Mrs. Dalloway is a one of a kind novel that showcases a day worth of events that seems to be connected by the emotions and builds on character's friendships and emotions. In this novel, Mrs. Dalloway acts almost like player in a video game, guiding us through her life decision, in the present and in the past. In this novel, two character collide that appear to be completely different: A character that appears to be reason and a character that seems to lost a piece of himself in the past. The book follows Dalloway through out the book as she prepare for her party, but also showcased a very different story with Septimus. One of the most interesting comparison is between the happy, normal, emotional, and "pure" Dalloway and the emotionless and constantly rejected Septimus.
Between the characters, they don't seem to have much in common. Septimus is the heroic character that left home to follow his dreams; something that would easily be produced in the movie. However, over time he is constantly rejected and consumed by the toxic community and their demand for him to become more "masculine." Even the war consumed him by making him lose his friend and leaving him as a emotionless zombie. Mrs. Dalloway, a happy character that doesnt seem to have any problems seems to have no physical or emotional trauma to the extent of Septimus. She is wealthy, lives in luxury and just needs to plan parties. Their paths don't cross much, creating a slight gap between the two stories.
However, it is clear to see how the two character story are very similar and build off each other. Many parts of the two stories makes us really think about the sanity of Mrs. Dalloway. Insanity can be classified by the loss of communication with the world outside one own mind which eventually leads to negative effects such as depression. This is clearly seen in Septimus as a character who lost emotion and the understand of the world. But Mrs. Dalloway is not that different, being stuck in a world where communication and time spent with her husband seems to be at a low. Espeically since she appears to be stuck in a world where she is stuck tending to parties, "fixing the dress", and running the house. The amount of work and emotions from the past is as real as Septimus past as it too can crush the mind. What do you guys think? Is Mrs. Dalloway really that different from Septimus?
Between the characters, they don't seem to have much in common. Septimus is the heroic character that left home to follow his dreams; something that would easily be produced in the movie. However, over time he is constantly rejected and consumed by the toxic community and their demand for him to become more "masculine." Even the war consumed him by making him lose his friend and leaving him as a emotionless zombie. Mrs. Dalloway, a happy character that doesnt seem to have any problems seems to have no physical or emotional trauma to the extent of Septimus. She is wealthy, lives in luxury and just needs to plan parties. Their paths don't cross much, creating a slight gap between the two stories.
However, it is clear to see how the two character story are very similar and build off each other. Many parts of the two stories makes us really think about the sanity of Mrs. Dalloway. Insanity can be classified by the loss of communication with the world outside one own mind which eventually leads to negative effects such as depression. This is clearly seen in Septimus as a character who lost emotion and the understand of the world. But Mrs. Dalloway is not that different, being stuck in a world where communication and time spent with her husband seems to be at a low. Espeically since she appears to be stuck in a world where she is stuck tending to parties, "fixing the dress", and running the house. The amount of work and emotions from the past is as real as Septimus past as it too can crush the mind. What do you guys think? Is Mrs. Dalloway really that different from Septimus?
I think this novel in a way of cause and effect. The causes for Dalloway versus Septimus is widely different. Dalloway has more like a 1st world problem whereas Septimus has more pressing problem than Dalloway does. The cause reflect the severity of the effect where Clarissa seems to be isolated from the world whereas Septimus straight up jumped to his death. It is like comparing cases of depression, some cause people to lose their will to live and other just cause them lose self esteem. Both are still depression but they are different {If that makes sense}. It yields similar results but it ranges in severity of the results {If that makes sense}. I don't think Clarissa would ever become as bad of a case as Septimus would be. Sure, she will be unhappy with her life but I don't think to the point that she loses her emotions.
ReplyDeleteIt is unbelievable how hard it is for me to actually convey a message through writing and make it understandable...
ReplyDeleteGiven that Mrs. Dalloway was originally supposed to commit suicide at the party when Woolf was writing this book, I think some of Clarissa's characteristics and thoughts might have transferred from both. Also, Clarissa does feel some connection to Septimus after she heard about his suicide, so they are at least relatable.
ReplyDeleteWhile I get what your trying to get at by listing their differences, I don't particularly think that Mrs. Dalloway is necessarily happy. She clearly has some regrets from her past and I don't think that seeing her sister die right before her eyes helped her either. I think both her and Septimus could be traumatized and have PTSD from these events, although Mrs. Dalloway seems to be able to hide it very well.
ReplyDeleteI would say that Mrs. Dalloway and Septimus are very different people, especially on the outside, but share similar inner thoughts and conclusions. I considered this earlier, but since Mrs. Dalloway was supposed to die in the original version of Mrs. Dalloway and Septimus took over that role, are Mrs. Dalloway and Septimus basically the same person - just separated so one could embody more death than life?
ReplyDeleteI do think that Clarissa and Septimus are similar. Even though they come from very diffrent backgrounds and they have a different way of life. They way that you define insanity I though was really interesting because it was something I hadn't heard before and hadn't been discussed in class. The way that they are both have "loss of communication with the world outside one own mind" is a very good comparison of both the characters.
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