"I wanted to be a writer, that's all. I wanted to write about it all. Everything that happens in a moment. The way the flowers looked when you carried them in your arms. This towel, how it smells, how it feels, this thread. All our feelings, yours and mine. The history of it, who we once were. Everything in the world. Everything all mixed up, like it's all mixed up now. And I failed. I failed. No matter what you start with it ends up being so much less. Sheer pride and stupidity."
Study Questions
2. Speaking of The Hours, as we explore the text through the lens of the film, what connections are seeing between The Hours and Mrs. Dalloway. How do big themes from the present shine through? How does the analysis of Virginia Woolf bring out ideas from her novel?
3. What was Clarissa's relationship with Sally Seton? What is the significance of Sally's reentry into Clarissa's life after so much time? What role does Sally play in Clarissa's past and in her present?
4. What is Woolf s purpose in creating a range of female characters of various ages and social classes-from Clarissa herself and Lady Millicent Burton to Sally Seton, Doris Kilman, Lucrezia Smith, and Maisie Johnson? Does she present a comparable range of male characters?
5. 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?
6. Woolf shifts scenes between past and present, primarily through Clarissa's, Septimus's, and others' memories. Does this device successfully establish the importance of the past as a shaping influence on and an informing component of the present? Which characters promote this idea? Does Woolf seem to believe this holds true for individuals as it does for society as a whole?
7. Clarissa and others have a heightened sense of the "splendid achievement" and continuity of English history, culture, and tradition. How do Clarissa and others respond to that history and culture? What specific elements of English history and culture are viewed as primary?
How does Clarissa's attitude, specifically, compare with Septimus's attitude on these points?
"Her cake is a failure, but she is loved anyway. She is loved, she thinks, in more or less the way the gifts will be appreciated: because they've been given with good intentions, because they exist, because they are part of a world in which one wants what one gets...She will not lose hope. She will not mourn her lost possibilities, her unexplored talents (what if she has no talents, after all?). She will remain devoted to her son..."
3. What was Clarissa's relationship with Sally Seton? What is the significance of Sally's reentry into Clarissa's life after so much time? What role does Sally play in Clarissa's past and in her present?
4. What is Woolf s purpose in creating a range of female characters of various ages and social classes-from Clarissa herself and Lady Millicent Burton to Sally Seton, Doris Kilman, Lucrezia Smith, and Maisie Johnson? Does she present a comparable range of male characters?
5. 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?
6. Woolf shifts scenes between past and present, primarily through Clarissa's, Septimus's, and others' memories. Does this device successfully establish the importance of the past as a shaping influence on and an informing component of the present? Which characters promote this idea? Does Woolf seem to believe this holds true for individuals as it does for society as a whole?
7. Clarissa and others have a heightened sense of the "splendid achievement" and continuity of English history, culture, and tradition. How do Clarissa and others respond to that history and culture? What specific elements of English history and culture are viewed as primary?
How does Clarissa's attitude, specifically, compare with Septimus's attitude on these points?
Much like Shakespeare (as is often mentioned within the novel), Virginia Woolf is able to see the truths of human nature within the world, and uses such as a guide to her novel Mrs. Dalloway. Unlike Shakespeare, Woolf attempts to examine many aspects of the human character all within the course of one novel through the views of many characters other than the main focus, Mrs. Dalloway. Within the course of the section alone, Woolf takes an examination from a look into what it truly means to love, how one balances the need to fit in with the need to make an impact, and society’s need to conform to one virtue, practice, thought process, etc.
ReplyDeleteArguably within the novel, although many characters claim to crave a life a uniqueness, the only character that can considerably be seen as different from the social norm of life is Septimus- Septimus who has seen too many horrors to understand how to feel beyond the pain he experiences. Septimus doesn’t love his wife, society, or even his life. He lacks the love most fall victim to in their life, and therefore finds himself within a unique category of people, though he doesn’t attempt to do such in anyway. Septimus doesn’t want to fall into place in society and live his life as others in constant torment. He prefers death to the conformity others fall to. As such, Septimus becomes a representation of a divergence of the human truth and possesses a unique contrast to many characters in the novel.
