Mrs. D #15

“But this young man who had killed himself-had he plunged holding his treasure? ‘If it were now to die, ’twere now to be most happy’” (p184). The news of a young man’s suicide (Septimus’) is reported at Mrs. Dalloway’s party. She, although upset by this disturbance, finds herself regarding the situation. She was not appalled by this news, as many are, but interested; asking herself questions of suicide. Virginia Woolf committed suicide sixteen years after this book was published. In her final note to her husband she writes: “Everything has gone from me but the certainty of your goodness. I can't go on spoiling your life any longer. I don't think two people could have been happier than we have been.” The main character in Woolf’s novel says how if one must kill herself, she must be happy when approaching her death. The last line in Woolf’s letter explains that she was happy with her husband throughout her life with him.
“Virginia Woolf.” Wikipedia. 29 Sept. 2009. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_woolf