Cunnigham's Death Scene Analysis

In Cunnigham’s The Hours, Virginia Woolf, through Cunnigham’s interpretation, is a character that is fascinated by mortality. In each event she experiences in the novel, she evaluates how she feels about living, and constantly considers suicide as a way to escape her oppressive life. One of these moments occurs when she is attending a “funeral” for a dead bird with her sister’s children. Although the reader knows that Virginia will eventually commit suicide, the “funeral” scene is an important character revelation because it reveals that at this point in the novel, Virginia was not ready to take her own life; and unfortunately, the film misses this important aspect of her character by condensing this scene.

As the scene begins, Vanessa and her three children come to visit Virginia. While playing in the garden, the children find a dying bird on the ground. They decide to construct a bed of roses around the grass for the bird. Watching the children make the bed for the bird, Virginia notices the bird: “It seems to have wanted to make the smallest possible package of itself.” (Cunnigham, pg. 120). This shows that the bird fascinates Virginia; she wonders how the bird’s body becomes smaller and less important after it dies. Cunnigham also writes that “She would like to lie down on it herself” (Cunnigham, pg. 119). This shows that at this point, Virginia longs for death; she wants the same peace that the bird has been able to obtain through death; however, this longing changes once Vanessa and her children return to Charleston. When Virginia decides to take a walk, she passes the dead bird in the garden. She notices that the grave is “frightening but not entirely disagreeable, this cemetery feeling. It is real; it is all but overwhel...

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... funeral for it, the children begin to construct a flower bed for the bird. As Virginia watches them, she shows that she wishes to be at peace like the bird and die; however, once she visits the bird later that night, she realizes that she is not ready to die because she is not ready to become as small and insignificant as the deceased bird is. Virginia’s realization is an important part of her character because it shows the struggle she has with her own mortality. Unfortunately, the film shows this scene very quickly and is not able to show this development in Virginia’s character. Instead, the film chooses to show that the “funeral” helps Virginia decide to keep Clarissa Dalloway alive, but does not explain why she makes this choice. Although the film does a fine job of showing Virginia’s story, the book is the only one that shows the complexity of her character.