Historical Context
Although World War I had concluded nearly nine years before the release of Virginia Woolf’s short story "The New Dress" in 1927, the lingering impacts of the conflict are evident throughout the narrative. Many critics have noted that much of Woolf’s fiction appears disconnected from the events of her time. This perception might apply to "The New Dress," which details one woman’s thoughts and experiences at a party. However, the disillusionment and despair that Mabel Waring feels during the event seem to reflect the widespread anguish that permeated English society after the war.
Britain in the 1920s was marked by contradictions and paradoxes. It was a period of celebration—Britain and its allies had won the war—yet postwar jubilation quickly dissipated as war debts and loss of markets threatened to destabilize the English economy. Unemployment rates soared, and prices simultaneously plummeted. By 1929, 2.5% of the population controlled two-thirds of the nation’s wealth, while 1.5% earned 23% of its income.
Despite these disparities, the country as a whole saw prosperity. People were healthier; infant mortality rates dropped, and life expectancy increased. Literacy rates improved. The quality of life, especially for women, saw significant advancements. The 1918 Act granted all men over 21 the right to vote and extended the same privilege to women over 30. These strides toward equality fostered greater democratization within British society. Furthermore, the Matrimonial Act of 1922 allowed women to file for divorce on the same grounds as men.
Virginia Woolf wrote within this evolving landscape. Growing up at the turn of the century, she witnessed significant societal transformations. Enhanced communication, social mobility, and affordable commodities dramatically altered daily life. Estimates show that 9 out of 10 homes owned radios; easy access to global news events created new connections among all social classes. Movies also played a unifying role, with 45% of the population attending the cinema at least once a week. Additionally, electrical appliances revolutionized life in unprecedented ways. Although many appliances existed before the war, their widespread adoption occurred in the 1920s. For instance, the advent of electricity led to the development of refrigerators, which improved food storage, thereby revolutionizing food production, distribution, and consumption. This reduced the need for daily shopping.
Such technological advances and material improvements significantly transformed people's lives. Intellectual and scientific progress also altered how people perceived themselves. Darwin’s theory of evolution, Einstein’s theory of relativity, and Freud’s concept of the unconscious, among other contemporary social and scientific theories, eroded the certainty that had once characterized the British Empire. These ideas helped undermine what the war had not destroyed, suggesting that humanity could no longer confidently assume it held a privileged position in the universe.
Amidst an atmosphere of skepticism, James Joyce made a significant mark on literary history with the publication of Ulysses in 1922. The following year, Virginia Woolf released Mrs. Dalloway, and T.S. Eliot published The Waste Land, both works signaling a departure from Victorian sensibilities. D. H. Lawrence's candid depictions of human sexuality and Aldous Huxley's satirical novels further contributed to the 1920s being a period of profound change and innovation in literary styles and trends.
Literary Style
Stream of Consciousness
Woolf’s short story ‘‘The New Dress’’ is narrated using a stream-of-consciousness technique, centering on the thoughts and emotions of Mabel Waring. Woolf is often considered, along with Edouard Dujardin and James Joyce, one of the pioneers and early adopters of this narrative style. The emphasis is placed more on character development than on plot; in fact, the plot unfolds as the reader delves into the protagonist's mind. The story is revealed through Mabel’s thoughts as she superficially interacts with other guests,...
(This entire section contains 472 words.)
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with her subconscious associations triggered by a glance or gesture. There is no logical sequence to the ideas in the story; they appear sporadically, mirroring Mabel’s wandering thoughts at the party.
Point of View
The story is narrated from an anonymous, third-person perspective. In a
stream-of-consciousness narrative, the narrator has insight into the
protagonist’s inner thoughts and uses this omniscient viewpoint to present
Mabel’s emotions as they occur.
Interior Monologue
The reader gains insight into Mabel’s life through an indirect interior
monologue that takes place during the party. Her thoughts are conveyed by an
unidentified third-person narrator, revealing events from Mabel’s past, her
daydreams, and her feelings about the people she encounters at the party.
Setting
The setting of ‘‘The New Dress’’ is a party hosted by Clarissa Dalloway. The
occasion for the gathering is never disclosed, but the party serves as a
microcosm of the broader society from which Mabel Waring feels alienated. The
pervasive but unseen presence of Clarissa Dalloway, the keen intuition of the
servant who discerns Mabel’s class status, the unspecified drawing room where
the party takes place, and the party guests all contribute to Mabel’s sense of
‘‘appalling inadequacy.’’
