Mrs Dalloway Plane Imagery

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The novel Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf is written at a time when plane and cars were wonderful things that took people by surprise. This essay intends to explain how the characters in the novel perceived the new technology of plane. It also discusses the effect of the plane on the character, thoughts, and feelings of different characters. The characters in this novel see the plane as a weapon of war, it also reminds them of the world war one. The plane must be considered as one of the most important imagery used in the novel. The purpose of this paper is to analyze how Woolf’s characters experience their relation to the plane, the thinking of the characters on the plane and effects of the plane on the characters.
Virginia Woolf has used the characters in the novel as the representation of the ideologies in British society. Septimus Smith is a representation or rather the personification of the fall in the pride of the imperialistic pride after the end of the war. He exudes the real pain that has become unbearable to him and very difficult even to hide. The one that serves as the challenger to the viewpoint of the aristocratic Clarissa is Peter Walsh. He has also tried his best to maintain the naïve nature of pre-war England.
Mrs. Coates thinks of her child when the airplane appears and start skywriting. “‘Glaxo,’ said Mrs. Coates in a strained, awe-stricken voice, gazing straight up, and her baby, lying stiff and white in her arms, gazed straight up” (Woolf 20).

The plane is seen as a very important thing, Coates expected that it should advertise something of importance. From this scenario, we can understand that a plane, to Coates, was something that reminded her of the things that she valued in life like her child.
In the novel, the plane distracts people from the royal car, assign that it was seen as more prestigious than the royal car. Since the plane had played a significant role in the concluded world war one, it reminded the people of the war. It also represents the fact that the war can take place at any time as represented in the novel (Whitworth 24).
Septimus relation to the plane in the first instance was ironical at some point. Septimus has also exhibited the shock or the trauma that was not expected on the side of masculinity in the community. The plane makes Septimus illusionary, and this can be seen when he says, “…they are signaling to me. Not indeed in actual words; that is, he could not read the language yet; but it was plain enough…” (Woolf 21).
Clarissa is also affected by the plane, and it keeps her to think about the war which was over. It had affected many people mentally, and this can be seen when Clarissa says, “Oh! A pistol shot in the street outside!” (Woolf 13) She says this when she hears a car hooting. This is the same experience that was also caused by the plane to her.
In conclusion, the plane had a significant effect on the life of ex-soldiers and society. It brought back the memories of war and the suffering that the war caused them. Septimus is an excellent example of an ex-soldier whose life has changed significantly due to the war. The plane also makes the beginning of a new technological period.

Work Cited
Whitworth, Michael. Virginia Woolf-Mrs Dalloway. Palgrave Macmillan, 2015.