"Mrs. Dalloway said she would buy the flowers herself."
Study Questions
2. Clarissa's movements through London, along with the comings and goings of other characters, are given in some geographic detail. Do the patterns of movement and the characters' intersecting routes establish a pattern? If so, how do those physical patterns reflect important internal patterns of thought, memory, feelings, and attitudes? What is the view of London that we come away with?
3. As the day and the novel proceed, the hours and half hours are sounded by a variety of clocks (for instance, Big Ben strikes noon at the novel's exact midpoint). What is the effect of the time being constantly announced on the novel's structure and on our sense of the pace of the characters' lives? What hours in association with which events are explicitly sounded? Why? Is there significance in Big Ben being the chief announcer of time?
4. Clarissa reads lines from Shakespeare's Cymbeline (IV, ii) from an open book in a shop window: "Fear no more the heat o' the sun / Nor the furious winter's rages. / Thou thy worldly task hast done, / Home art gone and ta'en thy wages: / Golden lads and girls all must, / As chimney-sweepers, come to dust." These lines are alluded to many times. What importance do they have for Clarissa, Septimus, and the novel's principal themes? What fears do Clarissa and other characters experience?
"Mrs. Dalloway said she would buy the flowers herself."
In Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf it follows the day of Mrs. Dalloway. However it almost seamlessly transitions through different perspectives and characters. This can be especially apparent in dialogue scenes where the conversation transitions to thoughts in each character's head but the dialogue still continues throughout the paragraph. There is almost no indication of a transition and it's more like a continuous flow of thoughts and ideas of different characters. Another point where such transitions are apparent is when there is a focal event in the novel. For example, the car not starting in the novel where it contrasts Mrs. Dalloways’ upbeat notion of how a famous person may be in the car and it transitions to Septimus’ negative, upsetting thoughts. By putting all these point of views together we get a better idea of the characters as we can see how each character reacts to each situation and also we get a better picture of what happens. Like Mrs. Dalloway versus Peter Walsh’s interpretations of what happened that summer when she rejected his proposal. This style of writing where there is a continuous flow between characters is very radical during Woolf’s time but it has influenced the writers of the future.
ReplyDeleteThe first day that we read Mrs. Dalloway, I felt a connection to the notion that Clarissa expresses: that one can be optimistic, cheerful, and appreciative, and at the same time, intelligent. One of the reasons she despises (at least temporarily) Peter is his cynicism, his dismissal of any sentimentalism. When he comes to see her she thinks, “the lack of a ghost of a notion that anyone was feeling that annoyed her (46).” She is infuriated by his lack of sympathy, the notion that all attempts at it were born of ignorance. I like to think I am somewhat aware, not an ignorant hollow person, yet I am happy and make a point of appreciating life. I like to think I can be both, just like Clarissa. Because of this difference, I agreed with Clarissa when she said that she was glad they didn't marry. However, it soon becomes apparent they are more, well, I wouldn't say well matched because they aren't, but they fit with each other somehow, more than either of them would like to admit. They both grasp at time, desperate to prove their youth. While beginning to sew her dress, Clarissa assures herself: “She was not old yet. She had just broken into her fifty second year. Months and months of it were still untouched. June, July, and August! (36)” According to Clarissa’s description, Peter does not seem the kind of person to worry about time passing, instead to be someone to say something like “time is an illusion just like love and emotion”. But he reveals this similarity with his old lover when he thinks, “For he was not old; his life was not over: not by any means. He was just past fifty (43).” They both fear the passing of time, both resist their own inevitable end. As she is walking in the park, Clarissa recalls Peter as stubborn and egotistical but it is clear that he has changed, or at least is beginning to. As he walks in the park he remarks, “It’s a splendid morning too (54).” Ha! Gotcha! He’s basking in the small beauty around him! Perhaps did Clarissa teach him this, despite her stance that he could never learn a thing from her? Also, he is not the only one who has changed, Peter remarks that Clarissa has hardened, hinting that he admired her excitable, optimistic self. I admire Peter when he speaks of the importance of idealists. He thinks of his love for men, like himself, “with their love for abstract principles…reading philosophy. The future lies in the hands of young men like that (50).” His appreciation for these dreamers, who some may call unreasonable or ignorant themselves, gives me hope and comforts me. Wait, even I see what Clarissa means when she craves this man’s approval and I’ve never even met him! Anyways, Clarissa shares this drive to better the world and reminisces about when her and Sally, “were to reform the world (33).” I believe Clarissa and Peter won’t be satisfied unless they are together, not that being satisfied is the only way to live a good life, but I don't think they will ever stop craving each other.
