Investigating the "Party Consciousness": Gender Normativity & Affect in Woolf’s Party Scenes in “To the Lighthouse” & “Mrs. Dalloway”

Authors

• Chelsea Goodman, Clark University

Publication Date

Spring 5-1-2026

Document Type

Honors Thesis

Faculty Sponsor

Lisa Kasmer

First Advisor

Lisa Kasmer

Second Advisor

Dianne Berg

Degree

Bachelor of Arts

Major

English

Abstract

In 1925, Virginia Woolf wrote in her diary, “…I should like to investigate the party consciousness…where people secrete an envelope which connects them and protects them from others, like myself, who am outside the envelope” (DIII 13). Woolf’s metaphor of the “envelope” reflects how parties have the potential to be places of community and, conversely, of alienation. In literary criticism, Woolf’s parties are often simplified and read as sites of communion. I argue that instead of a suspension of normativity across all characters, which one might expect in a party scene, Woolf’s domestic party scenes solidify, reflect, and enforce gender norms. While it is certainly possible that some individuals can feel genuine connection and happiness from social spaces, a reading of Woolf’s party scenes through the lenses of feminist theory, affect theory, and gender theory moves toward asking questions such as: Who is privileged to express themselves fully at the party? Who must put on a performance or different version of themselves to be accepted in the party space? What is the emotional toll of such a performance? In this thesis, I focus on the party scenes in Woolf’s novels To the Lighthouse (1927) and Mrs. Dalloway (1925) and the emotional toll that norms of gender, sexuality, and class have on the central female characters, Mrs. Ramsay and Mrs. Dalloway. Throughout the thesis, I work through Woolf’s essay, “Professions for Women,” and her battle with the “Angel in the House” to highlight Woolf’s concern with gender norms for women. This thesis creates opportunities for new discussion around Woolf’s texts and asks us to consider how they can connect with contemporary understandings of gender norms. This reading of Woolf helps us recognize the confining nature of society and challenges us to question what society claims will lead us to “happiness.”

Keywords

Virginia Woolf, To the Lighthouse, Mrs. Dalloway, gender norms, affect, emotions, party, Feminist theory, Modernism, gender theory

Recommended Citation

Goodman, Chelsea, "Investigating the "Party Consciousness": Gender Normativity & Affect in Woolf’s Party Scenes in “To the Lighthouse” & “Mrs. Dalloway”" (2026). English. 11.
https://commons.clarku.edu/undergraduate_english/11

Worcester

No

Rights

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International License.