One of Virginia Woolf's most famous novels, Mrs Dalloway recounts a day in the life of Clarissa Dalloway, a fictional upper-class woman in post-war English society. While the majority of the novel focuses primarily on Clarissa Dalloway and her preparations for a party that evening as her "offering to society", Virginia Woolf also uses the novel to comment on the consequences of World War I on its veterans. Through Septimus Smith, a character who is an ailing veteran of World War I and suffers from post-traumatic stress, Woolf critically comments on the harmful effects of World War I. Virginia Woolf's first portrayal of Septimus Smith immediately indicates to readers that Septimus is not mentally stable. . “Septimus… about thirty years old, pale-faced… hazel-eyed [with a] look of apprehension [that] makes complete strangers apprehensive” (Woolf 16). After being sent from the war, Septimus suffered severe trauma and was unable to distinguish between reality and his hallucinations. Although outwardly he seemed composed and content, he was constantly so ...