Mrs. Dalloway Flashcards
What was Woolf’s working title for Mrs. Dalloway?
“The Hours”
In which of Woolf’s earlier works do the Dalloways’ show up?
In “The Voyage Out”; they are fellow passengers aboard the ship carrying Rachel Vinrace.
Over what period of time does the action of this novel take place?
A single day
What is the name of Clarissa’s husband?
Richard
Who is the girlhood friend whose memory haunts Clarissa?
Sally Seton
What is the name of Clarissa’s daughter?
Elizabeth
What is the name of the tutor Clarissa especially dislikes?
Miss Kilman (Kill Man – Woolf likes obvious names like this)
Who commits suicide?
Septimus Smith
What is the name of Septimus Smith’s wife?
Lucretzia
What ghost haunts Septimus?
Evans
Who is Clarissa’s early love interest?
Peter Walsh
Who is the friend Clarissa runs into outside the flower shop?
Hugh Whitbread
What is a modernist epiphany?
A fleeting moment of sublime insight where the universe is illuminated to you. (Woolf’s “moments of being”)
What is Clarissa’s maiden name?
Parry
What is Richard’s occupation?
Member of Parliament
What is the narrative connection between Septimus and Clarissa?
Septimus was one of Dr. Bradshaw’s patients, and Bradshaw is an attendee at Clarissa’s party.
What symptom does Septimus have that Woolf herself once experienced?
Hearing birds speak in Greek
What metaphor is repeated about the tolling of Big Ben?
“The leaden circles dissolved in the air.”
Name a modernist epiphany in the novel.
As Clarissa is contemplating Septimus’s suicide, she is able to see her own life and its worth more clearly. She doesn’t pity him, but his death does “make her feel the beauty, make her feel the fun.”
What time of year does Mrs. Dalloway take place?
June
How old is Clarissa?
52
What is a common stylistic technique in “Mrs. Dalloway”? Define it.
Free Indirect Discourse
A tactic used where the inner thoughts of a character are being related without any obvious “thought action” words (Clarissa thought, Clarissa mused).
In this style, the text slips in and out of a character’s consciousness without warning. Thoughts and feelings are filtered through a third person narrator.
What is Peter’s eccentric habit?
Playing with his pocket knife
