"Mrs. Dalloway" Passage Explication

Mrs. Dalloway Mental Submission
(This Explication Refers to Page 100 of Mrs. Dalloway.)

In this passage from Mrs. Dalloway, author Virginia Woolf uses a strong sexual undertone to characterize Sir William and other such individuals in society. Woolf mainly relies on words that mold Sir William into a predator and those that make his patients appear as the prey.

Woolf uses words with negative sexual connotation in order to reveal the methods behind Sir William’s treatments of others. Much like an animal on the hunt for his kill, Woolf characterizes Sir William as a doctor who “feasts on the wills of the weakly.” Sir William’s method of treatment of the people that see him is labeled “Conversion” by the narration and described as forcing ones ways on another. The fact that the word “conversion” is used reveals that Sir William destroys the free thought of others and turns their beliefs into ones that match his own. The diction Woolf uses in this passage also helps portray Sir William’s as a forceful predator of others’ thoughts. Sir William is described as “loving to impress, [and] to impose,” words that hold strong sexual connotation. In his quest to impress and impose his beliefs on everyone else, Sir Williams also “desires power,” further connecting Sir William’s approach to psychology to a metaphoric raping of others’ minds and free will. The sexual connotation of Woolf’s diction in this passage connects Sir William through an extended metaphor to a rapist feeding off of his victims.

To further suggest that Sir William metaphorically rapes his patients, Woolf uses a negative sexual register in the way she describes how they react to Sir William’s treatment. Woolf repeatedly uses the word “submissive” throughout the page when describing Rezia Smith, Lady Bradshaw and other people that sought psychiatric help from Sir William. When describing Lady Bradshaw’s reaction to Sir William, Woolf writes, “Sweet was her smile, swift her submission.” Woolf also illustrates the submissive relationship between Lady Bradshaw and Sir William when she writes that Lady Bradshaw’s “will [goes] into his.” Both the word submission and will again hold connotative meaning that connect them to a forceful act such as rape. This diction helps characterize the patients that see Sir William as the prey upon which he feasts.

In using words that hold negative sexual connotation, Virginia Woolf helps characterize Sir William as an unpleasant and dreadful character that preys on the weak and innocent. When the characterization of Sir William is generalized to apply to all of society, Woolf characterize the mentally imperialistic and predacious people in our world.

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