Symbolism
As the title implies, Mabel’s new dress serves as a significant symbol
throughout the narrative. Its old-fashioned style and fabric act as constant
reminders to the party guests and, more crucially, to Mabel herself that she
does not fit in. This profoundly self-conscious woman sees her dress every time
she passes a mirror and mentions it to everyone she encounters. Paradoxically,
the dress, which ‘‘marks’’ Mabel as inferior, also serves as her conversation
starter: ‘‘‘It’s so old-fashioned,’ she says to Charles Burt, making him pause
on his way to talk to someone else.’’ She captures his attention, though not
the response she desired, when he exclaims, ‘‘Mabel’s got a new dress!’’
The fly is another key symbol in the story. Mabel repeatedly likens herself to a fly in a saucer, unable to escape as the milk has drenched her wings. The other guests are butterflies and dragonflies—fashionably dressed Londoners at Wimbledon in the 1920s—capable of dancing and flying; she alone remains trapped in the saucer. The fly thus symbolizes Mabel’s sense of alienation and isolation from her peers.
Compare and Contrast
1920s: The majority of women's clothing is either homemade or specially tailored. Besides essentials like stockings, undergarments, and nightwear, most women have their dresses custom-made during annual or seasonal appointments with dressmakers.
1990s: The vast majority of clothing is purchased off-the-rack. Only a small fraction of the global population regularly buys couture or custom-made garments.
1920s: Knowledge about various mental illnesses is limited, even though Sigmund Freud's pioneering psychoanalytic theories are well-known. Virginia Woolf’s mental breakdowns are often diagnosed and treated mainly with "rest cures."
1990s: The number of recognized mental illnesses identified by the medical community has expanded from several dozen to several hundred. Most mental health conditions are treated with a combination of medication and psychiatric therapy.
1920s: Britain introduces unemployment insurance for the first time, though it excludes domestic servants and farm workers.
1990s: Few households still employ domestic servants. Most household staff are employed by agencies rather than individual families.
Bibliography and Further Reading
Sources
Brace, Marjorie. "Worshipping Sold Objects: The Pagan World of Virginia Woolf,"
in Accent Anthology: Selections from Accent, A Quarterly of New
Literature, edited by Kerker Quinn and Charles Shattuck, pp. 489-95. New
York: Harcourt, Brace, and Co., 1946.
Woolf, Virginia. "Modern Fiction." In her The Common Reader, New York: Harcourt, Brace, and Co., 1925.
Further Reading
Baldwin, Dean R. Virginia Woolf: A Study of the Short Fiction, Twayne,
1989, pp. 1-76. This comprehensive analysis of Woolf’s short stories places
them within a biographical context. It also includes brief critical essays on
selected stories.
Chapman, R. T. "‘The Lady in the Looking-Glass’: Modes of Perception in a Short Story by Virginia Woolf," Modern Fiction Studies, Vol. 18, No. 3, Autumn, 1972, pp. 331-37. Discusses how Woolf’s stories are rich with minute details of life. The characters' perceptions of these details evolve, propelling the narratives into well-structured wholes that serve a purpose greater than their parts.
Hussey, Mark. Virginia Woolf A-Z: The Essential Reference to Her Life and Writings, Oxford University Press, 1995, pp. 169-79. This essential reference tool offers extensive historical and critical entries on Woolf’s fiction, diaries, letters, and essays. It also includes listings of significant figures in Woolf’s cultural milieu.
Mott, Frank Luther. "The Forum," in his A History of American Magazines, 1885-1905, Vol. 4, Harvard University Press, 1957, pp. 511-23. This five-volume history traces the development of the American magazine industry, providing detailed historical and contextual information on major U.S. magazines. It includes editorial, circulation, and subscription data for each publication.
Rice, Thomas Jackson. "Studies of the Short Stories," in his Virginia Woolf: A Guide to Research, Garland, 1984, pp. 163-67. A brief, now-outdated annotated bibliography of essays and books about Woolf’s work, organized by genre.
Roberts, Clayton, and David Roberts. "Britain between the Wars," in their A History of England, 1688 to the Present, Prentice-Hall, 1991, pp. 748-78. This engaging textbook on English history follows the traditional periodization of British history and provides a useful overview of the social and cultural trends of each period. It also offers helpful suggestions for further reading.
Woolf, Leonard. "Foreword," in A Haunted House, by Virginia Woolf, Harcourt, Brace, and Company, 1944, pp. v-vi. This foreword places Virginia Woolf’s short story writing within the context of her other works, suggesting that she used this genre as a break between her novels.