EMOTIONAL CARTOGRAPHIES AND FRAGMENTED SPACE IN VIRGINIA WOOLF’S MRS DALLOWAY

Abstract

This study examines how emotional experiences are mapped onto urban space in Mrs Dalloway, highlighting the problem of fragmented spatial representation and its connection with inner psychological states. Although previous studies focus on stream of consciousness, they often overlook how space itself becomes emotionally structured and divided. This research aims to explore how emotional cartographies shape the perception of space and identity, and how fragmented urban settings reflect characters’ inner conflicts and dislocations. The study draws on spatial theory (Henri Lefebvre), psychoanalytic concepts of subjectivity, and modernist narrative theory to interpret the relationship between space, memory, and emotion. The research employed a qualitative, interpretive method using close textual analysis. Key passages from the novel were examined to trace patterns of emotional mapping and spatial fragmentation. The findings revealed that London is not presented as a unified space but as a series of emotionally charged fragments shaped by memory, trauma, and perception. Characters such as Clarissa and Septimus experience space differently, reflecting their psychological conditions. The narrative structure reinforces this fragmentation through shifting perspectives. The study concludes that Woolf redefines space as a subjective and emotional construct rather than a fixed physical entity, thereby deepening the modernist exploration of identity and consciousness. Future research should examine emotional cartographies in other modernist texts and explore interdisciplinary links with urban studies and cognitive mapping.