Social space and possibilities of queer space in Virginia Woolf’ Mrs. Dalloway

This study explores Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway (1996) through Henri Lefebvre’s concept of social space and Glen S. Elder’s concept of queer space. It found that unfamiliar environment and deviant behavior of the characters in the modern London are the consequences of the changing and clashing between the old and new values in the space. Through consulting two concepts, the paper argues that modernization such as the Great War and the modern technologies play a significant role in, not only, interrupting the old values in the space, but also, providing alternate realities to the characters. As a result, the characters have time to experience new realities and to perform behavior deviating from the old one defined by the old value in the space. In conclusion, this paper proposes that this phenomenon can predict the social movement in nearest future in the modern London that social hierarchy and discrimination seem to be gradually challenged and undermined.