“He had escaped! was utterly free – as happens in the downfall of habit when the mind, like an unguarded flame, bows and bends and seems about to blow

Throughout the novel, Woolf portrays many characters as living in a free nation and yet not truly free. Instead, they live in a restrictive society in which stringent rules exist governing all interactions. For Peter to feel such ebullience at the prospect of freedom for simply a short while speaks to this oppression and its presence in all strata of life. Without this instance of a well-to-do man feeling so free from societies bonds, it would be possible to interpret Woolf’s work as speaking solely to the condition of women, veterans, the lower-class, or any number of other minorities. With this depiction of Peter’s experience, however, it becomes clear that everyone in England is a potential victim of society – whether they appear to be at risk of meeting this fate or not.