Mrs Dalloway
by Virginia Woolf

Mrs Dalloway: Foreshadowing 1 key example

Definition of Foreshadowing

Foreshadowing is a literary device in which authors hint at plot developments that don't actually occur until later in the story. Foreshadowing can be achieved directly or indirectly, by making... read full definition
Foreshadowing is a literary device in which authors hint at plot developments that don't actually occur until later in the story. Foreshadowing can be achieved... read full definition
Foreshadowing is a literary device in which authors hint at plot developments that don't actually occur until later in the... read full definition

Key Examples in Mrs Dalloway

Section 7
Explanation and Analysis—In So Many Words:

As Richard Dalloway walks home from the flower shop, he repeatedly reassures himself that he’ll tell Clarissa that he loves her when he gets home—and though it seems as if he has every intention of doing so, the mere fact that he keeps repeating his intentions to himself suggests that he knows, on some level, that he won’t be able to actually express his feelings once he’s face to face with his wife. The repetitions thus foreshadow his eventual failure to tell Clarissa what he wants to tell her.