In Mrs. Dalloway, how does Virginia Woolf treat sexual attraction?

Sexuality, particularly the type of sexual attraction that
Clarissa detects in herself, is treated in a very delicate manner and giving specific
consideration to the circumstances of the characters, their roles in life, and pasts,
and the connection of their characters with those of Shakespeare's
Othello, with whom Woolf compares the story lines of each
individual.

Clarissa is in her 50's, and has just realized
that society expects her to be frigid, nun-like, and to go back to a life of
nothingness: No passion is allowed for her for she has already been a wife and a mother.
Hence, alone and with grown children, she has to find her role in society once more on
her own.

This being said, Clarissa is in a journey of
self-contemplation. This contemplation has led her to realize that she is actually
sexually attracted to another woman, Sally. This is where Virginia Woolf uses her most
delicate descriptions and comparisons to Othello, particularly on
the subject of missed opportunities at love, the conventionalism that leads nowhere, and
the expectation that women are supposed to behave, feel, and hope in a specific
way.

When the novel ends, we realize the deep regret that
Clarissa feels at not being able to fulfill her passion, and her realization that she
simply needed a different kind of life altogether to match the different emotions in her
heart.