ReplyDeleteI also noticed a longing for self sufficiency inside Clarissa, first because she famously insists on getting the flowers herself. Secondly, she describes in detail her solitary wonderings in London: she is proud of her autonomy among the thousands in the city. She even makes a point of saying of her torn dress, “She would mend it (37).” I hope to learn the cause of this longing for independence; a sheltered childhood or introversion? I know (or I guess don't know) the force she speaks of which “was not beauty; it was not mind (31). It’s just force, something we sense in other people which we either respect or don't. Oh and then there’s Clarissa sexuality!, the description of which is ahead of its time. It's not an earth shattering question of labels, it's just feelings of human vulnerability, like when she got all excited to do her hair for Sally. The same nonchalant way that sexuality is dealt with in this book was the same which I admired in The Hours. The fact that these characters aren't straight isn't their defining character trait.
Through the confusion of Virginia Woolf’s rants, what I find mostly sticking in my mind is Mrs. Dalloway’s musings on the impact she makes in life, mostly because it’s a worry I have as well. She wonders about how much she can claim she’s truly succeeded in living her life to her true potential. She specifically focuses on Peter’s assessment of her after Clarissa rejects his offer of marriage: that she will amount to nothing more than a housewife. And as she looks upon her situation, setting up a party for her husbands associates as a senator, she can’t help but feel regret at living up to Peter’s assessment of her.
ReplyDeleteThe question becomes will she ever be remembered as Clarissa or just as the wife of the senator, Mrs. Richard Dalloway? Has she made an impact as an individual? Will anyone remember her in the future generations to come? Or has her life simply been wasted- wasted in its potential and wasted in the time and resources that could have been given to someone more worthy?
Clarissa can only work at her memories in search of an answer. Not that she gives herself much of an option as memories burst forth at every new sight and every new sound, every new encounter and every new observation she makes all while simply walking to buy some flowers. An answer has yet to establish itself, yet on she parades in hopes of perhaps doing such in the course of an otherwise average day.
Virginia Woolf expertly follows the life of Clarrisa Dalloway in the novel Mrs Dalloway. She transitions between the characters actions, thoughts, and words, so smoothly that it is hard for the reader to keep up with. It is interesting to me to see how Woolf intermingles the past and present of Mrs. Dalloway’s life. For example, when Clarrissa runs into Hugh Whitbread and remembers how Peter Walsh disapproved of him. And then she starts to go more into detail about Peter and her relationship with him like how he asked her to marry him and she refused. But then the story goes right back into the conversation between Clarissa and Hugh. I like how this stream of consciousness writing gives the story so much honesty and makes it more captivating for the reader because we get to hear all sides and opinions, not just the main characters and not just what is said out loud. We get to hear the thoughts of the characters and can compare it to what they say to each other which gives it more a more truthful feeling. We get to see the characters in two completely different ways, internally and externally. We get to see the ways they interact with the world and listen to their most private thoughts as they go about their days. Another thing that I noticed happened after Clarissa got back from the flower shop. She was having a personal revelation about her relationship with Sally during their time at Bourton, when Peter Walsh interrupts her and cuts her off. Then, while Peter Walsh and Clarissa are talking, Elizabeth interrupts them and prevents the intimacy between them. Elizabeth stops the communication of their past failures and possibilities of the future. It is also fascinating to me how all of this happened before noon in just a single day. It seems like just this first part of the book could have been an entire book by itself even though it was only about 4 or 5 hours.
