Mrs. Dalloway

Mrs. Dalloway, published in 1925, is Virginia Woolf’s modernist masterpiece that captures a single day in the life of Clarissa Dalloway, a London socialite preparing for a party. Through a stream-of-consciousness narrative, the novel explores memory, identity, mental illness, and the disillusionment of post–World War I Britain. Interwoven with Clarissa’s story is that of Septimus Smith, a war veteran suffering from shell shock. Woolf’s lyrical prose and psychological depth revolutionized narrative form, making Mrs. Dalloway a profound meditation on time, trauma, and the inner lives of individuals.