Reader discussion: Mrs. Dalloway

Public reader discussion about Mrs. Dalloway in the WeRead Catalog by Virginia Woolf.

had a levelling experience with Woolf’s “To The Lighthouse”

By hiddenDeer60

This kind of book is weirdly hard for me to put into words, both just based on how it felt for me and what was actually in it. I guess it’s the type you can sink into, like it sort of gives off that mix of cozy warmth and also a lonely vibe, but I don’t know if that really explains it. I think you definitely need to be in the right headspace to read it, and since I haven’t really gotten through much else by Woolf, I have no clue how it compares to her other stuff. Still, I’m really glad I got to slow down with it and kind of sit with the little world it builds. The writing feels really pensive and poetic, and kind of stream-of-consciousness, which made it feel more close and personal than I expected, and I think I needed that at the point I was in. By the end I felt pretty emotionally leveled out, and I can see myself coming back to it again because I feel like every reread would give me something a little different. Would recommend.

[Discussão] Mrs. Dalloway, por Virginia Woolf - Semana 3

By FolioCrewless

Pessoal, li esse trecho e achei que foi muita coisa acontecendo de uma vez, principalmente pra mostrar como cada um enxerga “proporção” de um jeito bem diferente. O novo médico do Septimus, o Sr. Bradshaw, chega com essa ideia de afastar ele da esposa, isolar no interior e “corrigir” o que ele chama de desvio emocional com silêncio e disciplina. E o texto ainda faz uma crítica bem direta nisso, como se essa medicina toda fosse só uma forma de controle moral disfarçada. A Rezia parece perceber isso na hora e não confia nele nem um pouco, e só isso já dá um contraste grande com a forma como ela idolatra o Dr. Holmes, que no fim também não ajudou. Aí a gente começa a acompanhar o ponto de vista do Hugh Whitbread, todo certinho e bem aristocrata, e ele vai junto com o Richard visitar a Lady Bruton, uma senhora que parece obcecada com um projeto de emigração pro Canadá e vive pedindo ajuda pra escrever carta pro Times. Enquanto isso, o Richard chega a pensar em dizer que ama a Clarissa (coisa que “nunca se diz”, ele mesmo nota), leva flores pra ela, mas não fala nada. E a Clarissa fica meio incomodada com a Miss Kilman de novo, falando com o marido que a filha ficou vermelha de vergonha quando a Kilman apareceu e que as duas ficaram trancadas no quarto. Ela não parece gostar, mas também fica com essa sensação de que essas coisas “passam com o tempo” — só não sei exatamente o que ela quer dizer com isso. Dá mesmo a impressão de que tem um lado meio romântico ali. Também entendi melhor a Miss Kilman: ela veio de origem pobre, trabalhou pros Dalloway e tinha um desprezo pela Clarissa que não é só “pena”, é bem ódio mesmo, e parece bem claramente ódio de classe. Clarissa, por outro lado, pensa nessa mistura de amor e religião na Miss Kilman e como isso pode destruir, mas ao mesmo tempo ela reconhece que o “milagre” pra ela é outra coisa: estar vivo e consciente, mesmo de longe, por isso ela dá as festas. É estranho, porque a Miss Kilman ainda sai desse embate se sentindo uma coitada por ser feia, mal vestida e incapaz de falar “como a Sra. Dalloway”, mesmo desprezando ela e achando tudo fútil. E no fim, volta pro Septimus e Rezia, e por um instante eles parecem quase normais. Ele faz uma piada e eles riem juntos, ela sente que consegue conversar de novo com ele, e decide que não vão deixar o tratamento do Bradshaw separar os dois. Mas quando o Bradshaw entra em cena, ele sente que ninguém vai conseguir impedir, e o Septimus se joga da janela. Só que fica também aquela sensação dolorida, porque antes ele pensou que não queria morrer e queria esperar até o último momento pra ver se o Holmes ia mesmo aparecer… e aí ele morre.

Mrs. Dalloway, by Virginia Woolf

By sunHardcover1973

This book feels kind of weird in the best way—really beautiful too. Virginia Woolf has this odd way of getting inside people, like you can actually feel their personality, thoughts, and emotions. I keep wondering though… was Septimus really just “crazy,” or is that too simple? And it’s kind of painfully ironic that Virginia and Mr. Smith seem to be similar in a way—they’re both insane, but somehow still make perfect sense. Also, the book makes me think “poets,” if that even means anything. I’d honestly love to read more Woolf. And yeah, it’s not exactly easy to get through. Like, not at all. But that doesn’t mean it can’t be gorgeous.