ReplyDeleteI am continually struck by Clarissas appreciation for life. I remember this from the hours. The way that she seems to appreciate everything so vividly is something amazing, and I can’t tell if I admire it or if I’m jealous of her. The action of going out and buying flowers is something so profound to me. To her, it's more than buying flowers though, it's just going out in the world and taking everything in. This state of mindfulness being is something I strive for. I definitely get glimpses of what it is like to be truly present and fully appreciative, but I know I’m not there yet. I find myself anxious and overwhelmed with the idea that I’m letting my life go to waste - this of course just causes me to fall further and further away from Clarissa’s way of life. I wonder what would change if I (and so many other people) could just let. things. go. and appreciate. I have recently been making a lot of progress in improving my mental health and this idea of appreciating everyday life is something I’m working really hard to achieve. I love how Virginia Wolfe is able to illustrate that.
ReplyDeleteI also understand that life isn’t meant to be perfect and that accepting that will bring more fulfillment. I find it interesting Clarissa and Peter’s relationship very interesting. It’s like they are soulmates but their relationship just isn’t functional. That is kind of a sad truth of life - some things are meant to be like that, and it's just out of our control. I also think it's kind of ironic that she can embrace life like this but have trouble accepting her increasing age.
One last question I have is who do we live for? Do we live to be remembered after we die, is it to please others, or is it to please ourselves. I really hope its for ourselves, and I don’t think that has to be a selfish thing.
I am thoroughly enjoying this book. Woolf fills every line with meaning and power. She transforms everyday moments and is able to break them down to reveal the essence of each while keeping each intact like I have never seen before. I feel as though I would have to read this book over and over to truly catch everything that she has slipped between the lines. Just like how, although I’m not sure I would’ve noticed it if it had not been for the questions above, I saw the Shakespear quoted and requoted often. Whenever I did, I tried to slow down and understand why it was used again. The quote itself is a nod to death, how death should not be feared because it is a relief after life. I don’t know how Mrs. Dalloway ends, but I do know Virginia Woolf commits suicide in her life. It is interesting to see how each character has a bit of Woolf in them. I assume that most authors do this in their books, but it seems glaringly obvious in Mrs. Dalloway. Virginia Woolf did have an affair with a woman for many years. She also had a miserable childhood, filled with abuse and loss. So we can see, through many characters in addition to Clarissa, the internal struggle with life and death, like the vertern in the beginning of the book, and feelings of regret for a variety of reasons from Mrs. Dalloway and others. Virginia Woolf married not out of love, but more because she felt wanted. It is noted, however, that it was a loveless marriage, neither of them particularly happy. Mrs. Dalloway obviously feels trapped as well, there is no love in her marriage with Richard either. Instead, she is jealous that he gets to go out for lunch with a woman who is known for her lunch parties. She would rather she is there than Richard. Instead she reminisces about her youth and when she was in love with a girl. This flash to the past shows how unhappy Mrs. Dalloway is. Then, a few pages after this, I am distracted once again by the repetition of “Fear no more”. This reminds me of Shakespear’s quote. Clarissa is feeling calm and is simply sewing, when she thinks of the heart and the mind on a beach, being able to fear no more. She seems to miss her life and is unsatisfied by the glitz and glamour of her life. But life goes on, falling and rising like a wave. She is more interested in the small moments, the ones that Woolf builds up so beautifully. As I’ve said multiple times, every bit in this novel is filled to the brim with emotion, meaning, and energy, so I don’t know how long it would take for me to digest this whole book. But I do think I’ve written this blog post as a stream of conscious, I guess I was inspired by Woolf.
