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Mrs. Dalloway : Literary Allusion as Structural Metaphor

1973; Cambridge University Press; Volume: 88; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.2307/461524

1938-1530

Jean Wyatt,

Shakespeare, Adaptation, and Literary Criticism

Virginia Woolf interweaves allusion and image to construct character, define theme, and structure Mrs. Dalloway . Shakespearean allusions combined with mineral and flower imagery identify Lady Bruton and Sally Seton as representatives of the dying aristocracy and the flourishing industrial class. They also embody the alternatives open to Clarissa: sterile aristocratic society or life-giving passion. An allusion to the dirge from Cymbeline sounds the theme of death and rebirth echoed in Peter's dream, the beggarwoman's song, and Septimus' and Clarissa's experiences. Quotations from the dirge and a complex of symbols originating in its heat and cold imagery link Septimus' and Clarissa's successive deaths and rebirths. A modern incarnation of the dying god archetype, Septimus ultimately gives Clarissa new life through his death.