Summary of Virginia Woolf's "Mrs. Dalloway"

Mrs. Dalloway is considered by many critics to be one of Virginia Woolf’s greatest novels revealing a mastery of form and technique for which she became known, stream of consciousness technique. The book itself is not like any other book in the traditional sense that is emphasizing the plot, characters, actions, etc. Rather it traces the reactions and feeling of the characters as they go around London, meeting each other. The narration shifts from one character to another so that the events of the day are told from different points of view. And it consists of two seemingly unrelated narratives, one telling us the story of Clarissa and the other the story of Septimus.
The story takes place in London. The timing is a mid June day and the year is 1923, after the Great War.
The story begins at 10 am when Clarissa goes out to buy flowers. She wants to throw a party in the evening of the same day. On her way to the florist, she thinks about her old family house at...