ReplyDeleteBy following streams of consciousness, Virginia Woolf tells a story in a seamless way. I am used to reading books that tell a story mostly by describing what a character does. Mrs. Dalloway uses the unique approach of sharing the thoughts of the characters. It was difficult to get used to the way that the characters would switch from one thought to another, seeing or thinking of something that reminded them of something else. However, as I kept reading, and I got used to this, I realized that this way of storytelling is most accurate to the way people actually think. I am reminded of the quote from The Hours. “A woman's whole life in a single day. Just one day. And in that day her whole life.” By going from one thought to another we get to see Clarissa’s whole life in one day, whether it be through memories of important people, or moments that made her the person she is. We get to see more than we would if Woolf had just described what she was doing, because we get to hear Clarissa’s thoughts. Woolf also adds more to the story by showing events and people from different perspectives, such as the scene with the car driving down the street. We see the car drive down the street from multiple different perspectives. And get to hear the different hypotheses as to who is in it. Each person has a different idea, because each person is different. I really like the style of writing that Virginia Woolf uses in this book, it is almost like reading poetry.
ReplyDeleteI find Mrs. Dalloway to be an incredibly interesting read. Virginia Woolf is honest as she describes the everyday life through the stream of consciousness, and it is really funny because of this honesty. But it is also quite sad and heart-aching as she revives all these regrets and memories from her life at the drop of a hat, because that really is the truth. Sometimes the simplest little things can bring about spirals of old memories that pain us, and it can happen everyday. But she tries not to dwell because that is not her life anymore. they are old memories in the end. But it's hard for her to not think about most of these events that happened throughout the day, which is the weight of one's regrets in their lifetime. This idea really stuck with me, because if people my age are already experiencing it, what is it going to feel like when we are Clarissa's age, burdened by the weight of this past that cannot be changed? Is everyday life just going to be a repetition of the same actions with little variation and constantly struck by our deepest regrets about the past, and there's nothing we can do about it but push through and pretend we aren't bothered anymore when literally everyone is but refuses to acknowledge it? I hope there is some way to rectify this issue, but from what I can tell, this is an issue today as much as it was nearly a century ago when Woolf wrote it.
ReplyDeleteWhat I wouldn’t give to be in the mind of Virginia Woolf while she was writing this first bit of Mrs. Dalloway. The perfect understanding of her characters and settings allow for a narration from the point of view of someone there in London on a beautiful June morning. In my experience writing fiction, which I do enjoy, it is difficult to keep track of every character’s emotion, and thus is far easier to have a first person narrator. However, third person narrators allow for a more developed plot, and make the details less one sided. Adding to this the fact that the narrator’s point of view jumps between characters seemingly without alert, and the story is a very complex read, even if it is only about a woman’s walk to the local flower shop. Thus far, it seems to me that our main characters are going to be Clarissa (obviously), Peter, Septimus, and Rieza. Other characters whose thoughts we occasionally get to hear include Lucy, Elizabeth, and random onlookers. It is the transitions between characters that makes Mrs. Dalloway a time consuming read, though one that I enjoy.
ReplyDeleteI like uncovering bits of Clarissa’s past, either via her own thoughts or someone else’s. She has such an appreciation for the present moment, and her energy is almost palpable. Clarissa, upon leaving her house, thinks to herself, “What a lark! What a plunge!” (1). All she has done is step into the outside world, yet undoubtedly is expressing more excitement than anyone would in that scenario. She lives life as though she has no regrets (though we know she is still uncertain about her decision not to marry Peter Walsh all these years later). I believe that these positive aspects of Clarissa’s personality are reflective of Woolf's fond memories of London and how she retrospectively views the Virginia Woolf that was allowed to live within the chaos of the city. I admire how Woolf created an entire novel of a single day in the life of an ordinary woman, though I recognize it was likely just her desire to reminisce. Clarissa is no Superman in the traditional sense, though her enthusiasm is arguably a power many of us lack.
