The Functions Of The Party In Mrs. Dalloway

In the history of the modern British literature, Virginia Woolf is one of the most prominent writers, which is mainly attributed to her great efforts and success in reforming the form of novel. In rejecting those she called the"materialists": Arnold Bennet, H. G. Well and Jonh Galsworthy, Woolf objects to following the realism tradition as well as its writing techniques, and asserts that they are unable to catch the unseen reality in their works. In her eyes, the unseen reality is everchanging, unknown, unrestrained, like a world of intangible reality. The duty of novelists is just to convey such a reality. In this sense, all the efforts that Woolf has exerted in writing is to search for a right technique, which can best reflect the reality in her mind. In fact, the"materialists"focused on the observable reality of material world, while Woolf attach more importance to the intangible reality of spiritual world. In order to reflect the essence of life, she boldly experiments with innovative techniques in her novels. Mrs. Dalloway is her first successful experimental novel.Many a critic has made a lot of incisive and penetrating comments on this small book from different perspectives. But these comments are mostly concentrated on the theme, the writing techniques, and the structure of this novel. Still, a few critics started with something trivial, ie. the Big Ben, and conducted a thorough, profound study on its functions. Similarly, some critics spotted other things of this kind, which are trivial but indespensable, such as Mrs. Dalloway's party, and gave brief comments on it. However, they are quiet shallow, partial, and unsystematic. On the basis of Woolf's ideas of modern novel, this thesis intends to analyze the functions of Mrs. Dalloway's party, from three angles --- the theme of alienation, the idea of reality, the frame-structure --- which are well embodied in the literary text of Mrs. Dalloway. It is expected that my thesis might make a tiny contribution to the research of Virginia Woolf's novels.