Mrs. Dalloway (Vintage Classics)

Although Woolf controls her readers reactions towards Mrs Dalloway's identity, great sympathy is evoked for her considering how she 'inscribes and hides' her own desires and ambitions and forms in 'her own mind' an 'idea of' what she feels Richard would find attractive in a wife. The depiction of her bed as 'narrow' and 'undisturbed' suggests that her marriage, dreams, happiness and sense of self are all dead since 'narrow' and 'undisturbed' has connotations of death as a corpse lies undisturbed.

Mrs Dalloway really is one of Woolf's greatest masterpieces!!! Her articulate writing style not only affords the reader an insight into how women were forced to suppress their identities, dreams and aspirations and but it also highlights how they were conditioned into not to looking beyond the role prescribed for them by society.


"First the warning, musical; then the hour, irrevocable..."   December 30, 2004
5 out of 7 found this review helpful

For everyone who's ever looked at a copy of a Woolf novel and was dissuaded by her reputation, the subject matter (seemingly dull) or the negative feedback from those who have read it and disliked it: please pick up Mrs. Dalloway and read it.

Ignore the comments you may have heard about Woolf being difficult. By no means is she. Of course, this is all a matter of taste; perhaps her style isn't favoured by all. But the plain truth is: she manipulates the English language in a way which no other author has done to this day. She was a pioneer in writing and has created several masterpieces - of which Mrs. Dalloway is undisputedly one - which defined a new age of writing. In Mrs. Dalloway, you will find sentences beautifully crafted, thoughts perfectly evoked. Above all, my favourite thing about Woolf is the way she always pinpoints the exact essence of life through her writing: she can capture the subtlest emotions and qualities of her characters with complete accuracy. And she is compulsively readable. Once you dive into the first chapter (which contains one of the most memorable opening sentences I've come across) you will congratulate yourself for giving this book a moment.

I particularly like this Vintage Classics edition also because it has interesting forewords by Carol Ann Duffy and Valentine Cunningham and the cover (for those who are superficial) is extremely elegant. It's undeniably a bit more expensive but one can always fork out for Virginia Woolf.

There are those who favour Woolf greatly, and despite all the complaint that her books are difficult and she is difficult, there is a lot of hype surrounding her works. Do buy into the hype and read it. Then read some more.

You won't regret it!