Symbolism in Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway

Abstract

The modernists wanted to give as true a picture of the world as possible and experimented with narrative techniques and devices such as stream of consciousness, fragmentation and symbolism, which meant a break with more traditional writing. Symbols have often been used to add a mystical element to works of literature and have always intrigued readers, promising to reveal hidden meanings. This essay, however, is based on the thesis that Virginia Woolf's symbolism in Mrs. Dalloway not only is a way to enrich the writing and create an added layer of interest, but is a vital part of the novel and that without the symbolism, communicating central views and ideas to the reader would not have been possible. The focus of the essay is to analyse different categories of symbolism such as characters used to criticize aspects of society, references to nature and objects that carry symbolic meaning, and to find out how symbolism is used to create meaning beyond words in Mrs. Dalloway.