Throughout the novel Mrs. Dalloway, the reader takes a close look at multiple different characters living in 20th-century London. However, a key aspect of the book is how some characters spend most of their thoughts in the past. I think the differences and struggles between the younger versions of these characters and the current versions show that Virginia Woolf tries to suggest that 20th-century London has a society unfit for individual growth.
I think the first character that embodies this is Clarissa Dalloway. Mainly through the eyes of Peter Walsh, we get to see that Clarissa Dalloway is a very complex character. Although Clarissa is originally introduced to the reader as a typical rich woman in London, personal doubts, stresses, and identity issues are revealed through Peter. One of the things that we learn from Peter is that he thinks of Clarissa as a once interesting person. He remembers how charismatic and different Clarissa was in the past, but despises how superficial and insincere she is now. He believes that because Clarissa married Richard, she has succumbed to the societal pressures of regular living, and has sacrificed her more adventurous or different spirit. This idea that Clarissa has sacrificed her more unique elements is also represented in Clarissa's own dialogue. She often thinks about how life might have turned out if she had married Peter, suggesting that Peter could have offered a more interesting or unique life than the all too conventional Richard. The despisement that Peter has of Clarissa's superficiality, and the internal pondering of Clarissa about having a more unique life may suggest that sacrificing to the 20th-century society has stripped her of her unique character and aspects.
This idea is also represented in Sally. Sally is originally represented as a completely unique figure in the past. She is credited for having wild ideas about boating and doing very interesting things that do not conform to the societal conventions at the time. These unique elements of Sally still live in both Peter's and Clarissa's heads and are constantly revisited in the novel. However, during the party at the end of the book, Sally reveals that she has married a merchant and has 10 boys. Although the marriage is not as conventional as Clarissa's, Clarissa still feels that between the time she last saw Sally and the party, Sally has lost her glamor. This may suggest that even though Sally has maintained some aspects of her character, by continuing to live by general conventions in 20th-century society she has lost the natural charisma that made her unique in the past. Similarly to Clarissa, Sally is forced into this stereotypical role of women in society.
Another character that embodies this idea is Septimus. When Septimus is making the hat with his wife, he begins to show signs that he is returning to his old self. He seems to be lucid and has happy emotions which he claimed earlier to be nonexistent. In his last moments, the very thing that forced him from this happy state is his advance on Holmes. I think this is important because Holmes not only is reprehensible by today's standards but also embodied all sorts of rhetoric and ideology that surrounded the type of mental illness Septimus suffered from. Holmes is blinded by the ideology that men should be strong and should exercise. He talks about Septimus' suffering as if it is a joke or not real. I think Septimus' action of taking his own life shows how incompatible these beliefs are with his type of illness. Furthermore, I think this shows that Septimus too had his old character and passions stripped from him because he was forced into societal stereotypes and his individuality was ignored.
I think these cases show that Woolf is trying to suggest that 20th-century society in some ways detracts from certain individual characters. I think she is trying to critique how stereotype-driven society was during her time, and she does this by showing multiple characters being forced into tropes or characters in society, rather than maintaining their individual merits. Furthermore, all of these instanced are caused by some other character, force, or action that embodies the conventions of her time.
Excellent post, Taehan. I like thinking about the characters of Mrs. Dalloway as "walking time capsules", that they are not just their personalities, but a collection of experiences and memories that have shaped them into who they are. The book itself serves as a time capsule of sorts, a view back to the past into not just the lives of the characters, but also their situation within post-war London.
ReplyDeleteCool post. I think a lot of this goes to show that Mrs. Dalloway isn't a super typical novel. Many of the characters cannot let go of their past. Where in many novels, characters evolve and overcome their troubles, in the case of Septimuis he is unable to resolve the issues in his life.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with your point that Woolf is trying to display the societal stereotypes of her time. The ways in which both Clarissa and Sally were forced to adapt their once rambunctious spirits to a more conventional way of life shows how women at the time were sort of expected to conform to a role in society. In Septimus' case, he was also forced to "dial back" his enthusiasm for various things in life. He was told to behave in a more masculine way and go to war, which ended up affecting his life with long-lasting effects. This was a great post that highlighted these topics. I'm glad you are pointing this out!
ReplyDeleteI love how Virginia Woolf writes her characters. Her way of developing them not through descriptions but through how others behave towards and around them is such a cool style. I love psychology and Woolf's way of describing human interaction is just best, and you explained the three (I guess four including Peter) character's perfectly, great post, I know this is not exactly your point of the blog, but this is something I found fascinating while read it.
ReplyDeleteI think that your description of the characters as being forced into "tropes" is really interesting if you also consider the Virginia Woolf essay we read at the beginning of the book. Her disdain for really traditional narrative stories, which often feature lots of conventional, cookie-cutter characters, really shows how much she doesn't like being forced into traditional roles (character or gender. )
ReplyDeleteI've mentioned it in class, but one of my favorite examples of this anti-stereotyping model of characterization in this novel is the fact that Woolf makes clear that super-conventional, traditional, tight-buttoned, respectable Clarissa Dalloway is an unapologetic atheist, while the socialist, feminist, unconventional German-born anti-war Miss Kilman is religiously devout.
ReplyDeleteVirginia Wolfs character in this novel are very interesting. They are all unique but also being forced into "tropes" as you pointed out in this post. It goes to show how much social pressure there was during this time, that even the most rebellious such as Sally Seton when she was younger was eventually forced back into the expectations of a normal person in 20th century London.
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ReplyDeleteI very much agree with what you said in your blog post. Conformity seems to be at the core of the "demise" of many characters in this novel (obviously Septimus's suicide is a lot more drastic than Clarissa settling down with a nice, slightly boring man). I think another really interesting theme is how conformity takes different forms with men and women. Masculinity and gender seem to be big themes in this novel: Lady Rosseter first introducing herself as a mother and bragging about her children seems to fit in with the typical 20th century view of a woman's role, while Septimus being pushed into the war despite truly loving art and poetry seems to be toxic masculinity.
ReplyDeleteThis post is a unique way to approach the book and Woolf's messages. It is interesting to think about how each character was formed into a rigid block from societal pressures throughout the book and how they each responded to these pressures. Clarissa responds by becoming a conventional housewife, as with Sally Seton (to a lesser degree). You could argue that they both contribute positively to society and may have benefitted more or less from the process (building a family and living with a wealthy husband). However, I think that Woolf also showcased how societal norms can be terrible for some, like how Septimus became a literal shell of his former self because he was not fit for war. Good job with this.
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