INTERNAL ELEMENTS OF A NOVEL: A SHORT INTERPRETIVE ANALYSIS OF ‘MRS. DALLOWAY’
1. INTERNAL ELEMENTS OF A NOVEL: A SHORT
INTERPRETIVE ANALYSIS OF ‘MRS. DALLOWAY’
Tácio Assis Barros
tacio.barros@yahoo.com.br
Literaturas de Língua Inglesa 3 – Natasha Costa
Language is the greatest object of power since the beginning of times when human
beings began to study Art. Thus, the literature is a global need that promotes satisfaction with
regard to personal and personality growth because it shapes feelings and worldview; it
humanizes us (CANDIDO, 2004).
For Aristotle, imitation (in this case literary works) is a source of pleasure and
knowledge, since it is only through imitation that men learn. We believe so with Aristotle that
imitation purge, purify the reader, in other words it causes and promotes catharsis. This
imitation of the real world is provided by observations that happen since the youth of men.
Not all observe in the same order or rhythm. Writers reproduce the world with a more
sensitive vision, and in those whom this sensitivity is found in excess are called poets:
Those in whom it exists in excess are poets, in the most universal sense
of the word; and the pleasure resulting from the manner in which they
express the influence of society or nature upon their own minds,
communicates itself to others, and gathers a sort of reduplication from
that community (SHELLEY; 1821)
According to ‘A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature’ (2005), when it comes
to modern Literature, realism is precisely what it sounds like and became very strong in the late
twenty century. We understand realism as a near representation of experiential reality:
"the premise, or primary convention, that the novel ia s full and accurate
report of human experience and therefore under an obligation to satisfy
its reader with such details of the story as the individuality of the actors
concerned, ther particulars of the times and places of their actions,
details which are presented through a more largely referential use of
language than is common in other literary forms" (WATT, 1957: 32
apud PARSONS, 2007: 23).
We may say that a realistic novel introduces us to the empirical world. It attends to
details and assignments to imitate the true nature of reality in a way that novelists had never
attempted.
2. This piece of paper focuses on discussing, shorlty, about the novel ‘Mrs. Dalloway’, by
Virginia Woolf, on a Space and Time view. The author, according to Deborah Parsons (2007),
asked herself if she had the power of creating the true reality. Woolf was a piooneer of debating
the future of novelisct structure and one of her masterpieces, Mrs. Dalloway, has been marked
the morden style of writing Novels. The book has an intense focus on the minutiae of character
and has shown the several wealthy elements of writing, the Free Indirect Speech for instance.
An incredible work of English literature, Mrs Dalloway is considered one of the most
famous books of Virginia Woolf. It has been criticized because of the English social customs
approached on it and her writing style. The book aims to describe, within a typical day, the
story of Mrs. Dalloway, a rich housewife from the 1920s, concerning a party she will deliver
on that night. It is considered a hard reading because of Woolf’s writing style. Throughout the
events that happen during the day, as buying flowers, sewing and meeting old friends several
flashbacks make the narrative a mix of present and past situations. In addition, Virginia Woolf’s
free indirect speech confuses the reader to distinguish the narrator’s voice. This is called stream
of consciousness.
London, 1920s, after the First World War is the background of the book. It is basically
about the society of that time and the influence of the post war. Time and Space helps the reader
to notice the strong crictics concerning London Society of that time, rising questions about war
sequels, the psychiatric system, fake appearances, the political game between personal
relationships and religiosity, etc.
In short, Clarissa Dalloway is a 52-year old lady of London society that loves to party.
She is married to Richard Dalloway with whom he has a daughter, Elizabeth. Many other
characters are drawn during the novel. Peter Walsh, who is a former love of Clarissa and back
from his trip to India; Sally Seton, girl with whom Clarissa may have had an affair; Septimus
Warren Smith, married to Italian Lucrezia Smith, who is a veteran of the army in the First World
War and suffers from serious psychological problems after the terrible experience; among
others.
When it comes to Time, the passage of time in the novel is well marked with the sound
of Big Ben, a symbol of England and its power. It begins in June 1923, in the morning, and
finishes on the following day in the afternoon. We infer that the story described on a day,
catches the reader’s attention for every detail.
Inside the Characters’ minds, like Clarissa, Septimus, Peter and others, it is marked with
analepsis (used to recount events that had already happened), because they relfect about how
their lives were spent. The protagonist, for example, is always questioning her existence and
3. knows that life will continue without her. Virginia uses Stream of Consciouness to introduce
these thoughts and to emphasizes how time flies.
Literature is not only reading and writing, but understanding human beings. Through it
the reader improves several different skills, and the main one is the importance of having a
critical view of the society and about our lives. This prodigy, Virginia Woolf, provided thre
readers an opportunity to evolve through different view from the world and life using some
elements of the narrative, for example, Time and Space and Stream of Consciousness.
Finally, the contribution to the English learning/teaching is unquestionable. The interest
in studying the importance of the literary text in English classes has been increasing meaningly.
Lima (2013) states that the literary text is quite effective and has much to contribute to the
teaching / learning a foreign language, since it is used correctly and not limited. Literature has
the power to change men, to change peoples.
References
CANDIDO, Antônio. O direito à literatura. In: Vários Escritos, Duas Cidades: SP, 2004, pp.
169-191.
LIMA, T. H. A. de. A imbricada relação entre língua e literatura: o texto literário na sala de
aula de língua estrangeira. Disponível em: <http://www.e-
publicacoes.uerj.br/index.php/soletras/article/view/7913/7900> Acesso em: 29 de abr. 2014.
P. 2067-280.
PARSONS, Deborah. Theorists of the Modernist Novel. New York: Taylor & Francis, 2007.
SHELLEY, P. B., Defence of Poetry. 1821.
