Mental Health in Mrs. Dalloway

After Mira’s very informative presentation about Virginia Woolf, a lot of the characters a written by Woolf made more sense. In many ways, Woolf and the materials she printed alongside her husband at their publishing company were progressive. From featuring LGBT voices to showing mental illness without covering it up or merely alluding to it, Hogarth Press was definitely ahead of its time. In Mrs. Dalloway, the same rings true. Most notably is Septimus, who is described as being shell-shocked from serving in WWI. While admittedly using an antiquated term for post-traumatic stress disorder, Woolf’s stream of consciousness writing highlights issues that most people were not and are still not willing to openly address. It is also interesting to see how, like other modernist writers, several characters are representative of Woolf, without actually being Woolf. Virginia Woolf, who likely had bipolar disorder, was subjected to a series of painful traumas as a child and young adult. This most certainly played a role in her mental state. Additionally, her death and proceeding suicide attempts are similar, but not the same, to that of 

[SPOILER ALERT] Septimus’s.  Clarissa Dalloway, in part another reflection of Woolf, hears about the suicide and feels linked to him. She feels empathetic and understands why he made the decision to do so. This part is also written as a thought spiral, perhaps reflecting the author’s own mental state at the time.