Dalloway

Dalloway is a surname of English origin, most notably associated with the character Clarissa Dalloway, a central figure in Virginia Woolf's novel Mrs. Dalloway (1925). The name has become linked with Woolf's exploration of consciousness, social life, and the textures of post-World War I London.

In the novel, Clarissa Dalloway plans and hosts a party over the course of a single day, while her thoughts drift through memory, desire, and social duty. The narrative interweaves Clarissa’s interior life with the perspectives of other characters, including Septimus Warren Smith, a shell-shocked veteran, to examine themes of time, identity, class, and gender. The work is celebrated for its innovative approach to interiority and its portrayal of urban modern life.

Style and form: Mrs. Dalloway is a landmark of modernist literature, employing stream of consciousness and free indirect discourse to reveal characters’ minds. Woolf’s additive structure, precise prose, and attention to sensory detail create a fluid sense of the passing day and the interpolation of private experience with public events.

Publication and reception: The novel was published in 1925 by Hogarth Press and quickly established Woolf as a leading figure in modernism. It has remained a staple of literary study, frequently analyzed for its narrative technique, social critique, and psychological depth.

Legacy: The themes and techniques of Mrs. Dalloway have influenced later fiction and criticism. Michael Cunningham’s The Hours (1998) adapts Woolf’s ideas and motifs, centering on a character inspired by Clarissa Dalloway. The name Dalloway continues to appear in scholarly discussions as a symbol of modernist interiority and the exploration of time.