Analysis of symbols in Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.29327/256399.15.2-14

Keywords:

Mrs. Dalloway. Symbols. English novel.

Abstract

Literary studies emphasize the role of symbols in the construction of meanings in literary works. In Mrs. Dalloway, by Virginia Woolf, the narrative explores a single day in the life of the protagonist Clarissa Dalloway in the city of London, amidst the preparations for her party. In this novel, the writer uses different symbols that contribute to the construction of meanings in the work, such as the flowers and the Big Ben. Grounded on this idea, this study aims, through a critical and analytical research, to examine the symbolic functions of flowers and the Big Ben in the novel Mrs. Dalloway, by Virginia Woolf. For the development of this article, the researchers used as theoretical background were Ferber (2007), Chevalier & Gheerbrant (2001), Schwarz (1995) and Kern (2011). The flowers and the Big Ben, in the novel, reinforce the path of Clarissa Dalloway's consciousness through past and present, life and death.

Author Biographies

Isabela Christina do Nascimento Sousa, UEPB

Doutoranda no programa de Pós-graduação de Literatura e interculturalidade (PPGLI) da UEPB Mestra em Letras pela Universidade Federal do Piauí.

Stephane Eugênio da Costa, UEPB

Graduanda no curso de licenciatura em Letras- Inglês pela Universidade Estadual da Paraíba (UEPB). Atualmente atua como professora do Núcleo de Línguas NucLi (UEPB).

Larissa de Menezes Constantino, UEPB

Granduanda em Letras Inglês pela Universidade Estadual da Paraíba (UEPB).

References

ALT, Christina. Woolf and the natural sciences. In: BERMAN, Jessica. A companion to Virginia Woolf. Malden: Wiley Blackwell, 2016.

CHEVALIER, Jean; GHEERBRANT, Alain. Dicionário de símbolos: mitos, sonhos, costumes, gestos, formas, figuras, cores, números. Tradução de Vera da Costa e Silva et al. Rio de Janeiro: José Olympio, 2020.

FERBER, Michael. A dictionary of literary symbols. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2007.

GARVEY, Johanna X. K. Difference and continuity: the voices of Mrs. Dalloway. College English, v. 53, n. 1, p. 59-76, jan. 1991.

HUSS, Efrat; YOSEF, Kfir Bar; ZACCAI, Michele Zaccai. The meaning of flowers: a cultural and perceptual exploration of ornamental flowers. The open psychology journal, v. 10, 2017, p. 140-153.

KERN, Stephen. The modernist novel: a critical introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011.

RYCHEN, Betty I. Mrs Dalloway's flowers: An attempt to define a symbol. Virginia: William & Mary, 1982. Disponível em: https://scholarworks.wm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4322&context=etd. Acesso em: 10 jan. 2024.

SAINT-AMOUR, Paul K. Mrs. Dalloway: of clocks and clouds. In: BERMAN, Jessica. A companion to Virginia Woolf. Malden: Wiley Blackwell, 2016.

SCHWARZ, Daniel R. The transformation of the English novel. London: Palgrave MacMillan, 1995.

ŠEVČÍKOVÁ, Markéta. Symbolism of white in the poetry of Emily Dickinson. Brno: Masaryk University, 2008.

WOOLF, Virginia. A writer’s diary: being extracts from the diary of Virginia Woolf. San Diego: Harcourt, 1981.

WOOLF, Virginia. Mrs. Dalloway. Tradução de Claudio Alves Marcondes. São Paulo: Penguin Classics Companhia das Letras, 2017.

Published

2024-04-29

How to Cite

do Nascimento Sousa, I. C., Eugênio da Costa, S., & de Menezes Constantino, L. (2024). Analysis of symbols in Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf. DISCURSIVITIES, 15(2), e–1522416. https://doi.org/10.29327/256399.15.2-14

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