A Foucauldian Interpretation Of Clarissa In Mrs.Dalloway

Virginia Woolf is a representative writer of feminism and modernism. Her works have been the research hot spot for a long time. From the previous studies like the technique of stream of consciousness, feminism, to the present theories, including moral philosophy and political space study, the researches on Woolf’s works are expanded widely and deeply. Based on previous studies, from the perspective of Michel Foucault’s political theory, this paper will give a deeper research on Clarissa in Mrs. Dalloway, who reflects both discipline and resistance at the same time.The Bloomsbury Group is an “avant-garde organization” attracting a bunch of great people to join it, including Virginia Woolf. With those radical group members, Woolf took part in many activities incompatible with the atmosphere of London in the 20 th century. These events had great impact on Woolf’s political opinions which were reflected in her novels. So, when we study her works, her political view is an inevitable point. At the same time, politics is closely related to every citizen. The foreign affairs and domestic policies, both can influence our daily life greatly. So, applying the theory of Foucault’s political theory can not only deepen our understanding of Woolf and her works, but also help us to know better what a role we should play in our political life.This paper includes five parts. The first part is a brief introduction to Virginia Woolf and Michel Foucault. Woolf’s works are the reflection of this world and society. Her opinions about politic also are presented in Mrs. Dalloway, which lays the foundation for the study of this paper with the help of Foucault’s theory. The second part is the literature review from foreign studies and domestic studies. As for the previous researches, in recent decades, Chinese scholars interpret this novel from the perspective of imperialism, psychology and sociology, while most foreign scholars pay attention to writing skills, metaphors and homosexuality in this novel. These studies have their own limitations; Therefore this paper tries to find a new point to study Mrs. Dalloway. Part three is an introduction to political theory and aesthetic existence of Foucault. In Punishment and Discipline, those theories put forward by Foucault impress scholars so much. Under the control of surveillance, normalizing judgment and other techniques, subjectivity is missed and we are just the established person. While, the theory of aesthetic existence presented by Foucault in his latter study brings a solution to this situation. Only when we care for ourselves and other people, can we find approaches to exist. These two theories form the frame of this paper. The next part is the detail analysis of Clarissa’s discipline and resistance. Living in the Empire, the patriarchal and the Victorian society, Clarissa loses her discourse right, aesthetic sense and view of love and marriage gradually. However, Clarissa still fights for herself and loves everything and everyone around her. This attitude is exactly the embodiment of Foucault’s theory of aesthetic of existence. The last part is the conclusion of this paper. Though we can’t change this disciplined society, at least we can change our attitude towards this world.