Mrs. Dalloway is a novel by Virginia Woolf written in 1925, which chronicles a day in the life of Clarissa Dalloway, an upper-class woman who is throwing a party at her house. The original title of the novel, The Hours, shows the importance of time as one of the main themes of the novel. Mrs Dalloway is one of Woolf's famous works. This article examines two themes portrayed in Mrs. Dalloway. The first topic concerns the notion of time which is represented through two different frameworks: objective time and subjective time. However, the second topic concerns sexuality, particularly the homosexual relationships depicted between Clarissa and Sally, Septimus and Evans, Miss Kilman and Elizabeth. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay In Mrs. Dalloway, time is seen as one of the most important themes. It is represented through two different frameworks such as the framework of objective time and subjective time. The clock estimates time, but it is also determined by the mind's clock and is called psychological time; a term formulated by Henri Bergson. In the novel Woolf focuses on the “difference between psychological time and clock time”. In other words, it establishes a distinction between internal and external time. First, internal time is a psychological and subjective time, considered according to the relative spiritual intensity of a moment. This time flows, flexible and changeable. The novel, in fact, portrays the entire life of Clarissa Dalloway and that of Septimus Smith in the space of twenty-four hours. For example, there are memories of Clarissa Dalloway. The first readers are introduced to Clarissa's memories of her youthful experience with Sally, which was very essential in her life. Clarissa's eighteen years become ubiquitous today. For example, from the beginning, when Clarissa moves into the street in front of her house, her past is immediately with her (Tariq, n.d.). Woolf's style excites the reader with the time that exists in our intellect. Mental time does not continue or move regularly like the clock time we follow. This is seen when Clarissa arrives at the flower shop in the morning; his perceptions are carried softly to the evening as he thinks, and it was the time between “six and seven when every flower, roses, carnations, irises, lilacs shines; white, purple, red, intense orange; every flower seems to burn alone, sweetly, pure in the misty flowerbeds; and how he loved the grey-white moths that fluttered in and out, over the cherry pie, over the evening primroses! These types of memories are almost omnipresent throughout the novel and blend into the present moment. However, in these memories of Bourton, the memory he keeps thinking about is Clarissa's refusal to marry Peter Walsh. Furthermore, psychological time includes memory and current awareness, which are particularly linked to the moment of revelation. Most of the characters reach the moment of revelation emotionally and mentally and continue to experience it. Clarissa experiences this and describes her development towards self-realization. For example: “Only for a moment had he seen an illumination; a match lit in a crocus; an inner meaning almost expressed” / Peter Walsh “had found life like an unknown garden, full of twists and turns, these moments when things came together; this ambulance; and life and death." These brief experiences of revelation affirm that we live our lives in different times; a practical time in which we are actively engaged with the things of the world, and another kind of time in which meaning of a deeper and more lasting kind fleetingly shines through. On the other hand, Woolfinserts an external vision of time to remind the characters that time passes. External time, objective and chronological, is the opposite of internal time, subjective and elastic. External time is embodied by the flow of history, dates, calendars and time tables. In Mrs. Dalloway this is especially evident by the sounds of several clocks, such as Big Ben and the Great Westminster Clock, which are of great significance. Clock time helps many characters combine their social life and group activities, or allows them to go ahead and arrange lunch or doctor appointments (Mahajan, 2017). Virginia Woolf presents the chronological feature of time through images such as Big Ben and its harsh chimes, as well as many clock or bell signals within the novel (Olivotti, 2018). Furthermore, the novel is not divided into chapters; the purpose of chronological time is determined by the rumbling of Big Ben which reminds the characters of the inevitability of time and death. Not only does the juxtaposition of clock time with the psychological time of Clarissa Dalloway's memories, reflections, and thoughts complete the narrative, but it also reminds the characters and readers of the passage of time. “The subjective lives of the characters are sometimes interrupted by the memory of the regular and objective time of the clock or by external events.” Their clocks mark the “irrevocable” present. The main role of the clocks is to bring the characters and readers back to the present reality and increase the flow of consciousness. The first chime is seen when the clocks break the silence that Clarissa feels before, it's like a threat, there is "a warning, musical, then the time, irrevocable". This irrevocable function of clocks appears clearly after Septimius' suicide. “The clock was ringing: one, two, three! But the clocks kept striking four and five and six.” Clocks signal to readers that time