Virginia Woolf's Mrs Dalloway is set in London in 1923, five years after the end of the First World War. The First World War, which broke out between 1914 and 1918, had devastating effects on the lives of soldiers and civilians on a scale never experienced before. Mrs Dalloway is set in an imperial, urban London, characterized by its technological modernity and dark ideas about the political and social order. The city of London functions as another character in the novel, and its relationship to the other characters is central to understanding those characters' personalities. Furthermore, the city setting guides the technique of free and indirect discourse. The city of London in Mrs. Dalloway as a means of understanding social dynamics is comparable to the function of Paris in Manet's painting “Music in the Tuileries,” which portrays the behavior of the Parisian bourgeoisie; furthermore, the use of the urban environment as a focal point in the novel and the painting reflects the modern nature of both works. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essayPreparing for her evening party, Clarissa Dalloway wanders the streets of London, observing her surroundings and reminiscing about her personal life. Clarissa Dalloway loves life, people and parties. Crossing Victoria Street at the beginning of the novel, Mrs Dalloway emphasizes her love for London. Although Clarissa clings strongly to life with her parties and gatherings, she is ironically preoccupied with death. As he stood at the park gates watching the omnibuses in Piccadilly, he always thought he “felt that it was very, very dangerous to live even one day” (Woolf 8). Walking down Bond Street, he reflects on his own mortality and wonders if it would matter if he died suddenly. Clarissa's thoughts about death as she joyfully walks the crowded streets of London and gathers people at parties show her alienation. Furthermore, as she walks down Bond Street, Clarissa feels that she is not Clarissa Dalloway but rather just Mrs Richard Dalloway, an extension of her husband. The fragmentation of Clarissa's individuality is evident in the modern world of London. Mrs. Dalloway's personal interactions with the city describe not only her personality but also her social status as a privileged, upper-class woman. Mrs Dalloway reflects on the beautiful June day: “the king and queen were at the palace. And everywhere, although it was still so early, there was a tapping, a stirring of galloping ponies, a clicking of cricket bats; Lords, Ascot, Ranelagh and all; wrapped in the soft meshes of the grey-blue morning air…” (Woolf 5). The presence of the king and queen along with the English lords places Clarissa within the British upper class society with wealth and tradition. Then, Mrs. Dalloway walks down Bond Street, a street with “its flags flying; its shops; no splashes; no glitter; a roll of tweed in the shop where his father had bought his suits for fifty years; some pearls; salmon on a block of ice” (Woolf 11). Bustling Bond Street, without a single drop on the pavements, symbolizes modern, urban streets and establishes the context of Clarissa's surroundings characterized by wealth, patriotism and the tradition of the British Empire. Just as Clarissa's association with her surroundings shapes her personality, the reactions to her surroundings of Septimus Warren Smith, a World War I veteran suffering from shell shock, reflect his madness, apathy, and alienation. Septimus's perceptions of the outside world mirror thehis inner conflict and his mental illness. The sound of the car backfiring catches his attention. Septimus, believing himself responsible for the traffic jam caused by the car, is terrified and thinks the world is about to “catch fire”.(Wolf 15). Septimus's reaction to the passenger car clearly shows that he is suffering from shell shock. Following Dr. Holmes's advice to distract Septimus by drawing his attention to the outside world, Lucretia forces Septimus to watch the plane write "toffee" in the sky. When Septimus looks up to the sky, he interprets the message as a signal to him and begins to sob at the beauty of the letters (Woolf 21). Furthermore, while sitting in the park, Septimus feels “the leaves connected by millions of fibers with his body” (Woolf 22). Septimus's perspective of the world, formed by his peculiar connections with nature, shows his inherent loneliness. As the day progresses, Septimus has moments where he enjoys the exquisite beauty of life just like Clarissa Dalloway. Sitting in Regent's Park, he watches the trees waver and “to watch a leaf tremble in the breath of air was an exquisite joy” (Woolf 69). Moments before his suicide, Septimus “did not want to die. Life was good. The hot sun” (Woolf 149). However, Septimus simply does not understand what humans want from him and when Dr. Holmes entered the room, “he threw himself vigorously, violently onto the railing of Mrs. Filmer's area” (Woolf 149). ). Septimus's interactions with his surroundings and nature reveal his emotional instability and disillusionment. By failing to recognize shock as a legitimate condition experienced by returning soldiers, London society and the medical community push Septimus to commit suicide. Septimus embodies the isolation and fragmentation of the individual in a modern world. In addition to functioning as a character in the novel, the city of London aids the free and indirect discourse used by Virginia Woolf. Virginia Woolf uses the technique of free indirect discourse in which the third-person narrator penetrates the characters' consciousness often focusing on objects or places in London. When Mrs Dalloway hears the car backfire as she walks along Bond Street, Septimus, who is sitting with his wife in Regent's Park, also hears the noise. After Septimus hears the backfire, the narrator cuts to Septimus' consciousness as he connects the sound to the war. In another instance, when Lucretia diverts Septimus' attention to the plane writing in the sky, Mrs. Dalloway sees a crowd of people looking at something in the sky and the narrator moves into Clarissa's world. Finally, Elizabeth Dalloway's omnibus journey to Westminster connects to the world of Septimus. “Coming and going, beckoning, signaling, so the light and shadow that now made the wall grey, now the bananas bright yellow, now made the Strand grey, now made the omnibuses bright yellow, seemed to Septimus Warren Smith lying on the sofa in the parlor” (Woolf 139). London connects the two disjointed plots present in Mrs. Dalloway, one centered on Clarissa's party and the other around Septimus. Comparable to the function of London in Mrs. Dalloway, the city of Paris plays a central role in “Music in the Tuileries”, painted by Manet in 1862. The painting shows a crowd scene at the Tuileries Gardens in Paris. The clothing of the crowd suggests the presence of members of the Parisian bourgeoisie. The men wear black overcoats and tall hats while the women wear berets, flowing dresses and gloves. In “Music at the Tuileries” Manet captures a moment of kindness while experiencing the urban and cultural events of the time. The snapshot of the city of Paris and its members serves as a microcosm of bourgeois life.