Mrs Dalloway

Clarissa Dalloway, fifty-one, sets out one June morning to buy flowers for the party she is giving that night. Over the course of a single day, the novel moves in and out of her mind and the minds of the people she passes: an old flame just back from India, her teenage daughter and the tutor Clarissa resents, and a young veteran, Septimus Warren Smith, who hears the dead speaking to him in the park. The two never meet, but by midnight Septimus’s story has walked into Clarissa’s party. Woolf’s novel turns an ordinary day into a whole life.

What happens in Mrs Dalloway

On a June day in 1923, Clarissa Dalloway, the wife of a Conservative member of Parliament, walks through Westminster to buy flowers for her party that evening. She meets her old friend Hugh Whitbread and thinks of her youth at Bourton, especially of Peter Walsh, whom she refused to marry, and her girlhood friend Sally Seton, whose kiss she still remembers as the most exquisite moment of her life. A backfiring motor car and an aeroplane writing in the sky draw the attention of the crowd, including Septimus Warren Smith, a young veteran of the First World War who suffers from shell shock, and his Italian wife Rezia. Septimus sees meanings everywhere and is haunted by his dead friend Evans. At home, Clarissa learns that Lady Bruton has invited her husband Richard to lunch without her. She mends her party dress, and Peter Walsh, newly back from India, arrives unannounced. Their conversation is full of old feeling; Peter bursts into tears, and Clarissa’s daughter Elizabeth interrupts. Peter walks through London, falls asleep in Regent’s Park, and remembers Clarissa. Nearby, Rezia leads Septimus to an appointment with the eminent doctor Sir William Bradshaw, who decides that Septimus must be separated from his wife and sent to a rest home. Richard lunches with Lady Bruton and Hugh, buys Clarissa roses, and means to tell her he loves her but cannot say it. Elizabeth goes shopping with her history tutor, Miss Kilman, whom Clarissa dislikes, and escapes on an omnibus. In the afternoon, Septimus and Rezia share a moment of happiness making a hat. When Dr. Holmes arrives to take him away, Septimus throws himself from the window and dies. At the party, Clarissa greets her guests, including the Prime Minister, Peter, and Sally, now Lady Rosseter. When the Bradshaws mention the suicide of a young man, Clarissa withdraws to a small room, imagines his death, and feels a kinship with him. She returns to her guests, and Peter feels a sudden terror and excitement: it is Clarissa, and there she is.

Where and when Mrs Dalloway happens

Chapter by chapter summary + why it matters

1. 1

   Buying the Flowers

   Clarissa sets out on a June morning, delighting in London after the war. She meets Hugh Whitbread, remembers Peter Walsh and her refusal to marry him, and enters the flower shop.

   Why it mattersThe opening establishes Woolf’s method: the narration moves freely between the street and Clarissa’s memories, joining past and present.

2. 2

   The Motor Car and the Aeroplane

   A motor car backfires in Bond Street, and the crowd wonders who is inside. Septimus Warren Smith, waiting with his wife Rezia, feels terror. An aeroplane writes letters in the sky, and people across the city try to read them.

   Why it mattersShared public moments link strangers across London and introduce Septimus as Clarissa’s unseen double.

3. 3

   Peter Walsh Calls

   Clarissa returns home, learns that Lady Bruton has invited Richard to lunch without her, and feels shut out. She mends her green dress. Peter Walsh arrives from India, announces he is in love with a married woman, and weeps. Elizabeth enters, and Peter leaves.

   Why it mattersThe reunion shows how the past lives on inside both characters, and Clarissa’s choice of Richard over Peter remains a live question.

4. 4

   Peter’s Walk

   Peter walks through London, excited and restless, following a young woman in his imagination. He reaches Regent’s Park and falls asleep on a bench beside a nurse.

   Why it mattersPeter’s fantasies reveal his romantic, impulsive nature and his difficulty facing reality.

5. 5

   The Solitary Traveller

   In a dream Peter imagines a solitary traveller. He wakes and remembers summers at Bourton and the scene in which Clarissa refused him.

   Why it mattersMemory drives the novel as much as action, and Peter’s recollections show the choices that shaped both lives.

6. 6

   Septimus in Regent’s Park

   Septimus sits in the park while Rezia despairs. Peter passes them without understanding. The narrative reveals Septimus’s past: his love of poetry, his service in the war, the death of his friend Evans, his marriage in Italy, and his growing breakdown under the care of Dr. Holmes.

   Why it mattersSeptimus’s history exposes the damage the war did beneath the surface of postwar England.

