Mrs. Dalloway on Suffering
Mrs. Dalloway on Suffering
Clarissa Dalloway has been extensively criticized by Mrs. Killman and Peter Walsh for her relatively superficial way of life. According to Mrs. Killman, Clarissa has never experienced true hardship. While I agree that Clarissa has had an easy and simple life without much pain and hardship, I also argue that directly through her status and way of life, she is experiencing a large inner hardship that none of the characters seem to recognize.
In class, we've talked extensively about Clarissa’s feeling of emptiness, of erasure. As a rich woman, her job is to be pretty and charming enough to get a husband, and then fill the expected role of wife. Clarissa has already been married and raised a child, so society no longer has much use for her. The only thing she has to hold onto now are her social relationships, her past, and her parties. Yes, someone whose purpose in life is mainly throwing parties is superficial and has an easy life. But from a different perspective, Clarissa is desperate for anything to hold onto in order to feel like her life has purpose. We've seen her get excited about doing things (like mending her dress and getting flowers) on her own, which shows just how helpless and small she feels.
Not only does she feel like her gender is slowly causing her erasure, Clarissa has also had a life void of intense emotion, specifically love. We talked in class about the relationship between Clarissa and Sally and, let's be real, there's no way that's a strictly heterosexual relationship. At the same time, it wasn't love. Clarissa definitely had an infatuation with Sally (whether reciprocated or not), but that's all it was, and it was nowhere near as intense an emotion as love. Still, Sally evoked far more emotion than either Richard or Peter. It seems that Clarissa isn't too fond of either of them, which is odd because they were her two choices in marriage. Peter perhaps attracts Clarissa, as shown by him making her jealous, but even her jealousy is a muted emotion. And in terms of Richard, we saw in the flower-giving scene that while they interact, they're nowhere near understanding each other. None of the three ever evoked real love for Clarissa. She's lived a life without love and suffered through being lonely throughout her marriage, a time that's supposed to be all about companionship and love.
While I agree that Clarissa has not had a painful life, I don't think that she has led a life entirely devoid of pain. Can you really say that someone who's never experienced real love has experienced a completely difficulty-free life?
Clarissa Dalloway has been extensively criticized by Mrs. Killman and Peter Walsh for her relatively superficial way of life. According to Mrs. Killman, Clarissa has never experienced true hardship. While I agree that Clarissa has had an easy and simple life without much pain and hardship, I also argue that directly through her status and way of life, she is experiencing a large inner hardship that none of the characters seem to recognize.
In class, we've talked extensively about Clarissa’s feeling of emptiness, of erasure. As a rich woman, her job is to be pretty and charming enough to get a husband, and then fill the expected role of wife. Clarissa has already been married and raised a child, so society no longer has much use for her. The only thing she has to hold onto now are her social relationships, her past, and her parties. Yes, someone whose purpose in life is mainly throwing parties is superficial and has an easy life. But from a different perspective, Clarissa is desperate for anything to hold onto in order to feel like her life has purpose. We've seen her get excited about doing things (like mending her dress and getting flowers) on her own, which shows just how helpless and small she feels.
Not only does she feel like her gender is slowly causing her erasure, Clarissa has also had a life void of intense emotion, specifically love. We talked in class about the relationship between Clarissa and Sally and, let's be real, there's no way that's a strictly heterosexual relationship. At the same time, it wasn't love. Clarissa definitely had an infatuation with Sally (whether reciprocated or not), but that's all it was, and it was nowhere near as intense an emotion as love. Still, Sally evoked far more emotion than either Richard or Peter. It seems that Clarissa isn't too fond of either of them, which is odd because they were her two choices in marriage. Peter perhaps attracts Clarissa, as shown by him making her jealous, but even her jealousy is a muted emotion. And in terms of Richard, we saw in the flower-giving scene that while they interact, they're nowhere near understanding each other. None of the three ever evoked real love for Clarissa. She's lived a life without love and suffered through being lonely throughout her marriage, a time that's supposed to be all about companionship and love.
While I agree that Clarissa has not had a painful life, I don't think that she has led a life entirely devoid of pain. Can you really say that someone who's never experienced real love has experienced a completely difficulty-free life?
