Genre
Fiction
Setting and Context
Early twentieth century, London. Just after the end of WW2, California, present day New York
Narrator and Point of View
Third person narrator who alternates between the points of view of each of the three female protagonists
Tone and Mood
Depressing and foreboding
Protagonist and Antagonist
The three women are the protagonists and society is the antagonist to each of them
Major Conflict
Conflict within each of the characters specifically within Virginia as she tries to decipher her feelings about suicide
Climax
The climax of the novel is discovering that Laura is actually Richard's mother and that he is "Richie" her little boy, linking Laura and Clarissa in a way we had not expected
Foreshadowing
Richard tells Clarissa that he is not going to make it to his party which foreshadows the fact he is planning on killing himself
Understatement
Leonard calls Virginia "troubled" which understates her fragile and fluctuating emotional and mental condition
Allusions
Throughout the novel all of the characters allude to the Mrs Dalloway character in the novel of the same name
Imagery
The image of Virginia walking into the water is an image that seems Biblical like a christening in water
Paradox
At first it seems as if Richard was deceiving Clarissa by being in a marriage with her when he is gay but the paradox is that she was doing the same thing
Parallelism
There is a parallel between Clarissa Vaughn going out to get flowers for a party and the original Clarissa (Dalloway) going out to buy flowers for a party
Metonymy and Synecdoche
Siciety is used consistently throughout the novel to represent all of the individual rule makers within it whose expectations put parameters on what the women can and cannot do
Personification
The health of Richard's chair is described which gives a piece of furniture the capacity to have health and wellness as an animate object would
