Social class is a hierarchy of power that has been recognised within most societies for many hundreds of years. It is a system that moulds the way of life for people in many different aspects – politically, economically and a person’s eventual achievements in life. Many people are born into their permanent social class meaning their life style is already set out for them. Social class tends to play an important part in literature – it often appears as a conflict between characters in the piece of literature and is also used to convey a conflict between the characters and the actual plot of the book. It is also often used thematically and as a backdrop for character description. According to Margaret Blanchard, Virginia Woolf was as an “intellectual snob, and remained one, to some extent throughout her life”, despite the implications of being a snob being fairly negative, it allowed Woolf to adapt her writing to a particular style and allowed her to write to a specific, exclusive audience. Woolf did use her position within her writing to advocate for issues for example the issues of the hierarchal social system in Mrs Dalloway. Throughout Mrs Dalloway, Woolf uses her characters as the embodiments of the social system that she believes represents contemporary England – the First World War is a vehicle for Woolf’s message. Though Woolf was of a considerably high and respectable social class, she portrays them in a negative light in her novel and does so by the use of characters such as Septimus Smith and Sir William Bradshaw. By criticising the society to which she belongs, Woolf provides an authentic and emotive stance on the social system.
In many instances throughout the novel, Woolf portrays members of the upper class in an obviously negative way. When describing Hugh, Woolf writes:
The stable boys had more life in them than Hugh, she said. He was a perfect specimen of the public school type, she said.
In Mrs Dalloway, Hugh is one of the characters that represents the epitome of the upper middle class – despite being critcised he remains strong to his roots and is a strong follower of old English traditions. His obliviousness is exemplified in Woolf’s description of Hugh. In Mrs Dalloway, Sally Seton believes he is the worst of the worst within the social class system. The stable boys are obviously of a lower class than Hugh and by implying that their personality is more diverse than his, it condescends Hugh’s position amongst the society. As a wealthy man he should be indulging in culture and enriching his life with all means possible – however, he decides to maintain his focus and concerns on his position within the hierarchy. Woolf could also be suggesting that the stable boys – the lower classes – enjoy life more than the upper classes. The stable boy’s responsibilities are minimal and therefore can spend more of their time enjoying the simple things of life, they also don’t have to concern themselves in moving up in the world. As harsh as it may be but many did not move up in the hierarchy so they need not worry about “bettering themselves” as the likelihood of doing so was very slim. However, the middle and upper classes would never degrade themselves into slipping into a lower social class therefore they remain uptight and become obsessed with maintaining their titles and fortune. After providing the short description of Hugh Woolf continues by saying “No country but England could have produced him.” This is an evident statement of criticism of the English social system. By saying this, Woolf implies that only the English people care about such things as social class and that it does truly affect the people as previously she has said how Hugh has a stunted personality compared to his “less established” counterparts.
Despite having a dislike of propaganda in her work, Virginia Woolf still manages to convey her true feelings towards the society that she felt she suffered in. In her diary while writing Mrs Dalloway she wrote something very bold – “I want to criticize the social system, and to show it at work, as its most intense.” Thus showing one of her main intentions while writing the novel. Her main criticism is truly focused on the upper classes and in the book she does this by giving them negative and unattractive characteristics. One example of this is Lady Bruton a woman of high society to which her title refers– Lady Bruton becomes dedicated to political issues surrounding emigration. Her new passion is described as “pent egotism…half looking glass, half precious stone,” Despite, Lady Bruton being passionate about these issues and having considerably good intentions, Woolf somehow manages to portray her attempts at reforming society very pessimistically. Her attempts are described as arrogant and implies that she is only doing what she is doing to better herself, maybe to gain a more respectable reputation rather than actually trying to help the families. It could also have been perceived as if Lady Bruton is trying to cleanse England from the families that are suffering – mostly lower class – from her desired “upper-class only” society. Another character that is used to display Woolf’s opinion on the flaws amongst the English social class system is Sir William Bradshaw. Bradshaw is a power hungry psychiatrist that was supposed to provide care and help to Septimus with his struggles of mental illness. In the novel Bradshaw becomes the body of politics especially the harsh reality that Virginia Woolf aims to portray. He is obviously a respectable man due to gaining a knighthood from the Queen, however he is stern and harsh in his lifestyle which does not reflect well. Bradshaw attempts to “cure” Septimus by making him conform into the mold that society wants. He fails to recognise Septimus’s mental illness and believes it is something that he can easily shake off. His strong beliefs in conversion exemplify his belief that he has the power to change people to convert them into obedient citizens of the English patriarchy. Due to his wealth and his lauded title, nobody second guesses Bradshaw meaning he is enriched with power. Bradshaw is the embodiment of British upper-class patriarchal oppression – Jean Thomson has described Bradshaw as “the representative of dislikeable male power and professionalism.”
