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Unit 29: Virginia Woolf — Mrs. Dalloway: Detailed Study of Text

marching boys has a malicious subtext because of the mechanical manner in which the boys Notes
are described. Young and eager, the boys lose their individuality as we watch.

Notes As Edwards describes, “ They are human beings who have shifted their allegiance
to some set of monumental abstractions.”

Septimus, we learn, shifted his allegiance from Shakespeare and Isabel Pole to the British
cause. However, his goal in signing up for the army was to protect those very things. He is
persuaded to join the army by his boss because he lacked the manliness that only athletics or
war could provide. Yet, turning into a man allows Septimus to keep neither Shakespeare nor
Isabel Pole. He loses the ability to appreciate either. He is stripped of his passions. His mentality
is replaced by a hardened vision that teaches one not to love and not to care. He tries so hard
not to feel that the guilt he does feel incapacitates him. As Edwards deftly theorizes, “Surviving,
unfortunately, killed him; for Septimus was finally unable to turn himself into a statue by a
simple exercise of will...He feels anguish because of the discrepancy between his feeling that
the natural world is beautiful, the human world corrupt, and guilt because, despite the discrepancy,
the feeling for goodness and the beauty of life persist.”

Self Assessment

Multiple Choice Questions:
5. What is Lucrezia Smith’s profession?
(a) School teacher (b) Cellist
(c) Hat maker (d) Florist
6. Septimus goes to the doctor because he is suffering from

(a) Shell Shock (b) A toothache
(c) The flu (d) Headache
7. Where does Peter Walsh Live?
(a) Boston (b) India
(c) London (d) Sweden

8. Where did Clarissa spend her summers as a girl?
(a) Bourton (b) Milan
(c) Edinburgh (d) Calcutta

Part II, Section Two Summary
At noon, Clarissa finished her sewing and the Warren Smiths neared Sir William Bradshaw.
Rezia guessed his home because of the prestigious gray motorcar out front. Bradshaw would
often have to travel long distances to see rich country patients, while his wife would do
worthy work back in London, attending bazaars or taking photographs. Bradshaw earned his
prestige through hard work. As Septimus walked in, Bradshaw knew immediately that Septimus
had suffered a mental breakdown. He also recognized the great mistakes Dr. Holmes had
made. In the short conversation Bradshaw had with Septimus, he learned that Septimus placed

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