Star Wars Sale

Special Offers see all

Enter to WIN!

Privacy Policy

More at Powell's

Recently Viewed clear list

The Powell's Playlist | June 18, 2014


  1. $18.87 Sale Hardcover add to wish list


    Daniel H. Wilson 9780385537094

Qualifying orders ship free.
List price: $13.00
Used Trade Paper
Ships in 1 to 3 days
Add to Wishlist
Qty Store Section
1 Local Warehouse Literature- A to Z

Mrs. Dalloway


Mrs. Dalloway Cover

ISBN13: 9780156628709
ISBN10: 0156628708
Condition: Worn Condition or Underlined
All Product Details

Only 1 left in stock at $2.95!



Reading Group Guide

READING GROUP GUIDE Q> In Mrs. Dalloway Virginia Woolf combines interior with omni-scient descriptions of character and scene. How does the author handle the transition between the interior and the exterior? Which characters' points of view are primary to the novel; which minor characters are given their own points of view? Why, and how does Woolf handle the transitions from one point of view to another? How do the shifting points of view, together with that of the author, combine to create a portrait of Clarissa and her milieu? Does this kind of novelistic portraiture resonate with other artistic movement's of Woolf s time? Q> Woolf saw Septimus Warren Smith as an essential counterpoint to Clarissa Dalloway. What specific comparisons and contrasts are drawn between the two? What primary images are associated, respectively, with Clarissa and with Septimus? What is the significance of Septimus making his first appearance as Clarissa, from her florist's window, watches the mysterious motor car in Bond Street? Q> What was Clarissa's relationship with Sally Seton? What is the significance of Sally's reentry into Clarissa's life after so much time? What role does Sally play in Clarissa's past and in her present? Q> What is Woolf s purpose in creating a range of female charac-ters of various ages and social classes-from Clarissa herself and Lady Millicent Burton to Sally Seton, Doris Kilman, Lucrezia Smith, and Maisie Johnson? Does she present a comparable range of male characters? Q> Clarissa's movements through London, along with the comings and goings of other characters, are given in some geographic detail. Do the patterns of movement and the characters' intersect-ing routes establish a pattern? If so, how do those physical patterns reflect important internal patterns of thought, memory, feelings, and attitudes? What is the view of London that we come away with? Q> As the day and the novel proceed, the hours and half hours are sounded by a variety of clocks (for instance, Big Ben strikes noon at the novel's exact midpoint). What is the effect of the time being constantly announced on the novel's structure and on our sense of the pace of the characters' lives? What hours in association with which events are explicitly sounded? Why? Is there significance in Big Ben being the chief announcer of time? Q> Woolf shifts scenes between past and present, primarily through Clarissa's, Septimus's, and others' memories. Does this device successfully establish the importance of the past as a shap-ing influence on and an informing component of the present? Which characters promote this idea? Does Woolf seem to believe this holds true for individuals as it does for society as a whole? Q> Threats of disorder and death recur throughout the novel, cul-minating in Septimus's suicide and repeating later in Sir William Bradshaw's report of that suicide at Clarissa's party. When do thoughts or images of disorder and death appear in the novel, and in connection with which characters? What are those characters' attitudes concerning death? Q> Clarissa and others have a heightened sense of the "splendid achievement" and continuity of English history, culture, and tradi-tion. How do Clarissa and others respond to that history and cul-ture? What specific elements of English history and culture are viewed as primary? How does Clarissa's attitude, specifically, compare with Septimus's attitude on these points? Q> As he leaves Regent's Park, Peter sees and hears "a tall quiver-ing shape,... a battered woman" singing of love and death: "the voice of an ancient spring spouting from the earth. . ." singing "the ancient song." What is Peter's reaction and what significance does the battered woman and her ancient song have for the novel as a whole? Q> Clarissa reads lines from Shakespeare's Cymbeline (IV, ii) from an open book in a shop window: "Fear no more the heat o' the sun / Nor the furious winter's rages. / Thou thy worldly task hast done, / Home art gone and ta'en thy wages: / Golden lads and girls all must, / As chimney-sweepers, come to dust." These lines are alluded to many times. What importance do they have for Clarissa, Septimus, and the novel's principal themes? What fears do Clarissa and other characters experience? Q> Why does Woolf end the novel with Clarissa as seen through Peter's eyes? Why does he experience feelings of "terror," "ecstasy," and "extraordinary excitement" in her presence? What is the sig-nificance of those feelings, and do we as readers share them?

