We'll talk about this in class somewhat, but for our panel presentation, we found an article that talks about Clarissa with respect to Septimus. The article as a whole took the view that the novel was really about Septimus and that Clarissa was just supposed to add to the tragedy of Septimus' life. At first I didn't quite see where the writer was going, but she went on to explain how Clarissa was also a trauma victim. She went off in that other room and looked out the window and, as Mr. Mitchell said in class, was originally going to commit suicide as well, but she chose not to. With that information, I think the ending makes more sense to me now.
Septimus challenged the widely held view that war was good for you; made you tough and strong and honorable. Clarissa, after her earlier relationships with Peter and Sally, chose to be conventional. She constitutes so much of the social norm of her day and purposely embodies her position in the world as she puts her 'Mrs. Richard Dalloway' face on in front of the mirror and as the mysterious car goes by. Septimus' doctors are the same way. They disregard shell-shock and say there's nothing wrong with Septimus, that he just needs a break from the world, that he should go away for a while. They also uphold the status quo where war is a concept in people's minds that is respectable.
Septimus is proof that they are all wrong. War can't be taken lightly and his suicide shakes up the doctors, certainly his wife, Rezia, and even Clarissa when she hears of it at her party. Something as dramatic as Septimus' suicide can't leave Clarissa totally untouched, but rather than focusing on how she didn't react to it, we should focus on how she didn't react. By this I mean that the fact that she returns to her party and acts the same way she did before can still tell us a lot about her. She seems to have considered doing the same thing, but she decides not to. Yes, it's great that she's still alive at the end of the book, but it seems that the way she deals with her past is by throwing these parties. It's like she has such a hard time really facing things the way she sort of did when she was on her own in the attic, that she puts on this facade of Mrs. Richard Dalloway so that she can somehow ignore her past.
In this light, it makes sense that Clarissa is so centered around her social life and also makes the ending more a profound statement about the flaws in modern society and also about how people communicate with one another. Sometimes you really are speaking a different language, like Septimus, just waiting for someone to understand. Waiting for that long would be frustrating. Septimus' suicide now seems less like an impulse and more like a last ditch effort at opening people's eyes to life as it really is and how frightening Human Nature really is. I know this is what I should be bringing up in our discussion tomorrow, but I promise there are other arguments to be made.
I still think Clarissa should've jumped in the middle of her dinner party.
ReplyDeleteIt would have made the entire book SO much more interesting.
But I think I would have still been mad at the ending because I hate it when they kill off main characters like that. But, you gotta admit that it puts such a weird spin on everything Clarissa does in the book.
I like your conclusion. I never thought that her parties, her hostess attitude towards life, and her social habits would be her coping mechanism to help her deal with the pain of losing her sister. It makes sense though--the constant distraction of planning parties and judging people would keep one's mind occupied long enough to forget human mortality for a while.
Okay, woah Kathryn, that's pretty harsh, but yes I see what you mean. It would have made Clarissa's trauma so much more obvious than just one line thought by Peter.
ReplyDeleteI would agree that Clarissa surviving the end of the novel actually makes the ending more depressing than it could have been if she killed herself. By the end of the book, I really didn't trust Clarissa's description of her own feelings (based on all the other accounts I was getting from other characters) to the point that I felt she was in a state of delusion about her own happiness--a delusion so strong that she naturally throws out thoughts to the contrary whenever they pop up.
ReplyDeleteSeptimus' death temporarily breaks through her "I love Big Brother" mindset and presents her with an opportunity to escape, but no sooner does she think about jumping that the clock strikes and the carriage to freedom turns back into a pumpkin... Okay, I just made pathetic 1984 and Cinderella metaphors in a comment about Mrs. Dalloway. I really shouldn't write these things while low on sleep.
But anyway, Clarissa transitions from contemplating death as a form of defiance of society to thinking about how happy she is--something she's been questioning for the entire novel. She finishes up with the rather morbid feeling of happiness at Septimus' death (He died so I could appreciate my own life! Yaaay!) and delves back into her self-brainwashed state.
On the other hand, the last line of the novel, "For there she was.", refers to Clarissa, not Mrs. Dalloway, indicating that Clarissa has somehow established her own identity apart from her perfect hostess job, despite having just returned to being the perfect hostess. Maybe Peter's just as deluded as she is. Or maybe I'm reading (hallucinating?) waaaaaay too much between the lines and applying an undue amount of pessimism.
I disagree; I don't think that Clarissa should have killed herself at the end, nor do I think that having her survive makes the book more depressing. The idea that you can be deluded about your own happiness is questionable because you are the only one who is experiencing your state of mind. Happiness or sadness depends on your perceptions; if Clarissa is convinced that she is happy in her life, then perhaps she really is.
ReplyDeleteFurthermore, I think that Clarissa's choice to return to normal life is a hopeful ending in a way. All of are lives are centered around the trivial--that is the stuff of everyday existence. Clarissa gives parties. That may be trivial, and sometimes she thinks it is trivial too, but she does it because that is what we do when we live. Her choice to live almost symbolizes an acceptance of life in all its imperfection and meaningless because there are moments that are wonderful (for Clarissa, walking around London is exhilarating, she loves looking at the people and her surroundings). I think this is a realization that most people come to, and struggle with. Like Clarissa, most people choose to keep living.
So I think Woolf was saying that life is worth it, at least for most of us.