Mrs. Dalloway is unlike any other book I have read before. When reading it, the sentence structure reminds me of Charles Dickens, in it's long, wordy, and occasionally confusing sentences. However, I find that it is a more interesting book than either Hard Times or A Tale of Two Cities. Part of the intrigue it brings is due to its nature as a groundbreaking book. Virginia Woolf takes on the quite tremendous task of writing an entire book that covers just the span of a single day, but also serves to illuminate the entire lives of the characters. Clarissa goes to buy flowers for a party, and we follow along with her; the entire book is just about this specific day, and the actions that occur during it. Yet, it is far more than that, as is easily seen one the very first page, when Clarissa goes from deciding to buy flowers herself, to suddenly reminiscing about her long time friend Peter Walsh, and their days at Bourton. She then uses this reverie to provide background for Peter, who is currently in India, and along the way the reader also learns about Clarissa, as well as her relationship with Peter, as Clarissa says “it was his sayings one remembered; his eyes, his pocket-knife, his smile, his grumpiness and, when millions of things had utterly vanished - how strange it was! - a few sayings like this about cabbages”(Woolf). Already, the reader gets a sense of their bond, and they get a sense of what this novel is going to look like: descriptions, flashbacks, inner monologues, and free flowing thoughts, all wrapped up in one another. It is almost like a stream of consciousness in the form of a novel, but just who’s consciousness it is, one cannot exactly say. For, here is one of the other important pieces of Woolf’s creation: the perspective. She starts with Clarissa, but the reader does not only see and hear what Clarissa is thinking, no, instead the reader gets to experience the thoughts and emotions of the characters surrounding her as well. Again, less than a full page into the novel, Woolf jumps into the mind of Scrope Purvis, saying “A charming woman, Scrope Purvis thought her...a touch of the bird about her, of the jay, blue-green, light, vivacious, though she was over fifty, and grown very white since her illness”(Woolf). The efficiency of Woolf is stunning, for she manages to provide the reader with a taste of a multitude of her literary techniques before more than a single page has been turned, while simultaneously providing the reader with multiple descriptions of the main character thus far, both explicit and implicit. This continues on throughout the whole of this section, as the reader learns more about Clarissa, Septimus, and Peter Walsh through their own thoughts, as well as the thoughts of others. However, a key difference is that these three characters get their own inner dialogue shared, their points of view, instead of simply their thoughts and observations, as with characters such as Scrope Purvis, Lucrezia, and Mrs. Dempster. This emphasizes the different importance of such characters, making the reader pay more attention to them, as the book is presented almost as if it revolves around them, and the others are simply there to provide more information about the important characters. Woolf uses new methods to describe a new style of book, and the outcome is striking.
ReplyDeleteVirginia Woolf crafts an intricate narrative with escarse dialogue, most conversations seem to take place inside Mrs Dalloway’s own head, while she ponders about her life and those around her. I find it really interesting how Woolf’s love of London is shown through her writing, while the author herself was confined in the countryside, her heart always belonged to the capital, and so does Mrs. Dalloway’s. The character walks slowly and admires every bit of the metropole, in a way similar to her analysis of those she encounters or thinks of. All characters mentioned by her appear with a clear explanation to the nature of their relationship, either by Clarissa’s intentional thoughts or her unperceived actions and reactions, such as her euphoria upon meeting Hughes in the street, or the way she shows her disappointment early on in the book in relation to Peter’s lack of communication, and how much she values his opinion.
ReplyDeleteAs a matter of fact, she values it so much that she is constantly reminded of a comment Walsh had made years prior, calling her the perfect hostess, something Clarissa still carries resentment for, while painfully acknowledging it to be true due to the nature of her marriage and relationship. Woolf, while focusing on Clarissas’s story, moves around within characters, exposing their different emotions and experiences. She also makes use of the third person narrator when exemplifying what other may think of Clarissa, as opposed to what she thinks of herself.
Mrs. Dalloway seems obsessed with the idea of death, pulling parallels between herself and Septimus, it seems that their death is imminent by the end of the book. I find it striking how the entire book happens over the course of a single day, and the constant reminders of the time seems to be almost mocking the characters, and the reader.
