Mental Illness In Mrs Dalloway

The famed twentieth century author Virginia Woolf, wrote nearly fifthteen works that have shaped the evolution of the twenty-first century. The attention to mental illness and social hierarchy that Woolf addresses within her 1925 literary classic Mrs. Dalloway, can be seen as an influential factor in addressing and later resolving these issues within social culture. Woolf emphasizes the theme of repression by addressing the stereotypical British roles of women and the lack of mental health awareness at the time. Woolf faced these exact repressive struggles throughout her own life, which according to a Notre Dame research study by literary professor James Schleicher, Woolf suffered Bipolar II disorder. An illness which greatly influenced her …show more content…
Dalloway married a member of privileged British society which she found comfort in and accepted after marriage. However, this comfort was strongly motivated by her desire for social prestige and financial security. “The obvious thing to say of her was that she was worldly; cared too much for rank and society and getting on in the world—which was true in a sense; she had admitted it to him” illustrates why exactly Peter was not a good match for Clarissa (Woolf, 63). Although Mrs. Dalloway could have fallen in love with Peter his lack of motivation, conventionalism and self-control are what she used in order to justify her leaving him for someone more suited based on the perception of British society. Mrs. Dalloway accepted her privileged British surroundings after marriage by throwing elaborate parties in order to evolve into her newly evolving social attitudes and behaviours. This is done by Mrs. Dalloway in order to embody herself in her British acceptable life so that she has no choice but to seclude previous thoughts and emotions in order to become adapted and influenced by the hierarchy she now belongs …show more content…
Is she the same girl Peter remembers sitting atop the hilltop towards the river? Or the bird that Scrope Purvis saw rigidly on the curb? Is she a secluded women who avoids all aspects of society and people? Does she crave for Peter to come and take her away? Or the girl who Sally Seton impulsively kissed? Is she the strong, generous, put together woman that the maid sees? Mrs. Dalloway’s repression emphasizes how others truly do not know who someone is or what they are going through within their life.
Social conformity is a type of social influence that involves a changing of belief, behavior or appearance in order to fit with societal norms. Conformity within societies is vastly influential and a phenomena which can be seen influencing civilization for thousands of years. The strive for acceptance is a desire that most everyone longs for but not everyone achieves within a lifetime. Repression is a mentality that often occurs in order to adhere to social conformity but can deters an individual's entire