exploring sexuality during the 1900's: Septimus mentions several times that he believes he has committed a crime, but he cannot seem to figure out what it is. This might be far fetched, but I though this might be a portrayal of his internal struggle with his relationship with Evans (a different discussion), given that homosexuality was not widely accepted at the time.
ReplyDeleteI also wondered what people at the time thought of this book, since it very strongly hints at LGBTQ relationships. This book must've also been out of the norm at the time because it describes PTSD from a first-person perspective, and shows the inner struggles that people with mental illnesses have that are not as obvious to other people. Great post!
ReplyDeleteThis post highlights important ideas! It made me realize that while we appreciate the stigmatized subjects that Woolf brings up, people in that time period might have shamed her for it. I wonder if the criticism contributed to her depression and suicide. We know that she relates her own experiences to her characters, so criticism of her characters' issues could potentially have an effect on her.
ReplyDeleteI like this post. I like how you re pointing out the novelness with which Woolf writes her novels. and how she is defying the writing styles of her time. Mentioning many controversial topics in Mrs. Dalloway shows that she was not afraid to think outside the box and express issues which she felt were important and in need of attention. Great post Maddie!
ReplyDelete