Meanwhile, Clarissa and Peter find themselves in a place where they reflect on how large of an impact they have made in society while still falling into the norms its created, making such virtually impossible. Clarissa has fallen to the typical image of a wife’s place in London society. She has married, had a child, raised her child Elizabeth, and thrown the parties expected of her as a Senator’s wife. She has conformed herself into the check list of the perfect life society created in order to fulfill a sense of comfort and safety within her life.
Peter, on the other hand, may not have led the same typical image of life, but he still wonders about love- contemplating whether he truly loves his wife Daisy since he doesn’t feel the same torment he does over the thought of Clarissa. Clarissa similarly wonders if not marrying Peter may have been her greatest mistake, though she tries to convince herself otherwise. Like every other individual, the two find themselves pining after the meaning of love within their lives and whether they were successful in finding any sort of meaningful love to make their lives seem more purposeful.
In this section, Woolf sets the reader up to piece together many important connections. For example, right in the beginning of the section we can see Peter and Rezia in the park and immediately notice how similar they are. We can see their connection literally as Peter watches the little kid run into Rezia. Then another connection is in their feelings, as they watch the old lady singing in the street, both characters are inspired, but still pitiful. As Peter thinks back to when Clarissa rejected him and how awful it felt, we see the same feeling in Rezia about Septimus and his mental illness only a few seconds later. Similarly, there is a link between Septimus and Clarissa for the reader to compare. As Clarissa is fixing up her dress, Septimus is going to the doctor. Clarrissa symbolizes the front that she puts up for society which is like what happens when Septimus enters the office and is fully exposed to society. Septimus is pretty much at the doctors mercy, but Clarissa will be able to navigate social situations smoothly much like the way she is mending and preparing her dress.
ReplyDeleteIn “Mrs Dalloway” Virginia Woolf portrays privacy and loneliness as one of her themes. The greatest example presented in the novel is through the character Septimus. None of the characters can clearly understand his post traumatic stress disorder and great confusion he is going through. If you look a bit closer though you can see that Septimus is an essential counterpoint to Clarissa Dalloway and is almost seen as her double. His experience in the war and inner turmoil is connected to Clarissa’s struggle with gender roles and oversimplified idea of being a housewife. This may not seem comprehensible at first but you realize that they are both similar at core because they are at a disagreement against their current societal convention. The two of them aren’t really living and are questioning their lives. For instance in the beginning of the novel we see Clarissa questioning her decision of marrying Richard, “Suddenly it would cover over her, If he were with me now what would he say?” We continue to sympathize with her as she lives her life wondering is she has ever made a right decision. In Septimus’s case he proceeds with being the paranoid person he is and still thinks that the world around him is evil.
ReplyDeleteOne of the major connections that I have seen between The Hours and Mrs. Dalloway is the idea of madness. Both The Hours and Mrs. Dalloway have themes of madness. In The Hours, this theme is seen through Richard and Virginia Woolf, who both suffer with issues their mental health. Septimus, who is experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder, is viewed as mad by his wife and others around him. The way in which he thinks and behaves reminds me a lot of Virginia Woolf’s storyline in The Hours. Woolf was taken out of London by her husband Leonard to the country in order to heal her mind at the time of writing Mrs. Dalloway. You can see very much see the struggle that she is facing through Septimus in Mrs. Dalloway. Septimus’ wife takes care of him, just as Leonard takes care of Virginia. Virginia seemed to reflect the way in which she felt through Septimus’ character. Septimus said that he wanted to kill himself, and Virginia committed suicide. Septimus was to be sent out of London into the country to be isolated, as was Virginia. Woolf’s struggle is cleary seen through Septimus in the Mrs. Dalloway, as he struggles with his mental health and is unable to explain how he feels. I think it is interesting how similarly Septimus and Woolf experienced voices in their heads. It seems as if when writing Mrs. Dalloway, Woolf wanted Septimus’ character to be representative of her and how she felt.