The Rage of Virginia Woolf by Theodore Dalrymple

By crescentRusty

This feels important to me less for any specific plot stuff and more because it just lays out the kind of worldview that’s sort of hiding under the surface of all of Woolf’s novels. And yeah, most of those books have basically become classics over here, the kind people study in humanities departments and that end up shaping a lot of young readers. I don’t really share Woolf’s politics—I mean, I know not everyone remembers it, but Keynes was around in her circle too—but I still think it’s wildly unfair how people judge the novels. They’re strong because she really controls the material and you get all these different voices coming in. Her essays and other nonfiction feel more uneven though; sometimes they land, and other times it’s like single arguments in one steady voice. Also, it’s not like the “author’s politics” can automatically ruin the work. Like if tomorrow we learned Shakespeare was some racist, elitist, royalist type who wrote manifestos telling people to basically bow to the Crown and pushed colonization in the worst way possible, Twelfth Night and King Lear would still be among the best plays ever. Same vibe with Dostoyevsky—he seems to have had reactionary and xenophobic leanings and wrote some pretty nasty political non-fiction, but that doesn’t automatically make his more humane or opposing ideas in the novels any less compelling, or the novels any less powerful.

"Mrs Dalloway", by Virginia Woolf, changed my perspective on the stream of consciousness

By honest_tower

Just finished **Mrs Dalloway** and I honestly loved it. It also made me realize how much you can actually do with a “stream of consciousness” style. The only other one I’ve read that uses it is **Ulysses**. I started that mostly out of curiosity because people kept saying it was hard, and… yeah. It took me weeks, and by the time I was done I was like nope, I’m staying away from anything else in that style. When I read Ulysses, it felt super disorienting and I couldn’t really wrap my head around what I was supposed to be getting. But I recently got pulled into High Modernism again. I’m already into T.S. Eliot, so this time I avoided Joyce and picked up Woolf’s **Mrs Dalloway** from a local bookstore. At first I wasn’t that excited because the premise sounded kind of boring to me—an upper-class woman getting ready for a party, and we’re just stuck reading her thoughts through that dreaded stream of consciousness thing. I was wrong though. Woolf’s version feels way different, and I ended up really enjoying it. The writing has this kind of smooth, almost poetic flow where the words seem to just connect. I did struggle at first because whenever I read a book I usually try to build a mental picture of what’s happening, and that doesn’t really work here. But once I slowed down and started following the rhythm, everything just clicked. The thoughts start moving like they actually do, weaving in and out, and it was a really fun way to read. Also, Woolf’s narrator feels a lot more “reader-friendly” than Joyce’s. With **Ulysses**, I kept having to reread sentences because I couldn’t tell what was going on, and it totally killed my momentum. With Woolf, it genuinely felt like real people thinking. I also liked that the book isn’t huge. My copy is about 170 pages, and still Woolf manages to fit in a ton—stuff about life and death, aging, how hard it is to communicate, different ways people see society, and how your position changes who you become. It reminded me why I love books in general, and it hit me harder than something like Ulysses. And just to be clear, I’m not trying to bash James Joyce or anything. I did like **Ulysses**—I just don’t think it totally landed for me. If you’re trying to pick a stream of consciousness novel and you’re not sure what to grab, I’d honestly recommend **Mrs Dalloway**. It made me appreciate a style I didn’t care for before. Now I’m really excited to start **To the Lighthouse**. ^^

Did Virginia Woolf truly say this quote from 'The Hours'?

By WandersRoast16

I mean the line that the book title comes from: “Always the years between us. Always the years. Always the love. Always the hours.” I tried looking it up online but couldn’t really find anything. I’d honestly be a bit surprised if the novelist wrote it herself, because it seems more like something from the letter she left before killing herself.

To anyone that has read Michael Cunningham's "The Hours": Would the book be better appreciated having read Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway?

By Curious_Epilogue6908

I’ve read enough Woolf to clock when someone’s trying to copy her vibe right away, and this felt like that. But I’m not sure if there are also plot similarities to *Mrs. Dalloway* that I’m just not catching. And honestly, does that even matter?

Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf. For people who read the book, what were your takeaways?

By VolumeBrush

I’m listening to this book right now, and I’m really curious how it landed with other people. Like, what did you all think it was about, aside from the whole first-person stream-of-consciousness style stuff? I mostly want to hear what people thought about the actual content—how the characters feel, whether the plot made sense (or if it feels more like there isn’t one), and what themes or motifs stood out.

Virginia Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway | Virginia Woolf: Upper Class Bitch

By thunderswithen

Doesn’t anyone think about the regular person who just wants likeable main characters?

What does this quote mean? I found this in a companion book to Virginia Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway

By gardenLucky

Art doesn’t just mirror what happens—it somehow changes the way you experience things.

A Hundred Years of Mrs. Dalloway: An exemplar of modernism, Virginia Woolf’s revolutionary novel explored ideas—psychology, sexuality, imperialism—that roiled the twentieth century.

By ink-lunar

This was a really interesting read. I genuinely love Virginia Woolf.

What are your thoughts on Mrs. Dalloway?

