Study
Questions and Essay Topics
Study Questions
1. “Fear no more
the heat 'o the sun / Nor the furious winter's rages” is a quote
from Shakespeare's play
Cymbeline. The words are
repeated or alluded to many times throughout
Mrs. Dalloway,
by both Clarissa and Septimus. What do the words mean, and why do Clarissa
and Septimus repeat them?
2. Woolf created
Septimus Warren Smith as a double for Clarissa. In what ways are
Clarissa and Septimus different? In what ways are they the same?
3. Conversion
is seen as a constant threat in the novel. Which characters wish
to convert others, and what are they trying to convert others to?
Are some characters more susceptible to conversion than others?
Suggested Essay Topics
1. Mrs. Dalloway is
constructed from many different points of view, and points of view
are sometimes linked by an emotion, a sound, a visual image, or
a memory. Describe three instances when the point of view changes
and explain how Woolf accomplishes the transitions. How do the transitions correspond
to the points of view being connected?
2. Flowers, gardens, and nature
are important motifs in the novel. Choose three characters and describe
their relationships to the natural world. What do these relationships
reveal about the characters or their functions in the novel?
3. Characters in the novel come
from a range of social classes. What does Peter mean when he feels
the “pyramidal accumulation” that weighed on his generation is shifting? How
did the old social order weigh particularly heavily on women?
4. What role does Sally Seton
play in Clarissa's life, and what is the significance of her surprise
appearance at the party?
5. World War I affected all the
characters in the book to some degree. How did the war influence
at least three of the characters?
6. The multitude of minor characters
in the novel can be compared to the chorus in a classical Greek
drama. They are often observers in the street. Choose three or four
minor characters and describe their roles. What is their importance to
the novel as a whole?
7. When Clarissa reflects on
Septimus's death at the end of the novel, she experiences a moment
of being, or an epiphany. What truth becomes clear to her, and why
is it significant?
