The following summary of Mrs. Dalloway is a straightforward description of the significant events. The novel routinely jumps through various time frames. The novel's protagonists deal with communication and how to adequately express their feelings to each other in a rapidly changing Britain.
Mrs. Dalloway runs errands to prepare for a party later that evening. The day and various events she witnesses remind her of her youth in Bourton. She wonders about her life choices, specifically when it comes to her husband, Richard, who is wealthy and part of high society, but whom she considers simple. When she gets home, however, she finds Peter Walsh, an old lover who had once proposed to her. Peter asks Clarissa if she is happy, but Clarissa's daughter Elizabeth arrives before she can answer. Peter leaves for Regent's Park.
The narrative shifts to Septimus Warren Smith, a veteran of the Great War suffering from shell shock. At Regency Park, he and his wife, Lucrezia, wait for Sir William Bradshaw, a psychiatrist Septimus hopes will cure him of his depression. Before the war, Septimus loved poetry and art. Now, he can find nothing worth living for. However, when he meets Sir Bradshaw, Bradshaw offers to have Septimus committed to a mental institution.
The story shifts again to Richard Dalloway, Clarissa's husband, as he eats with Hugh Whitbread and Lady Bruton, members of the upper class. After lunch, Richard buys flowers for Clarissa and plans to tell her he loves her, but he cannot get the words out. Clarissa understands the space between her and her husband as something healthy, but she is also worried that Richard doesn't know everything about her.
At the same time, Septimus sits with his wife in their home and awaits the men who will take him to the asylum. Fearing that he will not fare any better in a mental care facility, Septimus jumps from the window and dies.
Not long afterward, Peter hears the ambulance rushing to get Septimus' body. He attends Clarissa's party and watches Clarissa as she plays host to various characters from the novel who are in attendance. As the narrative moves between the partygoers, it reveals that everyone has deep regrets about their lives. When Sir Bradshaw arrives and tells Clarissa he is late because a patient of his took his own life, Clarissa contemplates how people like her are why men like Septimus are broken. As the party ends and everyone leaves, she enters the room, and Peter is filled with excitement at seeing Clarissa.