The First World War was a devastating tragedy that was suffered by a large proportion of the population in the United Kingdom. After the war there was a great deal of mistrust between the people and their government. People began to question whether the war was really worth the horrific outcome. There was a strong feeling of disillusionment spread throughout the world as people felt that the government had other priorities rather than the consequences and knock-on effects of the Great War. Before the war, Septimus was described as an ambitious working class man but once he returned home he had transformed into the complete opposite. He was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder due to the horrors had witness while fighting for the country that was supposed to help him. In Mrs Dalloway, Septimus is the only character that is directly affected by the war. There is the feeling of the other classes experiencing the war but now that it is over it is out of sight out of mind for example there are small references to it “thousands of poor chaps, with all their lives before them, shovelled together, already half forgotten.” As the working class man is portrayed as the person who is suffering the most while the upper classes are continuing to live comfortably, Woolf conveys the idea that they are becoming ignorant to the real issues that are surrounding England. They seemed to be more focused on maintaining a respectable social status than caring for the people that fought for the honour of their country. Alex Zwerdling argues that Septimus is viewed as a threat to the establishment as he never fails to acknowledge the War despite everyone else trying to forget it every happened. Due to his ongoing suffering Septimus becomes a scapegoat within the social system – he no longer has a place anywhere as he is consumed within his mental illness. When Septimus is first introduced, Woolf puts forward an interesting question – “the world has raised its whip; where will it descend?” This immediately has connotations of mental illness and the inner turmoil that Septimus is going through but it also implies that Septimus is a slave to the system. The implications of slavery come from the use of the whip, whips were often used as a force of punishment. Being a war veteran, Septimus has already served his country with the outcome being a never-ending cycle of mental terror which has stemmed from the government influencing a horrific war amongst its people. When Septimus kills himself, he becomes a symbol of escape and freedom in death which resonates with Clarissa Dalloway and her struggles with oppression. Septimus’s death may represent the collapse of the social system – it could be suggesting that is a beginning to become a false construct within society. Suzette. A. Henke has described Septimus’s death as “an escape from authoritarian forces that would rape his consciousness, trammel his soul, and imprison him in a madhouse down in Surrey.”
In conclusion, Virginia Woolf acknowledges the differences amongst social class within her contemporary English society. However, she does so by portraying the upper classes – to which she belonged – in a negative light. She portrays those characters as ignorant and socially dangerous. Whereas she perceives people of the working class as either peaceful (the stable boys) or suffering from great pain – Septimus Smith. Virginia Woolf was passionately anti-war which can be seen in Mrs Dalloway through the use of Septimus Smith’s suffering due to his lacking social status and ongoing mental health issues. Despite advocating for an improved social system, Virginia Woolf has been criticised for doing so due to her own privileged background. Margaret Blanchard has said that despite “her Aristocratic intellectual position allowed her to advocate, at times, vision without power, which is the kind of conclusion one comes to when individual insights about oppression are not united to collective struggles against the oppression and when the individual can remain content with her class privileges.”