Character guide

Clarissa Dalloway

major

Also known as Clarissa, Dalloway, Clara, Mrs. Dalloway

A fifty-something London hostess steps out to buy flowers herself, and the whole city—its traffic, its memories, its dead—rushes in to meet her.

Septimus Warren Smith

major

Also known as Septimus, Smith, Mr. Warren Smith

A decorated veteran walks through London hearing beauty and terror everywhere, while his Italian wife and a Harley Street doctor try to keep him tethered to the world.

Peter Walsh

supporting

Also known as Walsh, old Peter, Mr. Walsh

Clarissa's old suitor returns from India with his pocketknife, his grumpiness, and the maddening habit of weeping at things he claims not to care about.

Richard Dalloway

supporting

Also known as Richard, Mr. Dalloway, dear old Richard

A Conservative MP and devoted husband who cannot say 'I love you' aloud, so he buys roses instead and hopes the gesture will do the talking.

Sally Seton

supporting

Also known as Sally, Seton, Lady Rosseter

The wild, brilliant girl who once ran naked down a Bourton corridor and kissed Clarissa, now a married woman arriving at the party she never quite left.

Elizabeth Dalloway

supporting

Also known as Elizabeth, Miss Elizabeth, Ellie Henderson

Clarissa's teenage daughter, caught between her mother's drawing room and a shabby-genteel tutor, quietly testing what kind of woman she might become.

Hugh Whitbread

supporting

Also known as Hugh, Whitbread, Mr. Whitbread

Immaculately upholstered, endlessly well-connected, Hugh glides through London on family feeling and a despatch box, adored by Clarissa and loathed by Peter.

Lucrezia Warren Smith

supporting

Also known as Rezia, Lucrezia, Mrs. Warren Smith

A young Italian hatmaker stranded in London, Rezia watches her husband slip away from her and clings to strangers for the comfort he cannot give.

Lady Bruton

supporting

Also known as Millicent Bruton, Milly, Old Lady Bruton

A grand, hawk-faced hostess who commands lunches, committees, and the Empire itself, and who finds in Hugh Whitbread the perfect instrument for her schemes.

Sir William Bradshaw

supporting

Also known as William, Bradshaw, Sir William Bradshaw

A celebrated Harley Street psychiatrist whose serene authority and worship of proportion conceal a will to power over the souls in his care.

Dr. Holmes

supporting

Also known as Holmes

A breezy, well-meaning general practitioner who prescribes bromides and golf, and cannot hear a word his patient is actually saying.

Evans

supporting

Evans exists in the novel less as a living man than as a presence Septimus cannot shake, surfacing in hallucinations and half-spoken conversations that unsettle everyone around him. The bond between officer and soldier was warm enough that Septimus speaks to him as a friend, yet the war that forged it also destroyed his grip on the present. His haunting presence signals, early on, that the peace London celebrates has not reached every returning soldier.

Joseph Breitkopf

minor

Also known as Joseph, old Breitkopf, Breitkopf

An old friend of the family, remembered from Bourton summers.

Miss Kilman

supporting

Also known as Kilman, Doris Kilman, the odious Kilman

Elizabeth's tutor, a bitter, devout woman whose resentment of Clarissa's easy privilege curdles into a fierce, possessive love for her pupil.

Lucy

minor

The Dalloways' maid who helps prepare for the party.

Maisie Johnson

minor

Also known as Johnson, Daisy

A young woman from Edinburgh who encounters Septimus and Rezia in the park.

Mrs. Filmer

minor

Also known as Filmer

The kindly landlady of Septimus and Rezia.

Miss Helena Parry

minor

Also known as old Miss Parry, Miss Parry, Aunt Helena

Clarissa's elderly, eccentric aunt who lives in the country.

Lady Bradshaw

minor

Sir William's submissive wife, who accompanies him to Clarissa's party.

Mr. Brewer

minor

Also known as Brewer

Septimus's former employer at the estate agency.

Sir Harry

minor

Also known as Dear old Sir Harry, Dear Sir Harry

An elderly gentleman mentioned in passing at the party.

Mrs. Hilbery

minor

Also known as old Mrs. Hilbery, Old Mrs. Hilbery

An older society woman who attends Clarissa's party.

Mrs. Peters

minor

A minor acquaintance of the Dalloways.

Mrs. Dempster

minor

Also known as Carrie Dempster

A woman observed by Peter Walsh in Regent's Park.

Mr. Wilkins

minor

Also known as Wilkins

The Dalloways' butler.

Jim Hutton

minor

Also known as Jim, little Jim Hutton, Hutton

A young man at Clarissa's party.

Miss Isabel Pole

minor

Also known as Miss Pole

Septimus's former English teacher who inspired him.

Miss Brush

minor

Also known as devoted Miss Brush, Milly Brush, Emily

Lady Bruton's devoted secretary.

Miss Pym

minor

The florist who sells Clarissa flowers.

Mrs. Walker

minor

The Dalloways' cook.

Mrs. Marsham

minor

A society lady who attends Clarissa's party.

Evelyn Whitbread

minor

Also known as Evelyn, the Honourable Evelyn

Hugh Whitbread's wife, who is unwell.

Edgar J. Watkiss

minor

A passerby who comments on the motorcar in Bond Street.

Sally Parker

minor

A woman mentioned briefly in the narrative.

Mr. Whittaker

minor

A minor character at the party.

Mr. Fletcher

minor

A minor acquaintance of the Dalloways.

Professor Brierly

minor

A scholar who appears at the party.

Little Mr. Bowley

minor

Also known as Mr. Bowley

An elderly gentleman who admires Clarissa.

Sarah Bletchley

minor

A woman mentioned in the narrative.

Lady Lovejoy

minor

A society figure at Clarissa's party.

Lady Bexborough

minor

A society woman mentioned in Clarissa's thoughts.

Mr. Bentley

minor

A minor character in the park.

Agnes

minor

A maid in the Dalloway household.

Lord Lexham

minor

Also known as dear old Lord Lexham, Lexham, old Lord Lexham

An elderly aristocrat mentioned at the party.

Mrs. Hugh

minor

Hugh Whitbread's mother, mentioned briefly.

Mrs. Foxcroft

minor

A society woman mentioned in passing.

Sir John Buckhurst

minor

Also known as John, Sir John

A guest at Clarissa's party.

Willie Titcomb

minor

Also known as Fred

A young man at the party.

Moll Pratt

minor

Also known as Shawled Moll Pratt

A flower-seller on the street.

Mrs. Coates

minor

A woman watching the royal motorcade.

Old Mr. Parry

minor

Also known as old Parry, Mr. Parry, Justin Parry

Clarissa's deceased father, remembered from Bourton.

Elise Mitchell

minor

Also known as little Elise Mitchell

A little girl in the park who runs into a nurse.

Mrs. Barnet

minor

A minor servant character.

Nancy Blow

minor

Also known as Nancy

A young woman at Clarissa's party.