We have changed our privacy policy. In addition, we use cookies on our website for various purposes. By continuing on our website, you consent to our use of cookies. You can learn about our practices by reading our privacy policy.

Mrs Dalloway Section 3 Summary

  • Peter leaves, thinking about Clarissa and her frivolous party.
  • Clarissa has changed, he thinks: now she’s sentimental, hard, insincere.
  • Once upon a time, she refused to marry him. He fights off the feeling that he’s old now; and as a bell tolls, he thinks that Clarissa will die soon. That's pretty depressing.
  • Peter considers what others might think of him – that he was expelled from Oxford, that he had been a Socialist.
  • Some soldiers march past and Peter feels a sense of pride. He admires what they represent: "duty, gratitude, fidelity, love of England" (3.5). Traffic stops out of respect for the soldiers who are honoring those lost in the war.
  • Peter arrives in Trafalgar Square, where there are a bunch of statues of famous men.
  • His life seems like a farce and so does the divorce, but he still feels young.
  • He begins to follow an attractive woman down the street, still playing with the pen-knife in his pocket. This lady’s not sophisticated like Clarissa.
  • Peter considers himself something of a wild man and a player, above the pretensions of British upper-class society.
  • The young woman goes into her house, and Peter continues walking, observing people in their homes enjoying life in London. Peter reflects on his deep affection for civilization; he feels pride in England.
  • He remembers being at Bourton with Clarissa and even being with her at Regent’s Park.