THE BODY IN THE CITY AND THE CITY IN THE BODY: VIRGINIA WOOLF–S MRS DALLOWAY

Abstract

The paper deals with the relationship between the characters of Mrs Dalloway and the city of London, from the point of view of Elizabeth Grosz–s interface – a notion that describes the connection between the body and the city as bidirectional and mutually defining. In order to point out that the novel is largely based upon the bidirectional and inextricable linkage between the body and the city, the paper is initially concerned with this relation from two opposing perspectives: from the standpoint of individual characters and their existence within the 20th century city; and from the viewpoint of the urban space of modern London participating in the lives of Virginia Woolf–s fictional heroes. The following section focuses upon the novel–s scenes that present the body-city interface in either literal or symbolic ways. The study concludes that the contact between the heroes of Mrs Dalloway and London is a kind of two-way, omnipresent, and continual communication, thus deserving the contemporary name interface.