A Different Perspective on Woolf`s Mrs. Dalloway

Abstract

A twentieth century novel, Mrs. Dalloway, written by Virginia Woolf is a unique masterpiece that depicts a single day of Clarissa Dalloway together with interrelated major and minor characters using interwoven texture style and multi-personal stream of consciousness technique in which we, as readers, get into a flux of ordinary people`s ordinary lives through lens of different themes and symbols mainly; a desired death led by suicidal thoughts which stems from the idea of inevitable, circular time rather than linear, natural elements (trees-flowers, waves-water), and a sense of pessimism overweighing optimism reflected throughout the novel. As the novel influenced many people by its provocative inner voice of imposing committing suicide as a relief from all burdens and a possible way of becoming immortal, in other words, if facing the fear of death is inevitable why do we keep living? Woolf`s contemporaneous Said Nursi, an eastern scholar, religious writer and famous for his collection of Risale-i Nur (a collection of 14 main books and many booklets interpreting around 300 verses of Quran) also inquires and presents solutions to the above mentioned themes and symbols in Mrs. Dalloway that come to be either obstacles leading us into deep pits of eternal pessimism or torches enlightening the pathways that lead us to salvation, elevated hopes of optimism and eternal happiness by achieving immortality. This article is aimed to be a first step for further studies of presenting the two contemporary writers with their approaches and point of views in terms of character analysis, psychological and social background, and analysis of Said Nursi`s approaches and answers to the questions raised by Woolf`s Mrs. Dalloway.