63 pages • 2 hours read
Virginia WoolfMrs. Dalloway
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1925A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Essay Topics
Which of the characters in Mrs. Dalloway seems most connected to the world of nature and which seems most connected to the world of the populated city? What do these characters bring to your understanding of the novel as a whole?
Describe the impact of World War I on a character other than Septimus Smith. Use evidence from the novel to support your argument.
Miss Kilman’s feelings towards Elizabeth are blatantly clear, but how does Elizabeth feel about Miss Kilman? Consider Elizabeth’s relationships with her parents in your response.
Rezia Smith is alone in London after the suicide of her husband. What do you think she will do now? Support your argument with evidence.
How does Peter Walsh really feel about Clarissa? Trace the shifts in his own perception of his attachment to Clarissa and draw a conclusion.
Woolf reveals herself and her own sensitivities and tendencies towards mental illness in Mrs. Dalloway. Select a passage that most poignantly reveals her understanding of what it means to suffer psychologically and analyze it line-by-line.
How does the use of stream of consciousness impact the reader’s experience of getting to know the characters? Whom do you feel you know the best by the book’s end and why?
Woolf’s choice to play with the linear nature of time impacts nearly every event that unfolds. Select one memory by one character and discuss how the actual act of remembering affects the character.
In Mrs. Dalloway, Woolf rejects the old style of storytelling as a gesture to communicate her impatience with the old ways of life, pre-World War I. Locate three examples of this kind of veiled criticism of established traditions and explain your position with evidence from the novel.
Though Woolf likely would have rejected the label of “pacifist,” she is well-remembered for her anti-war feeling as demonstrated in Three Guineas, her book-length essay written in response to the question “How should war be prevented?” What evidence of pacifism do you observe in Mrs. Dalloway?
Related Titles
By Virginia Woolf