ReplyDeleteWhen Clarissa thinks about Sally, earlier on in the book, we get an image of someone she fell deeply in love with because of her spontaneous personality. Sally seems like a free spirit which Clarissa admires or envies. They seemed like two unbreakable friends, besides Clarissa’s secret feelings. But, when we read Peter’s comparison of Sally and Clarissa, around page 60, a whole different image is painted. We find out that Clarissa seemed, and was, quite spoiled and ignorant. Perhaps her infatuation with Sally stemmed from her own roots of arrogance. Yet, I still question Peter’s description of the situation because the memory centers around his break up with Clarissa as she fell in love with Dalloway. I don’t know whether to read into his own observations as exaggerated because he lost who he had thought was the love of his life and he was upset by it. I think it could be a little of both. In the memory, Sally is a very neutral character, sending letters to Peter and talking to him and Clarissa. Whereas, as previously mentioned, Sally is a crucial figure in Clarissa’s eyes. These views are building depth to the characters that are at once eye opening and confusing.
ReplyDeleteThen Peter dumps us into the reality that Sally has entered; marrying the perfect rich man, something no one thought she would do. This reminded me of The Hours because in The Hours it is like we are seeing the different realities that Mrs. Dalloway could’ve had or did have. Sally, Clarissa’s wife in The Hours, is a happy house wife. Clarissa loves her but isn’t content with her life. So, in both The Hours and Mrs.Dalloway, Sally, and I guess, as I think about it (I’m really streaming now, shout out to Ms. Giggie), all of the characters all have a realization that their lives aren’t as great as they thought they would be. Or at least the audience is made aware of that. Their childhoods were filled with potential and passion, but now, comparing each other to their own dreams, they are all madly disappointed.
The characters of Peter and Richard are very similar. Both have their place in "Mrs. Dalloway's" life, as a huge chunk of their past, and why they are the way they are in the present. And the Mrs. Dalloway of both stories finds herself wondering about what could have been, all these years later. Both Clarissa's are upper class women who enjoy the simple, frivolous things in life like throwing a party. And Peter/Richard in both stories never fails to make her feel bad about liking this one thing. And as they all look back and wonder if they made the right choices, I can't help but think they did. So much time has passed that they really are changed people from when they were first together. And people tend to idealize their relationships when looking back with time, and don't remember/realize why they ended things, or the heat of how bad it could get. Both parties in each novel do this, where they remember that it could get bad, but they can't get over the love they felt first. When two people have different goals in life, and they don't really overlap, they aren't always a good fit. Like Clarissa wanted to be in this high society position, that was something she wanted and wouldn't have had if she stayed with Peter necessarily. He had these big dreams and they were taking him on a different route. They miss their relationship, and the promise of what could have been, but realistically it's different. Sometimes being together isn't enough, people have other aspirations.
ReplyDeleteSeptimus Smith is an interesting character, and certainly a progressive one to be writing of during the 1920’s. Only recently have we begun to destigmatize mental health in such a way that it can be spoken of freely, and even at that, we still have only taken baby steps. Yet Virginia Woolf chose to criticize the way mental health issues were (and still are in some cases) dealt with. Dr. Holmes repeatedly visits Rezia and Septimus, claiming that Septimus is perfectly fine, which makes sense, as there is nothing physically wrong with him. Because of this, when Dr. Holmes addresses Septimus, he is very condescending, and speaks to him in a way one of speak to a child (“Now what’s all this about? Talking nonsense to scare your wife?”). Woolf is not only criticizing doctors through this novel, but society as a whole. Despite being opposites in every way imaginable (gender, age, class, etc.) the only difference of importance between Septimus Smith and Clarissa Dalloway is whether people realize they are struggling in life. Septimus has Rezia to care for him and doctors bugging him all the time trying to help, while Clarissa is left to put up a front for society. No one knows her struggles, and she works hard to keep her thoughts about life’s purposelessness below the surface.
ReplyDeleteDue to this one difference, Clarissa believes that English traditions, such as parties and dinners (being the perfect hostess, no matter how upsetting) must be followed to a tee in order to maintain a sense of purpose and worth in her life, such that other people do not notice her moments of self-doubt (such as when her husband was invited out to lunch and she was not). However, Septimus abandons all sense of hope or sanity, as he has no cause to pretend. He says says on many occasions that human nature is evil, and that the race as a whole is doomed. Rather than put on a smile and act as though he is fine, like Clarissa, he abandons any effort toward keeping up with English traditions. Because of this, the Septimus’s of the world viewed as more sickly and in more need of help than the Clarissa’s, despite both characters struggling with the same depressing concept of their own mortality.
