Empathy and Trauma: A Cognitive Approach to Mrs. Dalloway

Abstract

Abstract: A popular (though not necessarily scientifically validated) theory holds that reading fiction builds empathy. Because literary characters are media representations, limited and defined by point-of-view, diction, and readers’ pre-existing stereotypes, they tend not to elicit empathy in a fair, even manner. This essay will explore such questions as whether certain characteristics elicit greater empathy than others and whether empathy is always genuine or the result of readers’ social pressure to react in a certain manner. To answer these questions, cognitive psychology theories are used to examine how empathy is created—or not created—for literary characters who experience trauma in Virginia Woolf’s novel Mrs. Dalloway . This analysis will involve two variables: the mental activity of readers and the mental activity of characters within a fictional text.