is merciless. Life continues even when Septimus is dead; can't go back. Furthermore, it means that death is irrevocable; one day we will all die and the clocks remind us of this. St. Margaret's captures the listener's attention. It therefore opposes the message of Big Ben and implies that we are not overly wasteful in wasting time and that we are aware of it in our own way. The tower bell affirms an approach to life that accepts the moment. It makes the listener aware of the time to appreciate it, not fear it. Woolf points out a clear parallel between Clarissa and St. Margaret's. For example, the ringing of bells makes Peter think of Clarissa: «Ah, said St. Margaret, like a hostess who enters her drawing room at the stroke of the hour and already finds her guests. I'm not late. No, it's exactly half past eleven, he says. Yet, although she is perfectly right, her voice, being the voice of the hostess, is reluctant to inflict her individuality. A certain pain for the past holds him back; some concern for the present." Furthermore, a third framework included in objective time is historical time. It is a framework in which meaning is given to the history of nations or societies by reporting vital historical events. There is an underlying claim in Mrs. Dalloway that a great and decisive break in historical time had recently occurred. This was the Great War. Several critics, such as Joseph Boone and Ann Ronchetti, have explored the theme of homosexuality in Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway. Some critics see not only Clarissa Dalloway as a “repressed homosexual victim of patriarchal culture,” but also Septimus Warren Smith and even Miss Kilman. In fact, both Clarissa and Septimus have, emotionally, if not physically, intimate relationships with friends of the same sex (Ronchetti, 2004). Woolf's Mrs Dalloway reveals the experience of one19th century woman in dealing with homosexuality. Sally's function in eighteen-year-old Clarissa was very important in directing Clarissa towards her present life. For the young Clarissa, Sally Seton was an example of a woman she was not: “She was an extraordinary beauty, of the kind she admired most, dark, with large eyes, with that quality which, since she had not had it herself , he had always envied... a kind of abandonment. as if he could say anything, do anything; a quality much more common in foreigners than in English women” (Riyandaril, 2001). Clarissa's memories of her friend, Sally Seton, evoke feelings of "purity" and "wholeness," unlike any feelings she has shared with a man. She remembers the first time she sees Sally and the feeling of not being able to take her eyes off her, of being poisoned by the emotions of love and admiration that Sally had aroused in her: "...if she were to die now" she would now be very happy. This was her feeling: "Othello's feeling, and she felt it, was convinced as strongly as Shakespeare wanted Othello to feel it, all because he was coming down to dinner in a white dress to meet Sally Seton" (Ronchetti, 2004 ). This important moment in Clarissa's life occurred in the presence of flowers. The flower that Sally picked symbolizes Clarissa's affection, nature, and lust. “Clarissa looks into Sally's eyes and praises her.” When Clarissa is with Sally, her passions and feelings are so powerful that she can do nothing but stare into Sally's eyes and kiss her. Clarissa acts like the opposite sex and feels what men feel about women. Clarissa's feeling for Sally brought out the awareness of her love for Sally because it was a secret between her and Sally. This feeling should be hidden because 19th century women were supposed to have a high ethical standard of behavior that absolutely prevented homosexuality. Clarissa's love for Sally prevented her from marrying her first love Peter. Both Peter and Clarissa loved each other, but she did not want to marry him because she felt she would be limited by him, unable to be herself: "with Peter everything had to be shared". If she married Peter, the passion and freedom she had with Sally would be gone. Although Clarissa chose not to marry Peter, she married Richard. Being a 19th century woman, she was created to be an honorable woman, so following her instinct to love Sally was impossible. She got married because she cared about her confidence and appearance. However, the party at the end of the novel is the culmination of Clarissa's choice. Clarissa's attempt to reject her desire for the woman led her to desperation. This desperation was highlighted when he discovered that Sally is now the mother of five boys. The meeting showed her how different their lives are now. Even though he still loves Sally, it's not the same anymore. Both were not free and obeyed their society's norms and traditions of being wives and mothers. The moment they met made Clarissa realize that they had belonged to different worlds: "They kissed, then Clarissa turned with Sally's hand in hers and saw her rooms full / heard the roar of voices, saw the chandeliers and the rose that Richard had given it to her. Clarissa's holding of Sally's hands indicates her past, but her looking at the party symbolizes her present. Likewise, Septimus shares a friendship with Evans, her commanding officer (Ronchetti, 2004) Woolf describes this communion in an extremely lustful passage: “He developed manhood; he attracted the attention, indeed the affection of his officer, Evans”/ “It was two dogs playing on a carpet in front of the hearth; one that bothers a screw of/10.18910/25752.