Virginia Woolf offers an interesting analysis of social pressure and social class in Mrs. Dalloway and The Years. Understanding Woolf's message about society requires a certain sensitivity and decoding on the part of the reader. His social criticism in both texts can be easily overlooked because he keeps it subtle and implicit, hidden in the patterns and trains of thought of his characters. However, after such careful reading, the essential importance of the conflict between individual and society in Woolf's work becomes clear. While Mrs. Dalloway critiques the mental consequences of socialization, self-control, and resulting remorse, The Years examines the relationship between the upper and lower classes and the physical consequences of their respective places in society. The conscious storytelling style is essential to his method of providing social criticism. Rather than forcing extreme physical situations or conflicts into her text, Woolf instead offers nuanced observations through her characters' patterns and lines of thought. Virginia Woolf said of Mrs. Dalloway, “I want to criticize the social system and show it at work, in its most intense form” (Zwerdling), a statement that may surprise some readers. However, allowing the reader to witness the characters' individual thinking as they are connected to each other helps provide insight into how the social system influences their thoughts, their memories, and ultimately, their identities. The strength of Woolf's social criticism comes from her ability to infer judgment in this way and presents interesting perspectives on class conflict, self-control in socialization, remorse, and coming to terms with (or rejecting) conditions. paper... takes on particular identities and suppresses one's desires. Through Rose, Woolf shows us that rebellion against this social order comes at a cost. Meanwhile, through Clarissa, the reader learns the regret that must accompany taking on a social role for the sake of material success. Instead of focusing on the technological and economic progress of her time, Woolf highlights the psychological consequences of social change. As societies become increasingly complicated and intense with their development, his stream-of-consciousness style provides his readers with great insight into the individual costs we all must pay. Works Cited Woolf, Virginia. Mrs. Dalloway. Orlando: Harcourt, 1981. Print. Woolf, Virginia. The years. Orlando, Florida: Harcourt Brace & Company, 1937. Print.Zwerdling, Alex. "Mrs. Dalloway and the Welfare System." PMLA 92.1 (1977): 69-82. Press.