Heteroglossia and Polyphony in Mrs. Dalloway

Bakhtin’s focus on language began with his focus on the individual and the way one sees oneself – from within and not from outside. Thus every individual is incomplete from within but sees every other individual as complete, because they can be observed from outside. In order to see oneself as ‘I for myself’ it is necessary to see oneself as ‘I as seen by others’ – in other words, one needs to know others’ perspectives of oneself in order to see oneself as complete. Although they may show similar characteristics, each individual is non-identical, different, unique – thus there are a multiplicity of individuals.