Key themes
- Time, memory and the present moment
- Shell shock and the wounds of war
- The inner life versus social performance
About this book
A single London day inside one woman's mind, drifting between a party and the war that won't let go.
Published in 1925, Mrs Dalloway was Woolf's breakthrough novel and a formal experiment that influenced a century of stream-of-consciousness fiction.
Discussion questions
- The novel takes place over a single day, but constantly moves between past and present. How does Woolf use this temporal fluidity — and what is she saying about how we experience time?
- Septimus and Clarissa never meet, but they are clearly connected. What is Woolf doing by pairing these two characters — what does each see that the other cannot?
- The character of Sir William Bradshaw, the psychiatrist, is treated with unusual venom. What is Woolf's critique, and how does it relate to her own experience?
- Clarissa's purchase of flowers, her preparations for the party — these domestic acts are given the weight of significant events. How does Woolf make the ordinary feel profound rather than trivial?
- The novel is often described as a feminist work, but Clarissa chose conventional life over Sally Seton. How do you read Clarissa's choice — as loss, compromise or wisdom?
Get the book
Links open an Amazon search. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
Read together or read next
Books that make a good pairing or natural follow-up.
Reading it with your group?
Get Mrs Dalloway
As an Amazon Associate and Bookshop.org affiliate we earn from qualifying purchases.