When we bring up the topic of description in Mrs. Dalloway is how she can bring new life to things. I fell in love with the description of the flowers in Miss Pym’s shop, they really came to life and made them feel like characters within that scene. I liked the imagery that it gave me and it gave me a sense of who Miss Pym is as a person as well. She seems so sweet, her name sounds like a flower in itself. The presence that she has in the room is calming, and makes it feel so comfortable like i'm at home. Another thing about the description in the book is that each page can be a second in time due to the fact that the book is all about one day. It allows me to savor each moment and deep dive into every second. The feeling is relaxed, I can take my time to enjoy the day that I am immersed in. What im hoping is that, at the end of the day, it will be wrapped up nicely, but also allow for it to extend into the future, like how an actual day in the life would be.
ReplyDeleteThe novel, Mrs. Dalloway, is clearly a stream of conscious, however it is not just her own. Woolf jumps from person to person throughout the novel. This is very effective in this story because it really builds the themes and even the plot. Such as in the very beginning, when the car backfires and everyone turns and believes they have seen majesty, but they don’t know who. The audience gets to move from mind to mind; experiencing ptsd, regret of moving, thoughts wandering from past and future. If we had stayed in only Mrs. Dalloway’s perspective, then we would’ve believed that it was simply the prince in the car. The scene would have moved on and nothing would have been explored. Instead, just a minor moment is turned into a developed piece of art. We are put in the center of bustling London. We see just why Mrs. Dalloway does as she does by being in someone else’s mind. When one character does something, it is like a domino effect, through one character to the next, until we see Mrs. Dalloway’s actions. It gives us additional context into the world that Mrs. Dalloway lives in, as we couldn’t grasp it well otherwise. There are moments when we see the past of both Mrs. Dalloway and random characters whose mind we are in. This gives us even more information to digest and understand and connect. You read dozens of pages and become so enthralled in Mrs. Dalloway’s life and the connections others have with it, that you don’t even realize that it has only been one afternoon in the novel. Time goes slowly, but each second is filled with so much that we don’t usually see. Which brings us back to the multiple perspectives. We would not be able to be so immersed in this book if we did not shuffle between both major and minor characters.
ReplyDeleteAs we read the novel, Virginia Woolf for the most part keeps us within the mind of Clarissa Dalloway. To show us when we transition from within her mind to a real world experience, she uses certain things to draw us in or out. When we are leaving Clarissas head, there is often a sudden inclusion of a real tangible object. When we leave the real world to go into Clarissa’s head, there is typically a long descriptive sentence outlining a thought process which Clarissa is having. As she moves through London and meets new people, it seems that the general attitude of everyone is kind of glum. Nobody seems to match her general upbeat happy nature. As far as a pattern of how they interact other than that, she typically meets them in passing. The city is a busy moving city. The passing of time shown by Big Ben displays how slowly we are moving through the novel. This highlights how Clarissa, like us, gets lost in her own head and is only brought back to a sense of time with the strikes of Big Ben. It also shows us how detailed every moment is and gives us a perspective of how much time passes with each event in the day. I think that the Shakespeare lines allude to that life is temporary and the people will eventually die. This is something that plagues Septimus, he has quite an issue with his existence. Additionally, I don’t think Clarissa is as happy with life as she pretends to be. Someone who is that positive has something to hide. Whether it be depression meds or she murdered someone. Who knows.
ReplyDeleteFor my blog response, I decided to focus on question two, the geography present in Mrs. Dalloway. The main instance of geography I remember in the first fifty pages is the arrival of the Queen on Bond Street. As of now, this book is very hard for me to understand, and it is even harder for me to picture what is happening, partly due to the English and lack of context. But as I read about the arrival of the queen and what was going on in the streets, “a small crowd meanwhile had gathered at the gates of Buckingham Palace,” I was able to picture what was happening very easily. I could picture the streets of London, I could picture the flower shop, and I was able to see what Clarissa was seeing. The geographical features allow me to form a picture in my mind and comprehend what is going on. I know that this is unlikely to be the reason that Virginia Woolf focused on geography, but I feel that being so detached from the period Woolf was writing from, the features help audience’s comprehension.