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ReplyDeleteClarissa and Septimus are comparable characters in the book, Ms. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf. Both characters see the negative aspects of life. Septimus, suffering from PTSD, see’s and hears things that aren’t really there. His condition causes him to be distrustful of other people and he sees an evilness in the world. Clarissa feels overwhelmed by her past and struggles with the decisions she has made. Clarissa wonders if she’s made the right choices in life and if she could have done anything differently. For example, she ponders if her life would have been better if she hadn’t married Richard and instead, ended up with Peter, “Suddenly it would cover over her, If he were with me now what would he say?” (7). Clarissa thinks about this, even though there is no way of going back in time to change it, making it pointless to worry about. Both Septimus and Clarissa, find it hard to find the good aspects of life. Instead of living life in the present, both characters are consumed by thought. While reading the book, I wish that Clarissa would stop obsessing over her past and what has no way of being changed. She is wasting the life she has left, obsessing over pointless things. This is even more troublesome due to the fact that she is so fearful of death and not fulfilling her life. Both Septimus and Clarissa are struggling internally and not really living life, they both struggle to be happy and see the good in life.
ReplyDeleteSeptimus makes his first appearance as Clarissa is flower shopping. Both Septimus and Clarissa respond to a mysterious car passing by, "Mrs. Dalloway... looked out with her little pink face...Everyone looked at the motor car. Septimus looked...as if some horror had come almost to the surface and was about to burst into flames, terrified him"(18). We see both of their reactions to the car as everyone wonders who’s inside of it. As the car backfires we are shown the two characters inner thoughts. Clarissa initially thinks it's the sound of a gunshot and Septimus thinks it’s the sound of a whip. Although different, both showed fear. The comparison then continues with a plane crossing overhead. Through these events, we get to see how terrified Septimus becomes and learn more about him. In both Ms. Dalloway and The Hours, Clarissa and Septimus are shown battling their own inner demons. They both struggle with life and finding overall happiness.
“The Hours” and “Mrs. Dalloway” share many similarities but many of the characters and storylines have been shifted which makes it difficult to call out the similarities. For example, Richard in “The Hours” is Clarissa’s friend who is sickly but in “Mrs. Dalloway” he is her husband. But we see that the storyline of Clarissa and Mrs. Dalloway are very similar in that over the course of a day it tells of a party being held.
ReplyDeleteSome themes such as death and love are very prominent in both. For example, Septimus mentions that he wishes to die which scares his wife. In “The Hours” Richard contemplates his purpose for staying alive which he determines is for Clarissa. We also see the parallel with Virginia Woolf and Mrs. Brown, one whom has comitted suicide and the other who contemplated it. We also see in “Mrs. Dalloway” that there were many instances of love that didn’t continue. For example with Mrs. Dalloway and Peter as well as Sally. In “The Hours” we see that Clarissa is with Sally but there she still has history with Richard.
In “Mrs. Dalloway” the novel continues in a way where it is a stream of consciousness and each thought moves to another thought and so on. This is a unique way of writing given it is very flowy. In “The Hours” it attempts to recreate this writing style through the editing style. Like when Virginia says she was about to kill her heroine, Mrs. Brown is shown to be drowning but as soon as Virginia says she changes her mind we see how that is reflected in Mrs. Brown as she decides against the suicide. The editing style gives the story telling a sense of flow because we see as each characters storyline moves so does another.
Between Mrs. Dalloway and The Hours, the main characters lead these very dynamic journeys of self realization. When Peter analyzes his feelings toward Clarissa, he comes to the conclusion that he cannot justify his love for her while also seeing her as the only person he cares about. He is “unable to get away from the thought of her,” but his everlasting thought is “there she was, however; there she was.” Through his observations of other people, one can see how he struggles to balance his feelings. This imbalance can be seen in Laura Brown, where she knows that her husband will appreciate any and all effort that she gives, but the pressure of her failures and moral dissonance causes her to crush under the paradox and almost kill herself. On the outside, she would be taking her life because of a sloppy cake. On the inside, all the different factors that cause her to crumble allow for her emotions to make sense. It would seem as if Richard’s (from The Hours) would have commited suicide because of his sickness, but the moral delemas of Peter Walsh show how that character faced something deep inside that weighed him down greater emotionally than any illness or disease. What these two books show us is that our stream of consciousness contains the truth about the way we feel, even if what we say or reason contradicts. The characters that make it through to a complete understanding of purpose are the ones that face the truth that comes to them through their consciousness. Even by turning a stream of consciousness into an entire book, Woolf had too much trauma from her past to accept her own existence. But, trying your best to be one with the chaos that the world presents us is the best way to find your own order.
