사회적 억압과 극복으로서의 소통 : 울프의 『델러웨이 부인』을 중심으로

Abstract

This paper aims to study how the English people are repressed by the social system of the 20th century in England, and further how the repression is overcome by the main characters in Virginia Woolf's novel, Mrs. Dalloway

England in 1923 is ruled by a ruling class in ruins at home, while being collapsed abroad by the Indian and Irish independent movement. It is difficult for the ruling class to accept these changes, so it creates a new set of values, asceticism, to restrain and to standardize personal feelings. These powerful influences and ideology ignores the individual's rights. Not only Clarissa but also people in this situation have some misgivings and feel lonely, also they become isolated individuals living without communications and confidence

On the other hand, Septimus knows social repression at first hand and he wanders in it as a psychopath. He cannot tolerate social repression, so he breaks off relations with the society. Finally he kills himself because of the solitude and the fear of his own mental collapse. In this part we can understand that the social repression is very dangerous and fatal and can drive a person to death. However, for Septimus, this suicide is a way of communication with the society, and Septimus' choice is not disturbed in his own mental field

During the party Clarissa experiences the death indirectly through her double, Septimus. She acknowledges that she also is disturbed by social repression and because of that she feels solitude, impotency, and fear of unknown thing, and she acknowledges that extreme solitude in social repression devastates life, so she tries to create better human relations to bring about a wealthy life. For this purpose, she presents the party as a place where good human relations are made and she wants to recover solitude by communications with a sincere mind and heart.

Woolf suggests to recover good human relations as an effective alternative to face against the authority of the social system, and chooses the party as a way to cultivate desirable relationships. Before making good relations, we have to establish our identity first. A true mind, confidence, and of course, preserving the privacy of the soul can be helpful to create good human relationships.