I'm going to start this blog with a long post about Mrs. Dalloway, a rather brilliant novel by Virginia Woolf. Although I read this for the first time about a month ago, I have since re-read it in order to write about it - but this is no bad thing, as I find that re-reading helps you pick out all sorts of things you missed the first time.
To start, I think it's safe to say that Mrs. Dalloway is not a novel for action-lovers, or those who want a fast-paced story. In fact, I have reason to believe that this could be the slowest book I have ever read; Woolf manages to spend 194 pages discussing one single day. The nice thing about this is that it leaves plenty of room for reflection and the contemplation of big ideas, and we don't get swept up in too much distracting action.
Quick Review
Title: Mrs. Dalloway
Author: Virginia Woolf
Published: 1925 - Modern Era
A Brief Summary:
Clarissa Dalloway is the focal point of the novel; all other characters have some connection to her. She's planning a party - a big party - and she's inviting all sorts of rich people, including the Prime Minister. She's married to Richard Dalloway and they have one daughter, Elizabeth, who is educated by a grouchy, converted-Christian tutor, Miss Kilman, quite the opposite of Clarissa in both style and mentality. Clarissa's two closest friends include Sally Seton and Peter Walsh: the former with whom she had a brief affair and still remembers fondly as a wild and beautiful spirit; the latter a man who once wanted her heart but never earned it, and has only recently returned to London from India, where he claims he has fallen in love with another woman. Another acquaintance, Hugh Whitbread, joins Richard at one point in the novel as they dine with Lady Millicent Bruton, who needs their assistance in writing a letter to The Times.
The only characters not directly acquainted with Clarissa are Septimus Warren Smith and his young Italian wife, Lucrezia (fondly known as Rezia). A World War II veteran, Septimus probably suffers from what is now known as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and is tended to Sir William Bradshaw, a psychologist, and Dr Holmes, his general practitioner.
Thoughts
The novel is not organized by chapters or sections, but rather by little vignettes regarding each character that flow easily from one to another - no awkward page breaks or titles. More importantly, each vignette spends more time in the past than in the present, looking back on fond memories or wondering about the purpose of certain moments. As each character reflects on the past or muses about their situation in the present, the connections between him or her and Clarissa become evident, even though they probably have not directly interacted at that point.
Sally Seton, for example, finds her way into Clarissa's thoughts early in the novel - around page 35 - as Clarissa reflects upon her first meeting with Sally and their shared affections. Sally doesn't actually appear in the action, however, until the party in the evening, which starts on page 170.
The manner in which Mrs. Dalloway is written helps emphasize her discussion of time its constant passage. If one were to go through this novel and carefully pick out the sentences and paragraphs that describe direct action that takes place during the course of this day, and then organize these sentences chronologically into a coherent story, the story would be very short - probably one-tenth of the length of the actual novel. Most of these sentences, or, in some cases, mini-paragraphs, mention some aspect of time: the striking of the hour, the ticking of a clock, the rising or setting of the sun. They serve as a contrast to the thick blocks of text the separate them, which disregard time and instead exist in the magical, time-free continuum of the mind and imagination. In these areas, we float through history and into the future, bumping into memories, emotions, and musings, but as soon as we hit the next mini-paragraph, we're brought back to the present and reminded of the inevitability of the passing of time.
As mentioned in the brief summary, the only character not directly connected to Clarissa is Septimus Warren Smith. However, he is not a useless stock character; rather, I believe he serves as an alter-ego to Clarissa and as a contrast to the strict societal rules that are constructed by the other characters in the novel. In periods of personal reflection, Clarissa concludes:
"She felt very young; at the same time unspeakably aged. She sliced like a knife through everything; at the same time was outside, looking on."
Later, we meet Septimus and watch as he mutters to himself in public, imagines seeing dead comrades in Hyde Park, and questions his existence in this world so different from what he is used to.
"And there the motor car stood, with drawn blinds, and upon them a curious pattern like a tree, Septimus thought, and this gradual drawing together of everything to one centre before his eyes, as if some horror had come almost to the surface and was about to burst into flames, terrified him. The world wavered and quivered and threatened to burst into flames. It is I who am blocking the way, he thought. Was he not being looked at and pointed at; was he not weighted there, rooted to the pavement, for a purpose? But for what purpose?"
It seems as though Septimus and Clarissa share similar sentiments of detachment from society, as though on the outside and being looked at. While Clarissa attempts to keep her guard up, planning parties and speaking with other people, Septimus appears to have given up; the thought of his own death is perhaps the only thing that brings him comfort. Even so, the party - something that is meant to make Clarissa feel better - only exacerbates her situation: "every time [Clarissa] gave a party she had a feeling of being not herself." It is as though neither of them are sure of who they are or who they want to be, and are both struggling through a complicated society where knowing one's purpose is the only thing that helps him or her get by.
Wonderful Quotes
Woolf's writing is absolutely beautiful, and it's easy to forget how slow-moving the book is when it is so rich in active words and vivacious language. Some of my favourite quotes are listed below, along with their page numbers.
"Quiet descended on her, calm, content, as her needle, drawing the silk smoothly to its gentle pause, collected the green folds together and attached them, very lightly, to the belt. So on a summer's day waves collect, overbalance, and fall; collect and fall; and the whole world seems to be saying "that is all" more and more ponderously, until even the heart in the body which lies in the sun on the beach says too, That is all. Fear no more*, says the heart. Fear no more, says the heart, committing its burden to some sea, which sighs collectively for all sorrows, and renews, begins, collects, lets fall." - Page 39
*In this passage and at several other points in the novel, Clarissa quotes the famous lines from Shakespeare's Cymbeline: "Fear no more the heat of the sun, nor the furious Winters rages." This reference to nature (the sun, Winter) connects to time (the rising and setting of the sun, the cyclical nature of the seasons), and may be a reassurance to Clarissa that ultimately means "Do not fear time."
"It was a splendid morning, too. Like the pulse of a perfect heart, life struck straight through the streets. There was no fumbling-no hesitation." - Page 54
"'It is time,' said Rezia. The word 'time' split its husk; poured its riches over him; and from his lips fell like shells, like shavings from a plane, without his making them, hard, white, imperishable words, and flew to attach themselves to their places in an ode to Time; an immortal ode to Time." - Page 69
The following three quotes do an excellent job of portraying Woolf's sentiments towards time as expressed in the novel:
"Shredding and slicing, dividing and subdividing, the clocks of Harley street nibbled at the June day, counseled submission, upheld authority, and pointed out in chorus the supreme advantages of a sense of proportion, until the mound of time was so far diminished that a commercial clock, suspended above a shop in Oxford Street, announced, genially and fraternally, as if it were a pleasure to Messrs. Rigby and Lowndes to give the information gratis, that it was half past one." - Page 102
(I particularly love the beginning of this quote and the personification of the clocks.)
"It is this, he said, as he entered Dean's Yard. Big Ben was beginning to strike, first the warning, musical; then the hour, irrevocable." - Page 117
"All the same, that one day should follow another; Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday; that one should wake up in the morning; see the sky; walk in the park; meet Hugh Whitbread; then suddenly in came Peter; then these roses; it was enough. After that, how unbelievable death was!-that it must end…" - Page 122
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