High-society hostess Clarissa Dalloway is throwing a party. On the surface she is vivacious and sociable, yet her inner. monologue reveals glimpses of a different reality: a woman isolated in love and dissatisfied with life. Clarissa’s life is contrasted with that of an intended but ill-fated party guest, Septimus Warren Smith, for whom post-war life is a struggle. Both characters express a shared longing to find love. and meaning.