A PORTRAIT OF VICTORIAN AND MODERN WOMAN IN MRS. DALLOWAY BY
VIRGINIA WOOLF
Christhy Febbriantika
christhy.f.c.b@gmail.com
English Department, Faculty of Languages and Culture
17 Agustus 1945 University
Semarang
Abstract
The topic in the paper is the difference between the Victorian woman and the modern woman in
Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf. This paper aims to determine the differences between the two
characters in the novel, whether they are reflected in Victorian or modern women. The character
used to compare Victorian and modern women are Mrs. Dalloway and Miss Kilman. The method
to analyze this paper is descriptive qualitative research. The result of analysis showed that Mrs.
Dalloway is a Victorian woman and Miss Kilman is a modern woman.
Keyword: Victorian woman, modern woman, middle class.
Introduction
In this paper, I will discuss between the Victorian and modern woman in the novel Mrs.
Dalloway by Virginia Woolf. It was publish in May 1925. The story tells about a woman named
Clarissa, fifty second years old, who wants to organize her party. She invites her old friends
especially Pater who have been her lover. In her party there are many invitation guest from political,
because his husband is a parliament.
In this paper, I will focus on the difference between the Victorian and modern woman in
the Mrs. Dalloway. There are many woman characters which is show in the novel are Mrs.
Dalloway, Lucrezia Smith, Sally Seton, Elizabeth Dalloway, Doris Kilman, Lady Bruton, and
Lady Bradshaw. To identify a Victorian and modern woman in the novel, I will compare the
characters of Mrs. Dalloway and Miss Kilman. To organize this paper, I will start with an
introduction, then the theory of modern women. After that analysis of a Victorian and modern
woman in the novel. The last part is the conclusion.
Summary
Clarissa Dalloway is Richard Dalloway's wife. She is fifty-second years old. In the morning
of June, she wants to buy flowers for herself. That day is her party and it will attend by many
people. When she goes to the florist, she meets her old friend Hugh in the park. She invites him to
come to her party at night. During she is walking to the florist her mind is always about Peter.
Peter is her old friend who she refused his proposal marriage. He never comes back to London
until he unexpectedly comes to Clarissa’s house and talking about his life in India. It makes
Clarissa surprised that she still meets her old friend.
There are many invitation guests who come to Clarissa’s party. There are the prime
minister, Sally, Peter, Hugh, and also Sir William Bradshaw with his wife who comes late. Lady
Bradshaw who is William Bradshaw's wife tells that there is a man who killed himself. His name
is Septimus. He is a veteran of World War 1 who has hallucinations about his friend Evans who
was killed in the war. Before he has therapy with Sir William in the evening, he killed himself.
Clarissa feels uncomfortable to hear the story. She leaves the party and goes to the private room
to refresh her mind. After her mind is clear, she returns and enjoys the party.
Theory
A Victorian woman existed during the Victorian era. A woman in the Victorian era shows
that she is successful to take care of the household as a wife and mother of her child. She is a
dependent and weak woman. According to Elizabeth, “portrait of Victorian women as the passive,
dependent, and idle creatures of prevailing ideology” (1992, p. 291). The ideology of Victorian
women is to regard a house as heaven. A woman who at home has the household duties to care for
their children and manage money from her husband, because that a Victorian woman is called
“The Angel in House”. She does household duties and keeps a family.
The modern woman appears in the twenty century after the Victorian era. It breaks the
cultural and traditional rules of the Victorian era. The characteristic of a modern woman is
independence, confidence, and freedom. According to Amanda (2016), there are five traits of a
modern-day woman: independent, passionate, confident, fearless, and multifaceted. Another
opinion about a modern woman is to mention by Keathe (2010) that a modern woman has four
women's rights movements. There are in the field of education and instruction, in the field of labor,
in the field of civil law; criminal law and public law, and in the social field.
From the opinion above between a Victorian and modern woman, I can conclude that a
Victorian woman is a woman who is staying at home to keep her family. On the other hand, a
modern woman is a woman who has the freedom to choose what she wants to be. From that, there
is the contrast that Victorian and modern woman is different in social life. I choose this theory to
prove whether the characters in Mrs. Dalloway reflect on Victorian or Modern Woman.
Method
The method to use in this paper is qualitative descriptive research. Qualitative research is
a method using a sentence and there is not a number to analyze data. According to Leedy and
Ormrod (2001), “qualitative research is less structured in the description because it formulates and
builds new theories.” Another opinion about qualitative is it “occurs in a natural setting that enables
the researcher to develop a level of detail from being highly involved in the actual experiences”
(Creswell, 2003).
From that, I can conclude that descriptive qualitative is research which is actually with life
and the analysis is the form of description. To collect the research, a researcher can use observation,
interviews or questionaries, and collected documents. In this paper, I collect the research from
online journal articles and books about Victorian and Modern woman.
Analysis
Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf tells about one-day activity about Clarissa’s party. It
focuses on Clarissa Dalloway, the one characters of the novel. Clarissa Dalloway is the wife of
conventional parliament Richard Dalloway. She is a good hostess. She is not working and only
stays at home as a housewife. As a housewife, she does not do the household duties by herself, but
she is helped by her maid. Although Clarissa has a maid, it does not mean that she does not do her
duties as a housewife. She can do household duties without is helped by her maid. In the novel,
Woolf also shows that Clarissa plays her role as a housewife without her maid. She mends her
green drees which is will she wears at the party.
