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Female Relationships in Virginia Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway
Clarissa Dalloway, the central character in Virginia Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway, is a complex figure whose relations with other women reveal as much about her personality as do her own musings. By focusing at length on several characters, all of whom are in some way connected to Clarissa, Woolf expertly portrays the ways females interact: sometimes drawing upon one another for things which they cannot get from men; other times, turning on each other out of jealousy and insecurity.
Clarissa interacts with women in both of these ways. Her relationship with Sally Seton, for example, is quite positive. Once upon a time, in their youth, Clarissa admired the individualistic woman and was charmed by her wayward manners; furthermore, the physical experience she enjoys with Sally is something she never equals with a man. On the other hand, Clarissa's contempt of Ellie Henderson reflects her snobbish outlook on social classes, while her feelings toward Lady Bruton represent her inferiority complex. Finally, Mrs. Dalloway's borderline hatred of Miss Kilman stems from her possessive feelings for her own daughter, Elizabeth. Looking carefully at these relationships brings Clarissa's own identity into clearer focus.
The character of Sally Seton is one of the most influential in Mrs. Dalloway, a woman sure of herself and capable of affecting those around her in various ways. Her appearance at the end of the novel proves disappointing, because she has seemingly reneged on her past and conformed to a traditional female role; however, her effect on Clarissa in their younger years is not erased by this conformity.
The ways in which Sally affects Clarissa'...
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...al loathing brought about by mutual lack of self-esteem. Of course, Kilman's poor self-image is not explored until after Elizabeth walks out on her at the restaurant.
Clarissa's relationships with other females in Mrs. Dalloway offer great insight into her personality. Additionally, Woolf's decision to focus at length on Sally Seton, Millicent Bruton, Ellie Henderson, and Doris Kilman allows the reader to see how women relate to one another in extremely different ways: sometimes drawing upon one another for things they cannot get from men; other times, turning on one another out of jealousy and insecurity. Although Mrs. Dalloway is far from the most healthy or positive literary portrayal of women, Woolf presents an excellent exploration of female relationships.
WORK CITED
Woolf, Virginia. Mrs. Dalloway. New York: Harcourt Brace & Company, 1990.
In the novel, Mrs. Clarissa Dalloway, a royal wife, shares almost similar views of the world with Septimus Warren Smith, a former soldier who fought in the World War I and now suffering from hallucination. These two characters share many things in common albeit the fact that they are not known to each other and they have not shared anything in their lifetimes. The novel is an in-depth “day-in-the-life” view of Mrs. Dalloway featuring what she thinks about her life, other people’s lives, her real feelings and the feelings of other people. She is told the story of a former World War I soldier and she takes her time to reflect in the man’s life and experiences. His life appears more like hers not in how they both live but their feelings, which is why I hold the view tha...
Mrs. Dalloway covers a day in the life of the upper-class society involving Clarissa Dalloway and her friends, living in London post World War I. This passage is set at Regent’s Park as Septimus Smith, a World War I veteran suffering from shell shock, and his wife, Rezia, are waiting to see the psychiatrist William Bradshaw. Septimus’ daily life struggles are seen as he tries to emerge from a hallucination and back into the harsh London daylight. Despite being mentally ill and dealing with guilt over the loss of his best friend Evans, Septimus has great moments of clarity, as he is able to recognize the beauty that surrounds him. The use of repetition demonstrates Septimus constant battles with time as he keeps revisiting the battlefield and the only way to get away from those horrors is to be in the moment-by appreciating that “beauty is everywhere”. A continual sense of movement throughout the passage is evoked through the use of kinetic verbs, demonstrates that time cannot be held back and Septimus must continue to move forward despite his past.
In Mrs. Dalloway, Clarissa Dalloway undergoes an internal struggle between her love for society and life and a combined affinity for and fear of death. Her practical marriage to Richard serves its purpose of providing her with an involved social life of gatherings and parties that others may find frivolous but Clarissa sees as “an offering” to the life she loves so well. Throughout the novel she grapples with the prospect of growing old and approaching death, which after the joys of her life seems “unbelievable… that it must end; and no one in the whole world would know how she had loved it all; how, every instant…” At the same time, she is drawn to the very idea of dying, a theme which is most obviously exposed through her reaction to the news of Septimus Smith’s suicide. However, this crucial scene r...
Although Woolf, Brown, Vaughan are women that are struggling with their own internal issues of restlessness in the place of where she lives, contemplating suicide, unhappiness in a marriage, living with mental illnes, and feelings of failure. Yet, each of these women had secret sexual feelings for other women.( Woolf for sister Vanessa, Brown for neighbor Kitty, and Vaughan for Sally).
The physical and social setting in "Mrs. Dalloway" sets the mood for the novel's principal theme: the theme of social oppression. Social oppression was shown in two ways: the oppression of women as English society returned to its traditional norms and customs after the war, and the oppression of the hard realities of life, "concealing" these realities with the elegance of English society. This paper discusses the purpose of the city in mirroring the theme of social oppression, focusing on issues of gender oppression, particularly against women, and the oppression of poverty and class discrimination between London's peasants and the elite class.
