Avoidance

"Herbert has [Bourton] now," she said. "I never go there now," she said." (pg 42)

Clarissa and Peter have been talking about different things that happened at Bourton when Clarissa suddenly mentions that she no longer ventures to the country house anymore. Clarissa still equates Bourton with memories of Sally and Peter, so she chooses to avoid those memories by staying away from the country house. Denial and avoidance are an important theme of Mrs. Dalloway. Every single character in the book is guilty of experiencing some denial. Most of the denial has to do with a character refusing to acknowledge an innaprpopriate emotion, like Peter's love for Clarissa or Clarissa's dissatisfaction with her life.