# Mrs. Dalloway — The Voyage Out character guide

> Mrs. Dalloway in The Voyage Out by Virginia Woolf.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Mrs. Richard Dalloway, Clarissa, Clarice, Aunt Clara

**First appearance:** 0001-ii

## Snapshot

A tall, fur-wrapped politician's wife who boards the Euphrosyne by special arrangement and leaves Rachel with a restless new dissatisfaction.

## Who they are

Mrs. Dalloway arrives on the ship in a stir of leather bags and compliments, a woman of a class where everything is specially arranged and everyone is known. Charming, worldly, and slightly theatrical, she turns her attention on Rachel and awakens in her a sudden, painful sense that her own face and life are not what she wants. Her brief visit is the first crack in Rachel's provincial innocence, and the novel's earliest glimpse of the larger English world waiting beyond the voyage.

## Relationships

### [Rachel Vinrace](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_voyage_out_se/characters/rachel_vinrace)

_social_

Mrs. Dalloway is a sophisticated older woman who briefly fascinates and mentors Rachel during the ship voyage.

### [Helen Ambrose](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_voyage_out_se/characters/helen_ambrose)

_friendship_

They are polite, intelligent acquaintances who enjoy each other's company during the sea journey.

### [Rachel Vinrace](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_voyage_out_se/characters/rachel_vinrace)

_social_

Mrs. Dalloway is a sophisticated older woman who briefly fascinates and mentors Rachel during the ship voyage.

### [Rachel Vinrace](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_voyage_out_se/characters/rachel_vinrace)

_social_

Mrs. Dalloway is a sophisticated older woman who briefly fascinates and mentors Rachel during the ship voyage.

### [Helen Ambrose](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_voyage_out_se/characters/helen_ambrose)

_friendship_

They are polite, intelligent acquaintances who enjoy each other's company during the sea journey.

### [Helen Ambrose](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_voyage_out_se/characters/helen_ambrose)

_friendship_

They are polite, intelligent acquaintances who enjoy each other's company during the sea journey.

## In the story

### [Chapter III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_voyage_out_se/chapters/iii)

Engages in dinner conversation about gender equality, music, and English pride; privately reflects on the other passengers and her desire for a son.

### [Chapter IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_voyage_out_se/chapters/iv)

Reads aloud from Persuasion to divert Richard, then leaves to inspect Mr. Grice's fish.

### [Chapter V](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_voyage_out_se/chapters/v)

Seasick but recovering; kisses Richard and asks him to be polite to Helen.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_voyage_out_se/characters/mrs_dalloway
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_voyage_out_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_voyage_out_se/characters