O sotão de Virgina Woolf

um diálogo com a loucura feminina?

Abstract

This article analyzes the representation of female madness in Virginia Woolf’s novel Mrs. Dalloway (2006), in light of the intersections between subjectivity, gender, and medico-social discourse. By employing the stream of consciousness technique and fragmenting temporal linearity, Woolf not only subverts the conventions of the traditional novel but also centers the inner life of characters whose psychological experiences challenge the boundaries of normative rationality. The study proposes that the author redefines madness as a symbolic battleground and a critique of the patriarchal order, highlighting how women’s mental health has been historically marginalized and pathologized. Through the trajectories of Clarissa Dalloway and Septimus Warren Smith, the novel exposes the tensions between identity, sanity, and social conformity, problematizing the mechanisms of control imposed on dissident bodies and minds. Thus, this paper argues that Woolf’s literature constitutes an ethical and aesthetic gesture of insurgency, rejecting the association between female writing and tragic fate. The analysis draws on theoretical frameworks such as Elaine Showalter and Michel Foucault, contributing to a broader understanding of the role of literature in constructing and challenging regimes of truth about femininity and madness.