At first glance Richard Dalloway would appear to be an unlikely catalyst for anyone’s emotional journey, let alone Rachel’s. He is, after all, a narrow-minded, pontificating, arrogant misogynist. But he is still a powerful and important man, and when he focuses his attention on Rachel during a casual conversation about dead pets and his childhood, she is overwhelmed. She has never had any real interactions with men, and it seems “incredible that a man like that should be willing to talk to her” (p. 52). Inevitably, a crush blooms. Then, during Clarissa’s visit to Rachel’s room, Rachel also develops a crush on Clarissa. The visit starts with superficial talk until Rachel, spurred on by the mention of her dead mother, declares, “I shall never marry,” and then asks Clarissa, “Why do people marry?” (p. 56), and unsuccessfully attempts to articulate her wants. Rachel is in search of answers about not just marriage or men but life, yet Clarissa is not listening. She simply assures Rachel that all of her wants will be answered by marriage.

Rachel’s surging emotions are made manifest as a great storm arrives, forcing the passengers to stay in their cabins while it passes. Richard collides with Rachel during a short turn on deck, and the two quickly retreat to her cabin to escape the gusting wind. Richard resorts to pleasantries, asking Rachel about her “interests”; Rachel’s response is odd but to the point: She says, “You see, I’m a woman” (p. 70), as if that prevents her from having any real interests. Her supplication is enough to arouse Richard, though, and he suddenly grabs her and kisses her, causing Rachel to nearly black out and Richard to pull back.

“You tempt me,” he said. The tone of his voice was terrifying. He seemed choked in fright. They were both trembling. Rachel stood up and went. Her head was cold, her knees shaking, and the physical pain of the emotion was so great that she could only keep herself moving above the great leaps of her heart. She leant upon the rail of the ship, and gradually ceased to feel, for a chill of body and mind crept over her (p. 71).

Here Rachel is experiencing not passion but virtual paralysis. Richard’s desire has stirred up hitherto unknown but exciting feelings that she can only cope with by looking into the calm of the dark and mesmerizing sea. That night, however, her excitement turns into anxiety, and in a dream she finds herself in a long tunnel whose “walls oozed with damp,” facing “a little deformed man.” The only way Rachel can preserve herself from the beastlike man in her nightmare is by lying “still and cold as death,” until finally she shakes herself awake, still to feel pursued by “barbarian men” (p. 72). Although Richard’s kiss has introduced Rachel to a world of “infinite possibilities” (p. 71), it has also aroused in her terrifying, irrational fears of not only what men seem to want — namely sex — but also what she herself feels.

Richard’s kiss also has an educational effect, indirectly triggering Rachel’s personal awakening. Like many women of the era, Rachel has been trained to be a vessel, to respond to others and silence her inner voice. But during a discussion with Helen about the kiss, Rachel suddenly realizes that she is beholden to no one and can actually be her own person. While this realization may seem cliched or even obvious to the modern reader, at the time it was a somewhat revolutionary concept.

The rest of the story takes place in a fictional British resort colony named Santa Marina, bordering on a jungle somewhere in South America.