The War is Over, But The Battle is Not: A Grief Adventure

Givens, Aubrey Layne

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The War is Over, But The Battle is Not: A Grief Adventure

Givens, Aubrey Layne

Abstract

This dissertation examines the representation of grief and recovery in Mrs. Dalloway by VirginiaWoolf. I will analyze the transformation of trauma expressed by Woolf’s characters and theirembodiment of post-war, post-pandemic English society and consider Elisabeth Kübler-Ross andDavid Kessler’s theory The Five Stages of Grief” as a guide to understanding the effects ofindividual and communal trauma. Woolf effectively narrativizes controversial political topics of hertime, uses memory to interrupt the stream of consciousness, and questions the consequences of therepression of grief in 1920’s English society. The act of grieving in Mrs. Dalloway falls on two verydifferent sides of the trauma spectrum. It can be a battle for life, or a surrender through death in anattempt to reach a final place of acceptance or healing. Moreover, this dissertation aims to show thevalidity of grief in literature, as a transitioning stage, and as an adventure rather than just a state ofmourning or pain.