Tomorrow's meeting takes place in Littlehampton, and we are promised beach weather by our host - to discuss Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf. I enjoyed revisiting this novel, and Septimus' representation and the references to World War 1 seemed particularly pertinent as we mark the centenary of so many of the Great War's battles.
Here are our discussion questions.
1. In Mrs. Dalloway, Virginia Woolf combines interior with omniscient descriptions of character and scene. Why, and how does Woolf handle the transitions from one point of view to another? Does this kind of novelistic portraiture resonate with other artistic movements of Woolf s time?
2. Woolf saw Septimus Warren Smith as an essential counterpoint to Clarissa Dalloway. What specific comparisons and contrasts are drawn between the two? What is the significance of Septimus making his first appearance as Clarissa, from her florist's window, watches the mysterious motor car in Bond Street?
3. What was Clarissa's relationship with Sally Seton? What is the significance of Sally's reentry into Clarissa's life after so much time?
4. What is Woolf's purpose in creating a range of female characters of various ages and social classes-from Clarissa herself and Lady Millicent Burton to Sally Seton, Doris Kilman, Lucrezia Smith, and Maisie Johnson?
5. As the day and the novel proceed, the hours and half hours are sounded by a variety of clocks (for instance, Big Ben strikes noon at the novel's exact midpoint). What is the effect of the time being constantly announced on the novel's structure and on our sense of the pace of the characters' lives? Is there significance in Big Ben being the chief announcer of time?
6. Woolf shifts scenes between past and present, primarily through Clarissa's, Septimus', and others' memories. Does this device successfully establish the importance of the past as a shaping influence on and an informing component of the present?
7. Threats of disorder and death recur throughout the novel, culminating in Septimus's suicide and repeating later in Sir William Bradshaw's report of that suicide at Clarissa's party. When do thoughts or images of disorder and death appear in the novel, and in connection with which characters?
8. Clarissa and others have a heightened sense of the "splendid achievement" and continuity of English history, culture, and tradition. How does Clarissa's attitude, specifically, compare with Septimus's attitude on these points?
9. Why does Woolf end the novel with Clarissa as seen through Peter's eyes? Why does he experience feelings of "terror," "ecstasy," and "extraordinary excitement" in her presence? What is the significance of those feelings, and do we as readers share with them?
