This 18-minute video produced by the British Library for its twentieth-century literature site and featuring Elaine Showalter is an excellent introduction to Mrs. Dalloway for first-time readers. But it will also enlighten those who have read the novel over and over again.
In it, the American critic and writer takes us to London for a discussion of Virginia Woolf’s 1925 novel. We view 1920s London streets and traffic; take a look inside 46 Gordon Square, Woolf’s first home as an independent woman; and get a look at the novel’s original hand-written manuscript.
In addition, Showalter explains the artistic, social and historical context for the groundbreaking novel that takes place on one day in June in 1923. You can also read her article on the topic, “Exploring consciousness and the modern: an introduction to Mrs Dalloway,” on the British Library website. At that link, you can view 165 images of Woolf’s notebooks for the novel and for her essays published in The Common Reader (1925).
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