Category: Digital Humanities

With the conclusion of our reading of Mrs. Dalloway, I have identified the one passage and quote that I feel best encapsulates the overall theme of Virgina Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway. Strangely enough, I do not recall going over the particular passage I have in mind during my first encounter with Mrs. Dalloway in another Emory English class. I believe that extended focus of our project on places and relationships caused Clarissa’s thoughts on understanding people to stand out to me more than before, “Clarissa had a theory in those days…It was to explain the feeling of dissatisfaction; not knowing people; not being known…So that to know her, or any one, on must seek out the people who completed them; even the places” (117 ).

It stuns me that my attention was not drawn to this passage in my previous read through and I think it mostly has to do with the fact that I struggled, as many do, to comprehend the peculiar writing style that Woolf employs. Overwhelmed by her tendency to write out her characters’ thoughts in a stream of consciousness format, I glossed over the internal reflections of some characters in order to simplify the many different interactions and crossing of plot points in my mind. Obviously, that style of reading was a critical error in this context.

This rereading experience has proved to me yet again that books can be rediscovered over and over again, much like watching a movie over again allows a viewer to focus on extraneous details that could otherwise be ignored. I credit the mapping assignment with restructuring my reading focus and I look forward to seeing how other assignments this semester might further affect the way I approach a writing from now on.

This is my second reading of Mrs. Dalloway, and in my first encounter with Virgina Woolf’s novel my professor made a point to present a mapping that was completed in 2011. Therefore, I am well aware of the long and confusing physical journey that each character takes around London and where they intersect after witnessing the same events or hearing the bells ring. Perceiving life from within the minds of each character is a significant piece of Woolf’s narrative form. For example, Septimus and Clarissa both are present for the backfiring of the car but they react in very different ways, revealing a great deal about their personalities. I found it interesting that Peter and Clarissa both have long streams of consciousness detailing exactly how they felt about each other and shows how a long period of time apart alters their feelings.

 

Naturally the pair imagines how life would have been different with each other as spouses with Clarissa first thinking to herself, “…If I had married him, this gaiety would have been mine all day!” (63). Just a page later those thoughts are nearly spun into motion before Peter’s inquiry on the state of Clarissa’s marriage is interrupted by Elizabeth’s entrance and introduction. Despite Clarissa’s apparent change of heart and regret of not marrying Peter, she is still easily agitated by Peter’s habit of playing with his knife just as he is bothered by her introduction of her daughter simply because she said “Here is my Elizabeth” (35). After thinking through these contradictions, it can be said that Woolf’s characters could be labeled as complicated. However, the complexity of the internal arguments Peter and Clarissa conduct with themselves is surprisingly relatable. Anyone who has had to make a major decision about anything from relationships, to school selections, to job offers can understand the tedious process that is decision making. Additionally, unless you’ve never made a mistake in your life it is easy to comprehend the pangs of regret the pair feels. I am pleased to say that after focusing more on the characters during this reading I found the story more enjoyable than I did the first time when it was tough just to follow the logistics of the novel.