The Penetration of Virginia Woolf’s Life to Her Novel Mrs. Dalloway

Abstract

Virginia Woolf, as one of the best known novelist and critic, has made great achievements in the development of the “stream of consciousness” school of modern literature. One of her most famous representative works Mrs. Dalloway has vividly demonstrated the beauty and attraction of stream of consciousness approach of literature creation. In this novel, a great deal of elements of the author’s life have been penetrated and embodied in the development of the story and the characters, represented by the family and social background, the attitude to literature, the influences of death as well as the understanding towards marriage and women. A glance at the influences of the author’s own life experiences on the characters she created may help the readers to have a better understanding towards this special kind of literary works, which is usually much less conspicuous in plot.