Copyright 2002 Harcourt Trade Publishers

What Our Readers Are Saying

Add a comment for a chance to win!
Average customer rating based on 3 comments:

hip--eponymous, January 1, 2013 (view all comments by hip--eponymous)
I read Mrs. Dalloway during an existentialism themed book binge during the Fall of 2012 and it was by far my favorite. The parallel's between Dalloway and Septimus along with the beautiful, fluid, language that Virginia Woolf is so well known for is a must read for any fan of existentialism as well as any young woman attempting to figure out what it means to be a person.
Was this comment helpful? | Yes | No
Stephen Mills, August 5, 2012 (view all comments by Stephen Mills)
One of the greatest books of the 20th century. This is a masterpiece and one of the Woolf's finest novels. A must read.
Was this comment helpful? | Yes | No
Family Trunk Project, January 2, 2010 (view all comments by Family Trunk Project)
Mrs. Dalloway is very special. I know that some people hate it, but I cannot comprehend that. To me it is the most beautiful, perfectly-realized novel in the English (or perhaps any) language, and reading it convinced me that art is worth making. The use of language; the subtle ways in which communication is difficult, effortless, impossible or transcendent for the different characters at different times; the ways that compromise is both heartbreaking and gorgeous; the anger and love; the gifts that people give one another without realizing it; the way that simple objects become fraught with real significance and everyday, domestic scenes become beautiful moments to treasure...the hat-making scene! The scene where Peter and Clarissa roam in and out of each others' thoughts! The way that everyone in London is interconnected! Elizabeth's ride on the bus! Clarissa's explanation of why she wants to give the party! Every sentence in this novel is gorgeous; the book as a whole is one of the most scathing-yet-kind, brutal-yet-beautiful true inventions I have ever come across.
Was this comment helpful? | Yes | No
(1 of 4 readers found this comment helpful)
View all 3 comments

Product Details

Woolf, Virginia
Harvest Books
Foreword by:
Howard, Maureen
Howard, Maureen
Howard, Maureen
San Diego :
Novels and novellas
British and irish fiction (fictional works by
British and irish
Married women
Psychological fiction
Domestic fiction
Married women -- England -- Fiction.
London (england)
Literature-A to Z
Edition Number:
1st Harvest ed.
Edition Description:
Series Volume:
Publication Date:
8 x 5.31 in 0.44 lb

Other books you might like

  1. The Hours
    Used Trade Paper $4.50
  2. To the Lighthouse Used Mass Market $4.50
  3. A Room of One's Own Used Trade Paper $3.50
  4. The Hours
    Used Trade Paper $4.50
  5. Between the Acts (Harvest Book) Used Trade Paper $4.50
  6. A Passage to India
    Used Trade Paper $3.50

Related Subjects

Featured Titles » Bestsellers
Featured Titles » General
Featured Titles » Literature
Fiction and Poetry » Literature » A to Z
Fiction and Poetry » Literature » Sale Books
Gay and Lesbian » Fiction and Poetry » Lesbian Fiction

Mrs. Dalloway Used Trade Paper
0 stars - 0 reviews
$2.95 In Stock
Product details 216 pages Harvest Books - English 9780156628709 Reviews:
"Synopsis" by , Direct and vivid in its telling of the details of a day in the life of Clarissa Dalloway, the novel manages ultimately to deliver much more. It is the feelings that loom behind those daily events — the social alliances, the shopkeeper's exchange, the fact of death — that give Mrs. Dalloway texture and richness.
  • back to top
Follow us on...