“… Someone had trod on the skirt. She had felt it give at the Embassy party at the top
among the folds. By artificial light the green shone, but lost its colour now in the sun. She
would mend it. Her maids had too much to do. She would wear it to-night. She would take
her silks, her scissors…” (Mrs. Dalloway, p.33)
The image of Clarissa Dalloway's life is a reflection of a Victorian middle-class woman.
According to Eleanor, “woman should not have to earn a living: a married woman should be
economically dependent on her husband; and a single woman should be provided for by a male
relative” (2000, p. 792). It reflects Clarissa's life. She is a married woman and her husband is a
conventional parliament who has good finances. Her husband can sufficient economically, so it
makes her does not have to work.
Woolf shows another character who has a different life from Clarissa. The appearance of
another character shows the different contrast in life in the modern era. Miss Kilman is forty years
old, unmarried, and poor woman. The social condition of her life makes her to earn her life.
“….She was poor, moreover; degradingly poor. Otherwise she would not be taking jobs
from people like the Dalloways; from rich people, who liked to be kind. Mr. Dalloway, to
do him justice, had been kind. But Mrs. Dalloway had not. She had been merely
condescending. She came from the most worthless of all classes the rich, with a smattering
of culture...” (Mrs. Dalloway, p. 106)
The image of Miss Kilman reflects on the modern woman. She gets out of her comfort zone
to work. It is not easy for her to live in the modern era. The social class of the modern era makes
her struggle to work. As mention above that rich person in the modern era merely condescending
to poor people. It means that she should against rich people by her attitude as a good worker. It
also creates herself becomes a strong woman. Not only that, she also is an independent woman.
She can take control of her life. When she turns out of Miss Dolby's school, she still studies history
by herself. Because of that, her knowledge of modern history is very good.
“However, she was Doris Kilman. She had her degree. She was a woman who had made
her way in the world. Her knowledge of modern history was more than respectable.”
(Mrs. Dalloway, p. 114)
Her knowledge of modern history and her experience in Miss Dolby's school reflects that
she is an educated woman. It means that she is a modern woman. According to Keathe in one of a
woman’s rights movement, in the field of education and instruction a woman, “to enjoy the same
educational opportunities as those of man those of man” (2010, p.4). As in the novel, Miss Kilman
is a woman who has a chance to get into Miss Dolby's school. It is different from Clarissa Dalloway
who is not educated. She does not get in school and has not knowledge about anything.
“…She knew nothing; no language, no history; she scarcely read a book now, except
memoirs in bed; and yet to her it was absolutely absorbing; all this; the cabs passing; and
she would not say of Peter, she would not say of herself, I am this, I am that.” (Mrs.
Dalloway, p. 8)
Religion is also important in life as a modern woman. According to Woolf in A Room of
One’s Own, “chastity had then, it has even now, a religious importance in a woman's life, and has
so wrapped itself round with nerves and instincts that to cut it free and bring it to "the light of day
demands courage of the rarest” (1977, p.56). As in the novel, Woolf describes Miss Kilman is a
religious woman. She became religious two or three months ago when she hears the Rev. Edward
Whittaker at church.
“So now, whenever the hot and painful feelings boiled within her, this hatred of Mrs.
Dalloway, this grudge against the world, she thought of God. She thought of Mr. Whittaker.
Rage was succeeded by calm. A sweet savour filled her veins, her lips parted, and, standing
formidable upon the landing in her mackintosh, she looked with steady and sinister serenity
at Mrs. Dalloway, who came out with her daughter.” (Mrs. Dalloway, p. 107)
The picture of a religious Miss Kilman is shown in the quote above when she can control
herself even though she is hated by Clarissa. She always thinks of God, so she feels calm. It is
different from Clarissa. Her hatred for Miss Kilman is evident in her appearance and her utterance
to Miss Kilman.
“Anyhow they were inseparable, and Elizabeth, her own daughter, went to Communion;
and how she dressed, how she treated people who came to lunch she did not care a bit, it
being her experience that the religious ecstasy made people callous (so did causes); dulled
their feelings, for Miss Kilman would do anything for the Russians, starved herself for the
Austrians, but in private inflicted positive torture, so insensitive was she, dressed in a green
mackintosh coat.” (Mrs. Dalloway, p. 11)
From the quote above, Woolf clearly describe that the reason Mrs. Dalloway does not like
Miss Kilman is that she is closer to her daughter, and her fanatics in religion. It also makes her
does not believe in love and religion. In her opinion, love and religion can destroy the soul. She
also thinks that being religious like Miss Kilman can make people callous.
Conclusion
From the analysis above, I can conclude that the modern era is not always about a modern
woman. As in the novel Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf (1925), Clarissa Dalloway is living in
the modern era but her life as a woman is reflected as a Victorian woman. She is a married, being
a housewife, not educated, and does not have religion. Her life is different with Miss Kilman. She
is unmarried, worked, educated, and has a religion. After comparing the two characters in the novel,
it can show that Mrs. Dalloway is a Victorian woman and Miss Kilman is a modern woman.
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