ReplyDeleteClarissas movement through london plays a really big role in the way her thought process works. I feel like the way that the book is written is simply a flow of thoughts that are interlaced with what she sees and does throughout the day. However, the more that I think of how weird it is - I also came to the realization that this is something that I do as well and most likely all humans. Myself and I believe humans alike have a constant thought process that is related to our environment. The reason I didn't notice it before is that we are usually always speaking our thoughts and it's hard to speak and think two different things. This thought train is usually very evident in my head when im asleep or am in quietude. The perspective changes I found particularly interesting because it reminded me how everyone must also have a constant train of thought and how different and varied people can interpret things based on the way they think. This is applicable to the present time say when one sends text with a particular meaning in mind but the other person might understand it in a different connotation all dependent on the way they think. The feeling of london that comes away is somewhat of a peaceful surrounding with beauty everywhere but i feels tough after the perspective change one can infer that Mrs. Dalloway might've have over fantasized it a little.
ReplyDeleteTime is an important aspect in Ms. Dalloway. While reading the novel we are seeing different times in Clarrisas life, the past, present and future. She tends to skip around jumping from thought to thought, seeing something that triggers an old memory then skipping around again. The novel isn't written chronologically, the reader is living inside Clarrisas mind, imagining her every thought. Not only do we read Clarrisas thoughts but also every other character. This allows the reader to see different points of view on the same topics. Big Ben represents the hours that go by each day and reminds Clarrisa that time is running out, “a suspense before Big Ben strikes. There! Out it boomed. First a warning, musical; then the hour, irrevocable. The leaden circles dissolved in the air.” Big Ben is shown in a negative light, hours are passing by that one will never get back. Time can be seen as a scary concept, especially to Clarrisa. One may begin to wonder if they have really accomplished enough with the time given to them. Clarrisa is reminded that she is getting older which is hard for her to accept. Every time the clock sounds, Clarrisa gets a horrible feeling, fearing death.
ReplyDeleteClarrisa’s actions come off very positive. She's getting out in the world and walking in the fresh air but it seems as if something is missing or unfulfilled. There is a certain sadness about her. I enjoy the structure of this novel. I love that the whole book is based on just one day. Clarrissa may zone out into thought and the book may go on for multiple pages about her thought train, but only minutes have gone by. Sometimes for me reading a summary of events that happened can get pretty boring. In the way Virginia Woolf wrote this book it’s hard for me to put it down, I want to find out what happens next.
When reading Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf, I have been surprised yet intrigued by the writing style and the way this book emphasizes each event occuring in the book. Virginia’s style of writing effects each event and turns something that may not be relevant into something that is the most relevant of Clarissa. Each pattern and/or activity she does, she reflects on it with power and passion, as if everything she does means something more than the simplicity of it. For example, when she goes to get flowers in the beginning of the novel, I have been able to tell that she took lots of pride in this because she was going out in the world to do this, making her mark and being fully appreciative of how she is living in that moment. The effect of the time constantly announced on the structure of this novel allows for more emphasis on the actions of Clarissa and other characters. It tends to slow down the pace of the novel, allowing more characters to show who they are and their relevance in Mrs. Dalloway. Especially considering the writing style of Virginia Woolf, writing by the thoughts of the numerous characters, the time aspect essentially adds more to the story because these thoughts are emphasized through more actions and more events taking place. I really enjoy this novel because it takes a different approach than any other book I have read before, not only because of the writing styles but because of the uniqueness of the characters. I find Clarissa to be a fascinating character, her positivity and strive for everything captures what her life is like and the way she lives everyday. I am excited to see where this novel takes her.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading, I went back to specific parts that I thought I could look closer at and elaborate my thoughts on. I noticed that for every part I did this, there was a central theme that tied every single part of the book together while also describing thoughts with totally different perspectives. Why did Woolf have Rezia repeat the word “look” so many times when Septimus and Rezia were in the park? The first description showed what was to be looked at (the troop of boys). The second one explained Rezia’s reasoning behind asking (Dr. Holms). The third shows how the word led Spetumis’s thoughts to blame his “eternal loneliness” on the renewing of society along with his confounding. The fourth explained how Rezia wanted to change Septimus’s train of thought. Finally, the fifth could be seen from the point of view of either character. “But what was there to look at?” Woolf implies that the word might symbolize Septimus’s empty feelings for his wife, Rezia’s failure at satisfying herself, or perhaps nothing at all. The different perspectives capture associations of thought with the single word as well as the character’s individual reactions as Woolf describes them. One of the main themes in the book revolves around perspective and how it shapes our thoughts into completely new ideas. Sometimes even a single word can generate roots that span out with all sorts of potential meanings that we happen to think so vividly about without even realizing it.