Have you ever thought about how much Othello’s race and the racism around him affected his life? Othello struggled a lot during the play because of his dark skin color. He was called several racist names like “the Moor,” “old black ram,” “Barbary horse,” and “thick lips” (Shakespeare 1.1.40; 1.1.88; 1.1.111; 1.1.66).The term “racism” has been around for several years; it started in the twentieth century (Bartels 433). By the way the Elizabethan era viewed black people was similar to how racism is today with all of the racial comments, and stereotypes. Being a black person in a mostly white ethnicity area at that time had to be challenging based on Othello’s experience. Othello was the black sheep crowded around a herd of white sheep, he was an outcast. Racist comments were made by many of the characters like Iago, Brabantio, Roderigo, and Emilia. If there was an award for most used racial comment towards Othello, Iago would win. Racism in Othello had a tremendous impact on Othello. He was judged by the color of his skin and not his personality. Othello’s race and the racism around him affected his life by ruining his marriage with Desdemona, alienating him from everybody in Venice, and by making him an easy target to be manipulated by Iago.
Dalloway. Clarissa conveys a somewhat submissive yet independent mindset due to living in a male-dominated society, and does so by attempting to improve her social situation. The author parallels the character of Clarissa Dalloway of a feminist who defies the laws that subject women socially and politically. Clarissa is social entertainer, which leads the reader to imply that women were able to show their character within the patriarchal system even if they were offered few opportunities. Her marriage in a sense offered her the chance to create her own life despite being confined to the expectations of a
Class is something that is stressed in the twentieth century. Class is what identified someone to something. These classes could have been money, love, having a disability and many others. In Virginia Woolf’s novel Mrs. Dalloway there are many different types of relationships. In the novel, the reader learns that Clarissa’s husband Richard and her party planning is dominating her, as where Lucrezia’s husband, Septimus, is dominating her. The domination seen in these two ladies is love. Love is an overwhelming power that can influence someone to do something they might have not thought about all the way through, which can ultimately affect their life in the future.
The story starts with a woman reflecting on her past (Offred), she has been living in an army-based camp with other girls. She starts with describing the history of the room where she is now based, talking (in detail) about old surroundings which have now gone to pass. She describes the changing of room quite distinctively; a quote to support this could be `old sex in the room and loneliness, and expectation, of something without a shape or name.' This suggests that any cheerful moment in this room has been a really long time ago, or that's what it seems.
Clarissa and Septimus share the quality of expressing through actions, not words. Through these basic beliefs and idiosyncrasies, both characters mimic each other through their actions and thoughts, even though they never meet. Clarissa feels sadness and death around her. There is much routine and habit around her but she still seems dissatisfied. At her late age of fifty she sees herself as Mrs. Dalloway, not even Clarissa. She portrays her sense of happiness as something not monstrumental or graniose, but rather quite simple. She can be happy throwing a party, she can escape reality:
Othello’s blackness, his marriage with Desdemona, and the murder of her are all three important structural elements of Othello and are a...
Virginia Woolf creates interesting contrast within the character of Clarissa Dalloway using stream of consciousness narration in her novel Mrs. Dalloway. Clarissa’s inner thoughts reveal a contrast between her lack of attraction to her husband due to her lesbian feelings and her fear of loosing him as a social stepping stone. These contrasts and many others can be seen throughout the novel using the literary device of stream of consciousness
Clarissa Dalloway and Peter Walsh are defined by their memories. Virginia Woolf creates their characters through the memories they share, and indeed fabricates their very identities from these mutual experiences. Mrs. Dalloway creates a unique tapestry of time and memory, interweaving past and present, memory and dream. The past is the key to the future, and indeed for these two characters the past creates the future, shaping them into the people they are on the June day described by Woolf. Peter and Clarissa’s memories of the days spent at Bourton have a profound effect on them both and are still very much a part of them. These images of their younger selves are not broad, all-encompassing mental pictures, but rather the bits and pieces of life that create personality and identity. Peter remembers various idiosyncracies about Clarissa, and she does the same about him. They remember each other by “the colours, salts, tones of existence,” the very essence that makes human beings original and unique: the fabric of their true identities (30).
Woolf views society as a center for conflict for the characters in her novel. They struggle with the internal dilemma of whether they should be who they want to be or what everyone else wants them to be. In the novel Mrs. Dalloway, Virginia Woolf uses stream of consciousness to demonstrate the pressures and effects of society on different characters in the 1920’s. Using both Clarissa Dalloway and Septimus Smith, Woolf reveals how two different realms of society, the upper class and the middle class, can place very similar pressures and produce very similar effects on the people who dwell within each.
Woolf presents three characters who embody three different gender roles. Mrs. Ramsay is the dutiful wife and mother. Mr. Ramsay is the domineering patriarch. Lily Briscoe is an independent, aspiring woman. Woolf sets these three roles in contrast with each other. She allows the reader to see the power and influence each character has. Mrs. Ramsay’s submissive and supportive nature arouses admiration. Mr. Ramsay’s condescending manner provokes animosity. Lily Briscoe’s independence enables her to find meaning and fulfillment in her life.