A Very long day in the life

This novel did not turn out to be what I was expecting. Then again, I really didn't have that many expectations other than that it would deal with how a woman named Mrs. Dalloway fits into British society. This story is so much more than that. Written in stream-of-consciousness style, this novel spans over a single day and gives its readers glimpses into the psyches and backgrounds of several different characters. I'm not going to lie and say that I got used to this unique format of storytelling; if anything, I got more confused the farther I read. But the perks of reading books in classes is that the most important themes and concepts are usually delved into to better understand. While Mrs. Dalloway is certainly not one of my new favorite novels, its ability to highlight the parts of post-war (WWI) British society within the intricate lives and struggles of its main characters is impressive. You have Mrs. Dalloway, the woman who throws parties to satisfy her societal standing and block out her intense arsenal of emotions and questions she cannot fully embrace. Her husband, Richard, who is unable to express his love for his wife in spoken words. The ex-lover, Peter Walsh, drifting and unhappy with the way his life has turned out. And a young wife struggling to understand her recently returned soldier husband and his undiagnosed PTSD. The ways Woolf weaves together these different characters' experiences into a narrative that expresses the irreversible changes that the world was just beginning to face as its post-war reality are hard to fully pick up on, but profound nevertheless. I had some issues with how she portrays suicide; at times she seems to over glorify the concept and paint it in a spiritually noble light, which doesn't seem like too far of a stretch considering her own demise. But overall, this novel raises interesting questions about the meaning of life, regrets from the past, and how one can choose to deal with the future. It forced me to think and read critically, and I am grateful to have read it within the guided setting of my literature class since I probably would not have chosen to read it on my own. 


Some of my favorite quotes from Mrs. Dalloway:

"He thought her beautiful, believed her impeccably wise; dreamed of her, wrote poems to her, which, ignoring the subject, she corrected in red ink."

“What does the brain matter compared with the heart?”

“It is a thousand pities never to say what one feels.”
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