Septimus Smith as a Victim of "Shell Shock"

     Septimus Smith's side plot is easily one of Mrs. Dalloway's most important and significant side plots, if not the most important. As a matter of fact, it is often argued that Virginia Woolf took inspiration from herself and her own experiences when writing about the character. Septimus, a veteran of the then called "Great War," is depicted as a victim of "Shell Shock," later to be called Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Cases of the former greatly spiked in number shortly after the First World War, where soldiers began to develop the disorder en-masse due to the scale of the conflict. At the time of its first major appearance, Shell Shock was often overlooked by medical professionals, due to the lack of similar cases in the past. In this blog, I will talk about two scenes in the book when Septimus' shellshock is most prominent, and shows symptoms of real shell shock cases, despite this, there are multiple other scenes in which the reader could notice the presence of shell shock symptoms. 

    Septimus' condition is most clearly demonstrated in the later stages in the book, in the section focused on him, in which he later takes his own life. The first scene in which I thought an aspect of shell shock was brought to light was in pages 84 and 88. In these three scenes, Septimus is shown to be in a state of emotional and mental indifference. This is shown in the following quotes. "It was sublime. He had gone through the whole show, friendship, European War, death, had won promotion, was still under thirty and was bound to survive. He was right there. The last shells missed him. He watched them with indifference."  (Woolf 84). "His wife was crying, and he felt nothing; only each time she sobbed in this profound, this silent, this hopeless way, he descended another step into the pit." (Woolf 88). In these two scenes, as previously mentioned, Septimus is shown to be completely unbothered by the events in his surroundings, reflecting an emotional numbness, a symptom of shellshocked patients that was often overlooked by medical professionals at the time. 

    "The patient repeated the word "war" interrogatively." (Woolf 93). In this scene, Septimus is speaking with Sir William Bradshaw, who proceeds to inquire about his service in the war. Septimus answers by repeating the word "war." In real cases of shell shock, patients would be mentally impaired, often suffering from cases of amnesia and extreme confusion, this is shown in this scene, where Septimus does not seem to remember the fact that he served in the First World War.

    In these two scenes, Septimus Smith is shown experiencing the symptoms of shellshock, namely emotional numbness and mental impairment. Despite the large volume of shell shock cases at the time, there was an overall lack of understanding and overlooking of the condition, with doctors having a lack of patients with similar experiences, this is shown in the way both Dr. Holmes and Bradshaw make a poor effort in treating a shellshocked Septimus. Scenes in Mrs. Dalloway where his condition makes a clear appareance are not limited to the two parts illustrated above, and are heavily present in the scenes leading up to Septimus' suicide.

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