ReplyDeleteI love that Virginia Woolf includes so many different female roles in this book. When reading a new body of work, I am constantly trying to find ways to connect myself to either the text or the characters in the text, and by Virginia putting in a wide panel of females to relate to, I find that it is easy for me to feel connected to the text. By her doing this, she has created depth in an over arching idea of what a female character is. The book was written in a time where woman were just starting to get the respect and the privileges they deserve, but they were still so far away from being seen as their own independent figure. She is challenging the same ideas that most women were challenging in the 20's, they were their own independent beings with in depth characters and their own unique personalities. Her purpose in doing so is to add to the whole story of who Mrs. Dalloway is, she is more then just a woman who can throw a good party, but it Is in fact that she is a woman.
ReplyDeleteIn The Hours and in Mrs. Dalloway there are many parallels to be made. It starts off nearly the same, with Clarissa Vaughn waking up and heading into town for flowers for her party later, just as Clarissa Dalloway does the same. In both the character of Richard and Peter Walsh there exists a sort of critic, that judges each Clarissa, and pushes these judgements upon them. Both Clarissa’s visibly feel the effect of the criticisms. In each, Clarissa ends up choosing not to marry these arbiters (with Vaughn also turning away Louis Waters), yet Vaughn ends up marrying Sally, whereas Dalloway ends up with Richard (different from the Richard of The Hours). The ideas discussed in each are much the same as well: it is all about the nature of life and the impact of decisions, the effect of death, and the reliving of the past. Richard is the counterpart of Septimus: they both suffer a form of illness, and despite being very different in nature (Richard has AIDs, Septimus has PTSD and depression) their effect is very similar. They question the reasons for living, and the mortality of themselves, but also they are quite aware of the beauty of the world. Vaughn and Dalloway both spend their time ruminating about their earlier days, believing their best days are in the past. Dalloway talks about the time when she kissed Sally, saying: “Then came the most exquisite moment of her whole life passing a stone urn with flowers in it. Sally stopped; picked a flower; kissed her on the lips. The whole world might have turned upside down! (35)”. She wonders if she would have been happier with Sally. Vaughn says, upon seeing Louis and breaking down into tears, that “It doesn't matter. It was you he stayed with, you he lived with. I had one summer”(The Hours). She likewise wonders what life could have been like if things were different, she too misses the past. The similarities in characters and ideas are quite striking between each book. The modern day connection is also strong however. Both books have main characters who are portrayed as bisexual, a concept that was not very accepted at the time of writing for Mrs. Dalloway. Furthermore, Septimus is portrayed as mentally ill, but not as a lunatic or someone pathetic, he is presented as someone with a true disease. This is a view that is still being worked on today, as the stigma around mental illnesses remains powerful.
ReplyDeleteReading this book while watching The Hours is an extremely powerful experience. The parallels between characters from the movie to the book give depth to the characters in the book, especially in the case of Mrs. Dalloway and Peter. I don’t know why but I have a soft spot for Peter, not the Peter Mrs. Dalloway describes in the past, but the thoughts of Peter now which we got more of in this section. He clearly adores Clarrisa: “He admired her courage; her social instinct; he admired her power of carrying things through (62).” It confuses me why he then calls her “the perfect hostess” when he knows that makes her wince “all over”? Is he self conscience? Does he want to make her seem less-than so the sting of losing her will be lessened? By drawing connections between Peter and Richard in The Hours, I now have more of an appreciation of Richard, now being aware that some of his smugness is an act. Inside every person lies countless other people, other personas. The three women in The Hours’ thoughts and actions all shine through in Clarissa, giving depth to her character in the book and helping understand her personality traits in different, perhaps more modern context.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, I didn't have much of an appreciation for Septimus as I was reading, I though his thoughts were kind of morbid. However, I really did appreciate his infatuation with his surroundings: “Beauty, the world seemed to say… To watch a leaf quivering in the rush of air was an exquisite joy (69).” As I walked out in the mist yesterday, I actually had the same thought about red oak leaf, how noble it looked against the dull backdrop and how it quivered in the air. When I read this, I was like OMG, this guy living a hundred years ago whos personality I’m not even a fan of had the same thought. Wow, humanity am I right?
