Mr. Bennett and Mrs. Brown

The early 20th century was a period of dramatic social change. The period saw the First World War, a catastrophic conflict that took place from 1914 to 1918. Millions died, and it was seen by many as a betrayal of the younger generation by the older. “Lions led by donkeys” became a common phrase and expressed a belief that the bravery of youth was exploited and sacrificed by incompetent and indifferent leaders. Woolf frequently wrote about war in her fiction and nonfiction. Several of her novels, including Mrs. Dalloway (1925), To the Lighthouse (1927), and The Years (1937), feature World War I as a major event and theme. Her work is concerned with understanding the grief and trauma brought about by this unprecedented conflict, exploring the experience of shellshock (in Mrs. Dalloway) and the loss of young life (in To the Lighthouse). It was a period marked by trauma and loss that created a division between generations because those who made the war and led it were not the ones who suffered. It also contributed to a range of social changes, including women’s voting rights which, it is often argued, was accelerated by the role women played during the war, working as nurses and taking on traditionally male roles on the home front while men were away fighting.