7. 7

   Sir William Bradshaw

   Rezia takes Septimus to Sir William Bradshaw, who quickly decides he must be sent to a home in the country, away from his wife. Woolf’s narrator condemns Bradshaw’s worship of proportion and his power over the vulnerable.

   Why it mattersBradshaw represents a society that enforces conformity and treats suffering as something to be controlled.

8. 8

   Lady Bruton’s Lunch

   Hugh Whitbread and Richard Dalloway lunch with Lady Bruton, who wants help writing a letter to The Times about sending young people to Canada. Richard buys roses for Clarissa, planning to tell her he loves her, but cannot say it when he gets home.

   Why it mattersThe scene satirizes the governing class and shows the silence at the heart of the Dalloways’ marriage.

9. 9

   Elizabeth and Miss Kilman

   Clarissa resents Miss Kilman, Elizabeth’s poor and bitter tutor. Elizabeth and Miss Kilman shop and have tea, and Miss Kilman clings to her. Elizabeth breaks away and rides an omnibus up the Strand, enjoying her freedom.

   Why it mattersElizabeth’s brief independence hints at a future with more choices for women.

10. 10

    Septimus and Rezia

    Septimus and Rezia make a hat for a neighbor’s daughter, and for a while they are happy. When Dr. Holmes arrives to take him away, Septimus throws himself from the window. Peter, walking nearby, hears the ambulance.

    Why it mattersSeptimus’s death is presented as an act of defiance against those who would control him.

11. 11

    The Party

    Clarissa’s party fills her house with guests, including the Prime Minister. Sally Seton appears, now Lady Rosseter. When the Bradshaws mention a young man’s suicide, Clarissa retreats to a small room, thinks about his death, and watches an old woman in the house opposite. She returns to the party, and Peter feels her presence.

    Why it mattersClarissa’s private reckoning with death gives the party its meaning, and the novel ends with her return to life.

Characters and how they connect

Character Relationships who connects to whom, and the themes that bind them

Themes in Mrs Dalloway what the novel is really about

Symbols & motifs

Important quotes

The ending of Mrs Dalloway, explained

Mrs Dalloway ends at the party that Clarissa has been preparing all day, and its climax is a death she never witnesses. The party gathers the people of her life: her husband Richard, Peter Walsh, Sally Seton, now Lady Rosseter with five sons, Hugh Whitbread, and even the Prime Minister. Clarissa is a skilled hostess, but she feels a hollowness in her own performance. Then Sir William Bradshaw and his wife arrive late and explain that a young man, one of Sir William’s patients, has killed himself that afternoon. Clarissa is shaken that death has entered her party. She goes alone into a small room and imagines the young man throwing himself from a window. She feels that he has kept something she lost: death, she reflects, is defiance and an attempt to communicate. She thinks of Bradshaw forcing souls into submission. Watching the old lady in the house opposite prepare for bed, Clarissa feels a strange kinship with the young man and is glad he did it, and she understands that his act makes her feel the beauty of life. She decides to return to her guests. The novel’s last moments belong to Peter, who feels a sudden terror and ecstasy and knows its cause: it is Clarissa, and there she is. Septimus serves as Clarissa’s double, the part of her that might have given up, and his death allows her to choose life again. The ending suggests that a party, a gathering of people, can be a real offering, and that ordinary life holds moments of intense meaning.

Common misreadings

Test yourself

Flashcards flip, self-grade, and the deck remembers what you know

Mrs Dalloway is about one day in London in 1923. Clarissa Dalloway is getting ready for a big party. As she walks around, she remembers her past, including the man she did not marry, Peter, who shows up that day. Meanwhile, a young soldier named Septimus, still hurting from World War I, struggles with his mind, and his doctors want to send him away. He ends his life. At her party, Clarissa hears about his death and thinks about life and death, then goes back to her guests. The book jumps between people’s thoughts to show how much can happen inside a single day.

Compare & connect the story universe

Adaptations. Mrs Dalloway (1997, Film directed by Marleen Gorris), The Hours (1998, Novel by Michael Cunningham).

Discussion & essay prompts for class, or your next paper

Key questions students ask

• What is the connection between Clarissa and Septimus in Mrs Dalloway
• Why does Septimus kill himself in Mrs Dalloway
• What does Big Ben symbolize in Mrs Dalloway
• Why did Clarissa marry Richard instead of Peter
• What does the ending of Mrs Dalloway mean
• How does Woolf use stream of consciousness in Mrs Dalloway