7 - Mrs. Dalloway

Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
Annotated edition, Harcourt, 2005
225 pages
Date Completed: September 22, 2009

So this is the 28th book I've read this year! So much about this novel absolutely captivated me.

Let's start with the narrative. Although it had a penchant for becoming confusing at first, this version of stream-of-consciousness was by far the most intriguing I've ever encountered. Woolf seamlessly blends the thoughts of various characters throughout the narrative, so that the reader is presented with the thoughts of a variety of characters. We see the action occurring through the eyes of anyone: from Mrs. Dalloway herself to a random woman walking down a London sidewalk. One of my favorite instances of this occurs at the beginning of the novel when Mrs. Dalloway is walking through London. I had to basically approach the narrative in a whole new way because I'd never been exposed to anything written this way.

I fell in love with Mrs. Dalloway's character right from the start, when she decisively declares that she'll "buy the flowers herself." She's not passive; rather, it seems that she has verve and conviction without being a radical. It says a lot for her character.

I like the fact that Mrs. Dalloway is middle-aged (52, I think). According to my professor, it was revolutionary that a novel be told from the perspective of a woman this old, because most stories written in the 1920s from the point of view of a woman focused upon a young woman who was beautiful and would eventually end up with a husband. Mrs. Dalloway, on the other hand, has already grown up: she's no longer beautiful, she's married and is thus no longer "on the market," she's no longer desirable, and this novel is a beautiful depiction of what a typical day is like for her.

Nothing happens. She buys flowers, visits a friend, reminisces, and throws a party.

Throughout the novel, time continues to intrude. Time is unalterable, and it imposes constantly, so there's this kind of eerie undertone of mortality running throughout. Big Ben chiming over and over. Keeping the characters in check.