Mrs Dalloway and Empire

This week we are going to return to Mrs Dalloway and we are going to examine the book from the point of view of Empire.

Remember that we discussed how there has been a change in the attitude to Empire over the course of the 19th Century. When The Sign of Four was written the British Empire still seemed invincible and the role of the British was accepted broadly as one that was civilizing. However, by the time that Conrad wrote Heart of Darkness the whole project of Empire was being questioned. World War I was a violent end to the illusion. Although the British and their allies technically won the war, the extent of devastation England suffered made it a victory in name only. Entire communities of young men were injured and killed. In 1916, at the Battle of the Somme, Britain suffered 60,000 casualties—the largest slaughter in the nation’s history. Not surprisingly, British citizens lost much of their faith in the empire after the war. No longer could Britain claim to be invulnerable. Citizens were less inclined to willingly adhere to the rigid constraints imposed by the class system, which benefited only a small margin of society but which all classes had fought to preserve.

In 1923, when Mrs. Dalloway takes place, the old establishment and its oppressive values are coming to an end. Upper class citizens, including Clarissa, Peter, and Septimus, feel the failure of the empire as strongly as they feel their own personal failures. Those citizens who still champion English tradition, such as Aunt Helena and Lady Bruton, are old. Note how Aunt Helena has a glass eye, perhaps a symbol of her inability or unwillingness to see the truth. Anticipating the end of the Conservative Party’s reign, Richard plans to write the history of the great British military family, the Brutons, who are already part of the past. 

Have a read of this blog before next week:

British Imperialism in Virginia Woolf

You will also enjoy this video whihc discusses a lot of the themes that we discussed last week