IB Prized Writing Sevenoaks School IB Prized Writing 2014 | Page 157

Hanna Jay - English 14 Hanna Jay Sevenoaks School dym346 (000102 -0103) promise comes from the words of William Shakespeare. Woolf‟s use of flower imagery mirrors that of William Shakespeare, and the importance of nature is central to her novel, particularly regeneration in nature. Part of the refrain from Cymbeline: “Fear no more” is repeatedly brought back as a reassurance - that the cycle of life will continue, as in nature. The characters in Mrs Dalloway are comforted by the words of the playwright, with the promise that the past is forgotten in the rebirth of nature, and I believe that Woolf was herself consoled by Shakespeare. Her novel provides the reader with the comfort which she finds in the words of the playwright as she combines her individual talent with Shakespearean tradition. 156