Woolf’s portrayal of women of all social standings and ages would be considered revolutionary even today. Women characters often lack depth, they are one-sided. They serve a singular purpose in a plot. However, this novel (and The Hours) expose the nuances of womanhood, not from one, but many women. The many social standings of the women in Mrs. Dalloway is also used to examine social structures, question the old “Downtown Abbey” way of life. Are these three maids really necessary?
Being able to compare the movie to the novel brings out the brilliance in woolf’s work. While the book carefully crafts the each and every word to carry extreme yet delicate meaning, the movie reminds us of how frivolous the characters’ actions are. In Virginia Woolf simple actions such as walking down the street, that in the movie lasts about five seconds, becomes infinite paragraphs of wonders and deliriums.
ReplyDeleteOne of the most tangible examples of Woolf’s attention to details is Sally, while at first mentioned with very few words, the meaning of these words carry Clarissa’s feelings towards her up until Sally’s comeback. In addition, the everlasting impact of Sally in Clarissa’s life come to convey Woolf’s view in how the past is capable to shape and reshape our lives in the present.
I find it very refreshing to have a novel with such a range of female characters, all with different struggles and triumphs, all with distinct personalities and wishes. Woolf’s dedication to women shines through with her work. While the male characters seem to convey no purpose other than make Clarissa’s life more interesting, the everlasting array of female characters show how her life is mainly influenced by these women. I find it peculiar while simultaneously tragic how a novel from 1925 portrays well rounded women so much better than most of the novels I've read that have recently come out, it is as if the roles have been “reversed” in her novel. WHile the women conveys complex feelings and emotions, the male characters seem to serve no purpose other than be romantic interests to these women.
Reading Mrs. Dalloway while watching The Hours in class has been a really great way for me to understand the novel more while also getting to know the characters for how they are in the book versus the movie. They show parallels between each other, while are also different in terms of the characters as well as the details shown in the book while in the movie, detail is not as evident as there are no words to put images into one’s mind. A lot of themes have been similar in both the movie and the book, such as death. Richard, for example, is one character who has been a prospect of this theme. With his disease, throughout the movie and book, he wonders his purpose for life and is struggling to find a way to live without the pain of living. Richard’s illness can be compared with other mental illnesses. With Virginia Woolf also suffering from her mental illnesses, it continues a theme throughout the book and the movie. As we continue to learn more about these mental illnesses throughout the book, I look forward to understanding the characters personalities in more depth with the ability to compare them to the book.
ReplyDeleteWatching the The Hours while reading simultaneously reading the Mrs. Dalloway has been a very immersive experience. I find that it deepens understanding of the plot as well as my connection to the characters. It brings up profound thoughts about the theme or purpose of the authors. I see so many similarities between the two which can often make it confusing. I get mixed up with the characters sometimes between the two stories. Overall though, I really like this style of learning. I feel like a movie provides much different insight than a book. With a book, the reader is more in the characters head, knowing what they feel etc… but they make up the visuals in their heads- a lot more is left to the imagination. In the movie however, the visuals are already decided on, but the thoughts and purposes of the characters are what is left to the imagination a lot of the time. Usually, you either read a book first and then watch the movie or vice versa- which can block the imagination and deeper thinking processes. But with this style makes it much more dynamic
ReplyDeleteI also find it interesting that the characters can have similar feelings to us even though they lived so long before us. It makes me think about humanity I guess- things change around us but do we stay mostly the same? This is similar to how Clarissa and Sally are so constant. The world can keep spinning around us but we always have something to keep us grounded. I think that grounding is one of the most important things. It allows for presence in a moment and makes life feel a lot more manageable. The female characters are so expertly developed, it leaves no question as to why they are more romantically interesting. This is such an old book but the way it describes women is profound
ReplyDeleteThe seamless transitions between the present and past seem to express the idea of everything happens for a reason. As Woolf writes with a stream of consciousness, every event seems more realistic and thought out for the purpose of the plot. The expansive detail that is used to describe such scenes elevate the how are interpreted and what purpose is hidden within their complexity. I think that the strong transitions do suffice how the characters connect and interact, by having two storylines that eventually connect it is good to have each one formatted similar so as not to feel like one is reading different books. By this connection the component of past that is integrated into the future is extremely valuable to how the characters interact, and return back to the idea that everything happens for a reason. As the characters continue on with their lives they seem to hold on to the past and memories and emotions that were last remembered/ are placed with certain individuals. People seem to act on what was said and done in the past, without the feeling of guilt, the fresh raw scenarios would pick right up again whenever people interacted, Yes, holding on to something and keeping memories of past events is helpful, having the same mindset, weather it be positive or negative may not be so helpful in the present. For what happened then happened then, and does not need to happen again, right now.