ReplyDeleteOne spoken word in the world of Mrs. Dalloway led to a page of deep, deep analysis. It’s all coming together how a single day is being captured in an entire book.
ReplyDeleteThroughout the beginning of the book everyone seems to be tied to one point and as they live their lives the thread of passing through unravels. Tied to their backs this invisible thread is women from the central heart which connects them all. This seems to be London. As Clarissa moves around the streets of London her interactions with other characters are webbed together as she carries the long thread of history with her. Especially when meeting Hugh Whitebred, she is pulled into the past where she was just a young girl, where the thread lies at tangles in her childhood home, tangled with memories of Peter and then eventually their threads leave in different directions. In the event of the loud car backfire the brings everyone's eyes to the streets, it becomes intriguing how each person’s perspective is different from each other, though they are all viewing the same. I feel when reading this book, I am actually placed in different parts of London, not exactly experiencing what the characters feel and do, but noticing how they see everything differently. For I can still come back into the narrator's perspective, but again dive into the perspective of any characters, becoming a shadow.
The parallels between the film “The Hours” and “Mrs. Dalloway” are both helpful and very confusing. Especially at the beginning of the film I struggled to separate the two and often forgot that we were not watching the film remake of the book. Even with that, the scenes with Clarissa in the film help to visually guide me through the often complicated book. These parallels are present in not only specific characters like Richard and Septimus, but in the themes used. We witness the intense self-discovery journeys of many characters such as Clarissa who explores concepts such as life and death, morality, guilt, and gender roles. At the beginning of the book, we see the inner-workings of Clarissa’s mind as she reads an excerpt about death from a book in a shop window. We learn that she does not act for herself but in consideration of other people’s opinions of her. This is important to the reader in understanding why Clarissa does what she does in the future. Her actions may appear self-less, but with this information, the reader can more thoroughly understand Clarissa’s motivations behind her actions. Though, this is not to form a negative opinion about her, rather to gain a deeper understanding. Although the way Woolf wrote Mrs. Dalloway using a stream of her thoughts is very confusing, it is very helpful in understanding the characters. The film does not have this information but makes up for it in guiding the viewer visually.
ReplyDeleteWhen I first began reading the novel, I was not at all pleased with the writing style. It reminded me very much of Charles Dickens in his books, some of which I did not enjoy. When I read A Tale of Two Cities it was very hard to keep my attention on the book long enough to, at times, even finish a sentence. This book, while similar, was not written quite so elongated. I felt that the long sentences served more of a purpose, rather than just being there for show. The drawn on sentences allowed for a better depiction of Clarissa’s mind, as she is full of thoughts and gets lost in her own mind. The announcement of time emphasizes this as well as slows down the time for the reader. Most books have a fairly sped up perspective of time, as we can read and process a book faster than we move through life. This novel creates a more realistic effect.
ReplyDelete