Mrs Dalloway Gender Roles

Gender classifications and roles have determined the expectations of woman since the beginning of civilisation. Despite the loosening of the reigns following the First and Second World War women continue to be restrained as a result of the prospects determined by their society. In Mrs Dollway’s context, the post war period saw the reshaping of the once strong and unshakable Britain, it introduced a new civilisation and new mannerisms, which most people were reluctant to accept. However this revamp saw no improvement to the classifications and roles of women as they continued to only be dependent on their spouses, demonstrated in the very first line of the modernist text whereby Woolf states “Mrs Dalloway said she would by the flowers herself”

Furthermore, the society that surrounded Clarissa Dalloway also placed great emphasis on a women’s role as a social organiser. Despite being insulted by peters suggestion that Clarissa would “marry a prime minister” and called her “the perfect hostess” over the years that very outcome became inevitable when Clarissa decided to settle for her husband Richard (a politician) and conform to society. Becoming the perfect hostess soon acts as a means of filling the void in her own self as a result of having lost her identity putting on the so called “show” of a politician’s or society

Through the experiences of three women; Virginia Woolf, Laura Brown and Clarissa Vaughn, Daldry stands able to emulate the roles of wife and social organiser demonstrated in Mrs Dalloway. However, while Mrs Dalloway depicts the dependence of woman on her husband, the scene where Laura Brown struggles to bake a “ridiculously easy” cake in the hours emphasises the pressures of such a role. Her disappointment in the final result of the cake symbolises her inability to complete the simple wifely tasks and depicts a sort of frustration that begins to consume her, however in this way Laura stands able to relate to Mrs Dalloway the same text she reads in the film and states “maybe because she’s confident everybody thinks she’s fine” outlining that Laura, like Mrs Dalloway, uses her tough exterior to conceal her inner feelings, which allows her to successfully maintain the charade that is the 1950s housewife. This duty of housewife again is demonstrated when Laura has come to terms with her decision to leave as although she appears adamant to do so, she continues to complete her wifely responsibilities up until her final moments in order to uphold the perfect image she so desperately craves. In addition, Daldry is able to successfully parallel Mrs Dalloway’s role of social organiser and caretaker through his character Clarissa Vaughn a late twentieth