4.1 Feminism interpretation of Clarissa Dalloway 4

4.2 Feminism interpretation of Sally Seton 6

4.3 Feminism interpretation of Lucrezia Warren Smith 7

4.4 Feminism interpretation of Doris Kilman 7

5.  Incomplete feminism. 8

6.  Character similarities with Zi Jun in Lu Xun’s novel Regret for the Past. 9

7.  Conclusion. 10

References. 11

 1. Introduction of Virginia Woolf and Mrs. Dalloway

1.1 Introduction of Virginia Woolf

Virginia Woolf (25 Jan, 1882 – 28 Mar, 1941) is one of the most prominent English writer of the 20th century. Not only is she the originator of the stream of consciousness technique and a master of modern prose, but also a feminism ideologist that transcends the era. She was born in an age where old traditions were questioned and challenged while new ideas and literary forms were not fully established. Living in the period of the Victorian age when the British Empire was in its prosperity and economy was the only priority, Woolf abandoned the conventional literary code of showing solicitude of the outside world but instead, paid humanistic concern towards people’s inner world by stream of consciousness techniques. Additionally, by intensively reading Woolf’s works, it will not be difficult to notice her accusation and critique towards the society, war and male-domination under the superficial layer of seemingly fragmented and irregular framework. The two key points detemines her remaining immortal in the annal of British literary history.

1.2 Introduction of Mrs. Dalloway

Mrs. Dalloway was in the list of Times’ 100 the best English novels 1923~2005. It received most critical attention and is still being widely studied. Unlike her works of the earlier stage, such as The Voyage Out (1915), in which her emphasis was to depict humans’ mind by using stream of consciousness method, Mrs. Dalloway, her first mature experimental novel and a stream of consciousness work of superior quality, concentrated more on feminism, reality and the philosophy of life. “I want to criticize the social system, and to show it at work, at its most intense.” This is Virginia Woolf’s provocative statement of her intentions in writing the book.  Mrs. Dalloway is Woolf’s intention of the spiritual redemption of human beings by using women’s power of consolation. It is also considered the best and representative work of Virginia Woolf.源^自·优尔|文\论]文'网[www.youerw.com

1.3 Plot Summary

The plot of the story is as follows: 

Clarissa Dalloway, an upper class housewife, is getting ready for her evening party so she goes around London and is intended to buy some flowers. The beautiful day reminds her of her youth and also fragments of her relationship with her husband Richard Dalloway. She wonders whether she has made the right choice of marrying Richard instead of the enigmatic and demanding suitor Peter Walsh, to whom she still has feelings for. Mrs. Dalloway also recalls Sally Seton, an outgoing and cheerful young woman with whom she once felt an intimate appeal to. Peter Walsh pays a visit that morning unexpectedly, leaving Clarissa distracted mentally.

Septimus Warren Smith is a veteran of the World War I, who suffers from post war trauma. He spends his days in the park with his Italian-born wife Lucrezia, afflicted by the aftereffects of the war and struggles hard with the misplacement of self psychologically. He is visited frequently by the hallucinations about his friend Evans who died in the war. Later that evening, he commits suicide. 女性主义角度解读弗吉尼亚·伍尔夫的《达洛卫夫人》(2):http://www.youerw.com/yingyu/lunwen_55716.html