In this section, I was struck by the introduction of Clarissa’s struggle with her sexuality. She reflects on times with Sally and wonders if she made the right choice marrying Richard instead of Sally or Peter. She feels a sexual attraction towards women and thinks she was in love with Sally yet she still worries what Peter thinks of her. The focus on the party feels like commentary on Clarissa covering her struggles by trying to conform to society’s expectations of her as a woman. Grappling with society's expectations is a major theme throughout the book. We see it with Septimus’s mental health struggles and Clarissa’s sexuality in the book and in “The Hours” we see it with Virginia’s Woolf’s mental health and Laura Brown’s role as a mother and her sexuality. The struggles we see of many characters in this section are very common today and still hold their prominence in society which is another aspect of the book that makes Woolf’s work timeless.
ReplyDeleteIt was interesting how virginia Woolf chose to portray so many different women in the book each with very distinct features and aspects of their personality. However i felt as though that with each description of a woman or aspect of their characteristics - i was always comparing it back to Clarissa. I feel like woolf wanted to do this because the entire book is centered around Clarissas thoughts and the way she shes the world(more than the way that the other woman see the orld).Thats why when new characters are introduced we see in the way she is similar to Clarissa or different. This comparison is even evident when it is talking about the men. She points out the difference between her and septimus or her and Richard. It kinda makes you think how due to her life experienced she thinks in her specific “Clarissa Ish” way and how even when they are born are a clean slate and as they grow up they fill up that slate with characteristics and habits based on their experiences.
ReplyDeleteFor this blog, I decided to focus on the relationship between Mrs. Dalloway and The Hours. The one thing I have noticed this far, after reading two sections of Mrs. Dalloway and fully watching The Hours, is the focus on lesbianism. I knew that as a writer Virginia Woolf was ahead of her time. Due to this, I thought that while reading Mrs. Dalloway, there would be a greater emphasis on the feelings for love Clarissa felt. Maybe, Virginia Woolf will focus on the feelings of Clarissa in the last section of the book.
ReplyDeleteIn The Hours, I felt that the sexuality of Clarissa was developed to a greater extent, but also may be due to the fact that I saw the whole movie, not two-thirds of it. I think that at the time the movie was produced, there was a shift occurring around the world about equality among sexual orientation. To align with this world-view, Michael Cunningham focused more on Clarissa’s relationship.
It becomes increasingly clear throughout this novel that Virginia Woolf was a writer far ahead of her time. She unashamedly explores issues of sexuality through Clarissa, even with her being married. Even today most authors shy away from such topics as it may decrease the number of people reading and enjoying their books. I admire Woolf for using her writing to fight against societal norms and to write about sexuality in a very real way. Clarissa having questions of her sexuality through her adulthood shows a common struggle that is rarely depicted in literature. Woolf also includes many detailed female characters in her writing, something that is also not very common. Many books or movies focus on the life of men, or the life of women with regards to men. Even if a story is more balanced in who it focuses on, it’s generally not leaning more towards the women. This along with watching “The Hours” allowed for us to see the similarities between the two. What stood out to me was the open sexuality experimentation, which even by today’s standards was very progressive. Most people would have more of an issue with being married and having feelings for another woman, such as being in denial that they have feelings at all. For the movie to have two women both experimenting without even placing any labels on their thoughts and actions is nearly unheard of.
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