By IslandSleepy

I’m reading *Mrs. Dalloway* at the moment, and I’m curious what everyone thinks of it. Also, is there anything important I should pay attention to when I’m reading?

I can't read reading Virginia Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway

By InkNight

Hi everyone, I’m pretty new to this book and I’ve been trying to get into Virginia Woolf’s ideas and writing style. I read *A Room of One’s Own* first, and even though it was a little tough, I still felt like I could follow it. But now with *Mrs. Dalloway*, I can catch quite a few words, yet I really don’t get how the sentences are built or what they’re saying as a whole. I end up getting confused partway through a lot of them. I’m not sure if my English just isn’t strong enough, or if I’m simply not used to her way of writing. If you’ve read her stuff before, what would you suggest? Should I try a different book first, do some kind of research, or is it better to just stop? I’d honestly appreciate any advice.

A Lifetime of Lessons in “Mrs. Dalloway”

By ivoryStory3206

This was one of those books where I kept thinking I should just tear out the pages and put them on my wall, because something in basically every sentence just smacked me. Like that line about the world raising its whip—wow. And yeah, the article totally nailed it.

Do you go out of your way to read the work that inspired your favorite author(s)?

By black_bee1987

I’ve been getting more into Toni Morrison lately—I think I’m at seven books now—and I still haven’t found anyone whose fiction hits me the way hers does. I really love the way her stories are set up in a non-linear kind of way, and it feels like you’re slowly piecing things together, like you might have to flip back and re-read a passage to fully get it. When it’s working, I get this “click” feeling in my head and I’m super mentally locked in. I also read that she was into Russian lit, so I started Anna Karenina. I’m about a quarter of the way in and I’m not having that wow moment. The writing is good, and I get why Tolstoy can dig into what people are thinking, but it’s coming off a little preachy in a way that’s messing with my enjoyment. I’m seriously considering just quitting it and trying Crime and Punishment instead. How have your favorite authors’ favorites played out for you?

Mrs. Dalloway - Virginia Woolf

By patientcoin14

That “time” line just kind of cracks open and pours everything onto him. The words come out so hard and clean, like they’re already set—white, tough, and not really going anywhere—even though it feels like he’s not even doing the talking. They just drop into place like they’re meant to, and it turns into this big immortal ode to Time. I’m not sure I fully get how it works, but the vibe is really strong.

Mrs Dalloway: Section 6

By YoungCougar1980

Peter keeps coming back to “the death of the soul,” and I can’t tell if it’s supposed to make the present feel extra dark by tying it to that 1890s memory. It’s kind of interesting, but I’m not totally sure what I’m supposed to take from it. I also thought it was weirdly specific how we see Clarissa and Richard through Peter’s retelling—like, I don’t know, it feels a bit filtered and maybe even biased, since it’s all coming back to him in flashes. I was on Peter’s side for a lot of it, and then that line comes up—“He deserved to have her.” Uh, no? You can’t just talk about people like they’re something someone “deserves.” And now I’m also stuck wondering about the timing—had America already done whatever it needed to do with emancipation stuff by then? I don’t know. The fountain scene felt like the absolute worst day for Peter, and then you’ve got Clarissa calling the kiss with Sally the best moment of her life (and also at Bourton). So you’ve got this contrast between all that romance/passion and then the later “everyone behaves” type of life. That part hit me. Not sure what else to add beyond that. Also, with that last line—he never sees her again—that’s just… brutal.

Musings on Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf?

By narrow_epilogue

I’m rereading Mrs. Dalloway because I really liked it the first time, but I’m kind of trying to just stay totally focused on it while I’m on vacation. Still, I’d love to see what other people think about it when I’m done.

Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway | Who’s afraid of Clarissa Dalloway?

By coupletfeather2000

I had to do *Mrs. Dalloway* for a uni class a while ago and I honestly couldn’t stand it at first. I kept wanting to stop and pick at it, but then I just committed and read the whole thing instead of breaking it up, and after a couple hours of really getting into it it finally “clicked” and I ended up liking it. I even picked it for a bonus credit essay since I was feeling it. I totally get why it would be annoying to read just for fun though—at first sight it looks kind of intimidating, like a strange beast.

What are the essential post-WWI works of literature?

By noticescorner1981

Hey everyone, I just ran into this and it made me wonder about my own assignment. I have to write a required paper, and my topic is basically “How did WWI affect English-language literature?” I already know it helped push modernism forward, so I’m planning to read a bunch of modernist stuff to get a handle on the themes and the kinds of techniques writers were using. I’ve got Hemingway (The Sun Also Rises, A Farewell to Arms), Woolf (Mrs. Dalloway), Fitzgerald (The Great Gatsby), and Joyce (I’m finishing Dubliners and then I’ll read Ulysses) on my list. Does anyone have other authors or specific books that are really good examples of post-WWI literature? Thanks!