Civilization And Barbarism In Virginia Woolf’s Mrs Dalloway

Virginia Woolf (1882-1941) is one of the most important British modernist novelists and critics in the twentieth century. In recent years, western critics studied Woolf focusing mainly on the relationship between Woolf and science and technology, culture, art and politics, while studies in China mainly concentrated on her consideration on feminism. However, few scholars have systematically analyzed the civilization and barbarism in Mrs. Dalloway. Thus, based on former studies, this thesis aims to study the themes of civilization and barbarism in Mrs. Dalloway and to further illustrate the civilization and barbarism in the British society in Virginia Woolf’s time.In the early20th century, the outbreak of the World War I disturbed the balance of the whole world and blurred boundaries between civilization and barbarism. Under this circumstance, the living condition, social life and mental state of the postwar British are fully presented in Woolf s Mrs. Dalloway. Woolf depicts the British Empire as the center of civilization, splendid and glorious. Civilization in England mainly reflects in the dominance of machines, political superiority and cultural memory. However, western society is the combination of civilization and barbarism. For Woolf, barbarism within Western civilization is not represented as the primitive cannibalism, but as the cruelty of war, prejudice of the colonizer against the colonized, oppression on women in patriarchal society and medical and religious control over human soul. Seeing through the barbarous nature of western culture, on the one hand, Woolf acknowledges the splendid civilization of the British Empire; on the other hand, she hates the barbarity of repressing humanity in modern social institution. So Woolf attempts to fight against the re-barbarized civilization and during this process she advocates the harmony between man and society, man and nature and emphasizes the importance of universal love.This thesis consists of five parts, including three chapters, the introduction and the conclusion.Chapter One illustrates the British civilization presented in Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway and discusses the domination of machine in modern times, superiority of the British Empire and the cultural memory of British civilization. In the late19th century, with development of science and technology, modern machines have dominated human life and made it convenient. At the same time, the dignity of the royal family, the well-regulated social order and people’s pleasant social lives embody the political superiority of the British Empire. Likewise, landmarks and architectures in London carry the historical cultural memory and represent the splendid British civilization.Chapter Two mainly analyzes the barbarism in western civilization presented in Mrs. Dalloway. The barbarism refers to the killing and trauma brought by the World War I, prejudice of the colonizer against the colonized, oppression on women in patriarchal society and medical and religious control over people. As mentioned in Chapter One, at the time when technology brings civilization to human beings, it triggers war. War, as a tool for the state apparatus to seize political and economic power, brings slaughter and trauma to human beings. Besides, because of the political superiority of the British Empire, the British colonizers have a prejudice against the colonized. This kind of prejudice is fully represented by representatives like Peter and Lady Bruton who consider themselves more civilized than the colonized. Meanwhile, the oppression on women in patriarchal society is reflected in those women characters like Clarissa and Mrs. Bradshaw. Most importantly, the core of the modern barbarism is dominators’medical and religious control. For example, doctors treat patients by locking them up and repress them, while religious fanatics attempt to control people’s souls by religion.Chapter Three examines the silent revolt of alienated modern men. In the re-barbarized civilization, where human nature is repressed, human beings are isolated and lose their ability to feel and to communicate. Under the social background where all kinds of violence interweave with each other, people silently revolt against the barbarities in way of Septimus’ madness and Clarissa’s self-identification. Moreover, Woolf points out that love is an effective way to save civilization. By depicting love in the novel, Woolf advocates that people should love nature, love life and love people around themselves, and live bravely and optimistically.Virginia Woolf presents in her Mrs. Dalloway a western world where civilization and barbarism interweave with each other. Considering western world both civilized and barbarous, Woolf fights against the re-barbarized civilization through her works. Even though her silent revolt is weak regarding her times, she examines the civilization and barbarism in modern western world from a macro perspective and condemns the cruelty of modern civilization repressing and treading on human nature. Mrs. Dalloway represents the dilemmas of modern men who try hard to explore a way of existence in the cracks between civilization and barbarism. Through this exploration on the relationship between civilization and barbarism, Woolf advocates for the harmony between man and society, man and man, man and nature, universal love of nature and for life, and encourages people to live optimistically.