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Virginia Woolf, Ellen Hopkins, and Mental Health in Literature
Virginia Woolf and Ellen Hopkins normalized mental health and addiction in literature
Mrs. Dalloway written by the famous Virginia Woolf, follows the characters Clarissa Dalloway and Septimus Warren Smith. The themes of the novel are the celebrations of life and death — and mental health. It is no secret Virginia Woolf struggled with mental health issues, most notably severe clinical depression and possibly borderline personality disorder. Woolf’s own stream of consciousness, insecurities, and deep dissatisfaction with life is infused in the female protagonist, Clarissa Dalloway. Woolf was the first author I discovered to subtly present mental health in fiction, something I felt mollified by.
Mrs. Dalloway
The character, Mrs. Clarissa Dalloway is a representation of undiagnosed mental illness as she struggles in the search for happiness and identity. She’s a sensitive character who busies herself with mindless errands, serving her husband and his important tasks with his important friends, in his important life. Clarissa’s constant jumps from thought to thought and excessive thinking portrays a deeper yet subtle symptom of anxiety and struggles with existential dilemmas.
