The generalized other: Constructing human nature in 'Mrs. Dalloway'.

摘要

This thesis examines normative masculinity and compulsory heterosexuality in Virginia Woolf's 1925 novel Mrs. Dalloway. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the relationship between the novel's chronotope and its characters, wherein the latter are conditioned and inscribed by the former. I show that identity formation in Woolf s novel, particularly in terms of masculinity and sexual orientation, occurs in conjunction with a generalized other, a sociological term referring to one's awareness of the expectations or norms maintained by his social class. These expectations and norms, I argue, are largely a product of the novel's chronotope, its historical moment in time and space, which urges conformity and counteracts deviancy.