The setting of Virginia Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway takes place in London, during the Summer of 1923. This time frame sets the novel approximately six years after the end of World War I which, in itself, was an event that set off a transforming paradigm shift across society. As it is often the case in post War societies, the roles of those who compose it change as their importance is questioned.
In post-War London, particularly in the area of Westminster where the novel develops, the Dalloways would have represented the stratum of high society that showed itself to the people as unscathed from the horrible effects of war.