Mrs. Dalloway as Modern Novel Comparison
Mrs. Dalloway is a modernist novel written by a famous British author Virginia Woolf. The novel describes one day from the life of Clarissa who lives in London and is going to host a party. Such technique as the stream
of consciousness helps the author to convey a wide variety of human thoughts and emotions. Nevertheless, the novel also features such social issues as gender, war, imperialism, and many others. The essay will state
that the motives of growing old and the impossibility of love are common between the novel Mrs. Dalloway and The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, while imperialism plays a significant role in both Woolf’s novel and “The
White Man’s Burden” by Kipling.
Firstly, Virginia Woolf believed that one’s personal experiences are very important and that literary works should display them. In Mrs. Dalloway, the readers get information about the characters by getting familiar with their past and from the characteristics provided by others. Clarissa Dalloway is a middle-aged woman who realizes that she is getting old and analyses her past experiences. The same is true about Alfred Prufrock from the poem The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock by Thomas Eliot. Both Clarissa and Alfred Prufrock realize that life is coming close to its end and reflect over their past. Both of them regret for the lost possibilities of spending time with those whom they loved. For example, Clarissa refused to marry Peter Walsh, even though they loved each other: “What does the brain matter compared with the heart?” (Woolf). Nevertheless, she feels that it was a mistake because even after all those years, they still love each others. Alfred Prufrock suffers from isolation
and impotence. He is very indecisive which makes it impossible for him to marry the woman who he loves: “Have known the evenings, mornings, afternoons. /I have measured out my life in coffee spoons.” (Eliot). Another common trait between the poem and the novel is the urban setting of London. Thus, both Woolf and Eliot were modernists and the personal experience of their characters was very important to them.
Secondly, Virginia Woolf broaches not only private issues but also many significant social problems. One of them is imperialism, since the characters were British and Britain was a huge empire before the Second World War. The theme of imperialism is a common characteristic of Woolf’s novel and the poem White Men’s Burden by Kipling. The poem praises the expansion and states that the US should become an empire: “Take up the
White Man’s burden—/Send forth the best ye breed—/Go send your sons to exile/To serve your captives' need…” (Kipling). This “white men’s burden” is featured in the novel, since Peter Walsh goes to India to work there, which does not make him very happy. Many characters see the failure of the British …
