Empathy in Virginia Woolfs Mrs Dalloway. And the Relevance of Focalization and Free Indirect Discourse

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The narrative encourages readers to engage their empathic imagination, allowing them to experience the plot through the perspectives of characters or the narrator. Theories of art reception suggest that readers connect with fiction by relating to characters' experiences, which enhances cognitive skills and theory of mind. Vera Nünning posits that literary fiction fosters perspective-taking through techniques like focalization, comments from a heterodiegetic narrator, and suspenseful situations, ultimately deepening understanding of characters' motivations and emotions.