Mrs. Dalloway
Virginia Woolf
Contains spoilers for the entire book.
Discussion topics
Topic 01 of 08
A single day
Why do you think Woolf tells the whole novel in a single day in June?
Keep the conversation going
- How does Big Ben's striking shape the day?
- What did you make of moving from one character's thoughts to another's?
There is no single right answer. Bring your own reading.
Discussion topics
Why do you think Woolf tells the whole novel in a single day in June?
Keep the conversation going
- How does Big Ben's striking shape the day?
- What did you make of moving from one character's thoughts to another's?
Who is Clarissa Dalloway, beneath her role as a hostess?
Keep the conversation going
- What does she mean by buying the flowers herself?
- Is she content with the life she chose?
Why does Peter's return unsettle Clarissa so much?
Keep the conversation going
- Was she right not to marry him?
- How does Peter see himself, and how do others see him?
What did Sally Seton mean to Clarissa, and why is that memory so vivid?
Keep the conversation going
- What did you make of the kiss at Bourton?
- How has Sally changed by the time of the party?
How is Septimus's day connected to Clarissa's, though they never meet?
Keep the conversation going
- What has the war done to him?
- What did you make of Rezia's loneliness?
How do Dr Holmes and Sir William Bradshaw treat Septimus, and what does the novel say about them?
Keep the conversation going
- What does 'proportion' mean to Bradshaw?
- Why does Septimus feel he has no way out?
Why does news of Septimus's death affect Clarissa so deeply at her party?
Keep the conversation going
- What does she understand about his choice?
- How does she return to her guests?
What do you make of the novel's ending, with Peter seeing Clarissa?
Keep the conversation going
- What does the party give Clarissa, and what does it cost?
- Why do you think it ends at that moment?
There is no single right answer. Bring your own reading.