I think this post makes a lot of good points. Suffering shouldn't be a competition. Although Clarissa is clearly privileged (for lack of better word) in some respects, that doesn't invalidate the pain she has experienced. Experiences like the one she had with Sally - and I agree that there was definitely something going on there besides friendship - speak to the limitations she's had her whole life. And I definitely agree that these limitations have to do with her being a woman: as you pointed out, she's done all that society expects of her (marry, have children), and she tries to make the most of the limited creative outlets provided to her (throwing parties, mending her dress). To outside eyes, that should be enough. ('Enough for a woman,' they might say.) But of course it isn't.
ReplyDeleteThis post makes me ask an impossible question. What is love? In the context of Mrs. Dalloway, who would Clarissa Dalloway fall in love with? I like the verbs you use to describe the relationship between Clarissa and each of her suitors in Bourton. She is infatuated with Sally. She is attracted to Peter. She does not understand Richard. None of these is love. But it is clear she's had the best moments of her life with these people in Bourton. I agree with you that a loveless life is a painful one. It makes me wonder, what about these people made them imitate love in Clarissa's life? Will Clarissa ever find "the real thing"?
ReplyDeleteOne really important detail about young Clarissa's life is mentioned only by Peter Walsh: as a teenager, she apparently witnessed her younger sister being killed by a falling tree, right before her eyes. It's interesting that Clarissa never mentions or dwells on this memory in the novel, but Peter is aware of it, and knows that it must have traumatized her significantly. (This incident provides one additional point of parallel between Clarissa and Septimus's storylines: they both witnessed the death of a loved one at a young age.) Clearly, her life hasn't been free of suffering or trauma, and despite her life-loving embrace of London on a June day, her thoughts return repeatedly to death. Her psychic wounds aren't as evident or dramatic as Septimus's, but I agree with you that Woolf doesn't seem interested in "ranking" her characters' suffering. Kilman makes some pointed critiques of Clarissa, but really she doesn't know her at all, and is in no position to judge. (Just as, presumably, Clarissa doesn't really know Kilman, and is likewise in no position to judge.)
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure I'd say we've witnessed much pain in Clarissa's life throughout the course of the novel. There is her younger sister's death mentioned briefly. I'd characterize it more as a precarious sense of purpose. But one way I imagine it is possibly Clarissa's life is unfulfilling to her because she hasn't gone through enough intense emotional experiences in her life, including pain, to invigorate her. Septimus is clearly psychologically traumatized from the war, and as damaged as he is, his understanding of the world is vivid. He seems to have more of a sense of purpose.
ReplyDeleteGood points you make about Clarissa's social stratification. I wonder though, whether the suffering she is experiencing is the way Virginia Woolf views life in general? It seems readers are often conditioned to look for overwhelming happiness in their characters lives, while the multitude of Woolf's characters seem to experience much more tumultuous lives, full of ups and downs. So Clarissa is living in her own torment, or at least subconscious dissatisfaction--and so are all of the other characters in different ways and to different degrees. Woolf is excellent at pointing out problems with people and all of her characters are victims of some sort of social injustice--except maybe Peter, and he's been rejected so he isn't feeling too good either--and we don't really hear enough about Richard to gage what his perspective on life might be. The novel from Clarissa's perspective feels trapped and isolated and I agree that that is probably a result of the norms that Virginia Woolf is calling out.
ReplyDeleteDuring the time frame that the novel takes place in I think that the reader does not see Clarissa really suffer at all. Her biggest problem is hosting a part which does not seem like suffering at all to me. I do agree though that Clarissa has suffered in the past. In the beginning of the book we find out that Clarissa was ill and that she had to spend a lot of time alone in her room which is something I believe is something. Clarissa also constantly morally suffers knowing that she doesn't truly love Richard and that maybe she could have done more in her life. Other than that I believe Clarissa has had a very privileged life with minimal suffering.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Clarissa is longing for love, but I'd also argue that she has experienced it with Sally. Not only is Sally Clarissa's ideal for herself with her outgoing and defiant tenancies, but she was also Clarissa's only love. I think this is proven by the kiss scene and her description of it as the most important moment in her life. After all, wouldn't it be worse for Clarissa to be longing for something she's lost or to not know what she's missing?
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