Literary analysis of theme in narrative works

Virginia Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway was originally published on 14 May 1925. The novel represents one of Woolf's works that have generated a significant amount of attention and is widely studied. This novel follows the daily life of protagonist Clarissa Dalloway who lives in London in the summer of 1923. Mrs. Dalloway is at least a partial reflection of the author's life. However, there is an interesting dynamic that lies between the self-image of the author and the one embodied in the character that represents a projection of this image rather than a necessarily accurate portrayal. Woolf was born and raised in London and her familiarity and admiration for the location is apparent. The location, London, almost serves as a character in the story in and of itself. In Woolf's youth, she was brought up in a financially prosperous family that could be considered as a member of the English gentry's class and portrays insights as to how this class perceives the world and struggles to evolve in the midst of many societal changes.

. In a stream of consciousness narrative, Clarissa Dalloway's and her inner thoughts serve as the basis for the novel. The novel consists of various stream of consciousness movements that show the perspectives of the various characters in their inner thoughts; the movement flows from internal thoughts of a character to the thoughts of another character seamlessly. Woolf's ability to write with the stream of consciousness style in this novel exemplifies her skill and knowledge regarding personal identity and personal relationships. She also eludes a mastery of time, change, and memory for various personas. The mastery of this writing style was at least partly responsible for Woolf's acclaim as one of the foremost modernist literary figures and one of the most prominent novelists of the twentieth century.

Most of the story revolves around a day of a woman's preparation for a party. The preparation of such an event provides a glimpse into the lifestyle of the upper-middle class that the main character is a member of. The lifestyle appears to be somewhat superficial to many readers however the story also involves various political and cultural changes that Britain is experiencing at the time. The country is struggling with a shifting political power structure from one that is highly concentrated to one that is more populist in nature. The bourgeoisie or middle class is gaining more power in the political system which is upsetting the traditional social structure that is portrayed in the novel. Woolf's dislike of the lower classes was illustrated through her protagonist behavior towards the characters in the novel who belong in the inferior class.