Septimus's Story in Mrs. Dalloway
When I first started reading Mrs. Dalloway I thought the Septimus parts were kind of random. His point of views were different from any other character, and I wanted to analyze more about why his story was told in this book and how it connects to Mrs. Dalloway herself.
The interesting part is that Clarissa and Septimus don't directly meet. The closest they get is Clarissa hearing about him at her party from William Bradshaw. However, the more I read, and hearing in class about how Woolf was going to have a different ending for Clarissa and that it was going to be one ending, the more I saw the similarities between the two.I saw how they are kind of the same person living two different lives. My explanation for how they connect is that Septimus is what Clarissa could have turned into/ the reality she could have faced, and his death is what makes her choose to keep living.
There are many similar lines that they narrate that I highlighted, seeing a too specific to be coincidental connection. For exmaple the line about not fearing anymore. Woolf is connecting their minds without them knowing it. Also, they both hate when people are trying to force them to be a certain way. Bradshaw is the opposite and wants to send Septimus away to make him "normal" and Clarissa, who barely knows him, still says he seemed capable of "forcing your soul" and she dislikes him. They both feel like their real self is something that people are trying to take away from them. I think this is also why Septimus jumps, because he says he will give it to them, like he would rather die than let Bradshaw get him.
The part that really answers the question is at the end when Clarissa goes into the little room alone after hearing about the suicide. Hearing about the suicide really strikes her and causes her to retreat from the party and think. She, unlike others, seemed to understand Septimus the most and emphathize with him. Clarissa can imagine his death, showing a weird connection between the two that I still don't fully understand, but I believe is meant to demonstrate their similarity in what could have been life path. "She felt somehow very like him" is what she thinks in the dark room. It seems like she gets it, she doesn't think he was crazy, she thinks he was holding onto something she has also felt. The difference between them is that she says that through Septimus' death she sees the value in living. She takes it as a way to appreciate her own life. she looks out the window and sees the old lady across the street going to bed and then she decides the she must go back to her party. Septimus couldn't come back but Clarissa can, and kind of because of him. So I think Septimus is in the book so that Clarissa has someone to remind her of the value of her life. He takes the path she could have taken and because he did, she sees it from the outside and picks life instead, even if her life is just throwing parties that people think are shallow.
Woolf, Virginia. Mrs. Dalloway. Hartcourt, 2005.
Hi Shreya, I agree with you that Septimus being in the book seems very random in the beginning of the book. However, I think you are right in that Septimus' death is what forces Clarissa to see the value in living. I think the addition of Septimus gives this book a more positive ending, focusing on the beauty of life rather than the despair of death. Great blog!
ReplyDeleteHi Shreya! I also remember when we learned in class about Virginia Woolf's initial plan for the ending, and how it made a big difference in the way I interpreted what ended up happening with Clarissa and Septimus. While they never physically meet, I feel like the scene when she retreats to her room, and all we are left with is Clarissa and her thoughts of Septimus, is in itself a very intimate and telling moment of their connection as something that was always intended. I agree that Clarissa's thoughtfulness towards Septimus' death is a reflection of how she can see the value in living, but it's also interesting how she simultaneously thinks gladly that he killed himself to preserve his soul. Her gratitude towards life is sort of mixed with a more spiritual appreciation of the human soul and existence.
ReplyDeleteHi Shreya! Nice blog post! You made me wonder about how Mrs. Dalloway takes the news of Septimus' death as a reason to keep living. If Septimus hadn't died, would Virginia Woolfe's original intention of Mrs. Dalloway dying have happened? Does Septimus represent a piece of Mrs. Dalloway that has died, or simply a growing and acceptance of herself and newfound appreciation for the world around her?
ReplyDeleteHey Shreya, nice blog! I never made the connection that both Clarissa and Septimus don't like people forcing them to be a certain way. Septimus is forced to live a life that Bradshaw formed for him, but, like you mentioned, Clarissa is able to escape this deadly reality, finding freedom in throwing parties. While it is hard to speculate on Septimus' deeper role in the book, it would certainly make sense that Septimus serves as a reminder for Clarissa to appreciate the life she has. I would also posit that Septimus serves a more general comparison role, juxtaposing the troubles of the typical man (specifically one that just fought in a war) and the other characters who get to live a high society life.
ReplyDeleteShreya — These connections between Septimus and Clarissa are so interesting, because it's clear that it's Septimus' purpose in the novel as a secondary storyline. To add, the two characters have a misunderstood energy, as Septimus' mental illness is misunderstood by the doctors and Clarissa's chosen life (hostess, politican's wife) is misunderstood by people like Peter. In the end, the way Septimus is misunderstood (arguably) kills him. Perhaps in the older conception of Mrs. Dalloway (where Clarissa was intended to take her own life) Clarissa's suicide was also caused by misunderstandings about her that undermined her throughout the novel.
ReplyDeleteHi Shreya! throughout reading this book, I've had an hard time linking septimus and clarissa together, but you make some very eye opening points! I like the concept of woolf connecting their minds, but the irony in the situation is that they've never even met despite having similar thoughts about being misunderstood. Great Blog!
ReplyDeletePart of the seeming "randomness" of Septimus's presence in the novel is that he isn't part of the same social class as the rest of these characters (with the exception of Miss Kilman, and she is ostracized by Clarissa largely due to class prejudices). In other words, it is very unlikely that these two people ever WOULD have met and interacted in a significant way: the closest we come is when Peter observes the young couple in the park and makes completely erroneous assumptions about them. Clarissa stands right near Septimus on the street corner with the black car passing by, and she never even notices him. And as an Italian immigrant who barely speaks English and knows no one in London, Lucrezia is even further from their social circle. This gulf between them makes the mysterious "psychic" connection at the end even more remarkable--Clarissa "feels very like" a man she would feel very UNLIKE had she seen him earlier in the day.
ReplyDeleteHey shreya, great post! I think it's interesting you bring up that both characters resist other people trying to control who they are. However, it makes me wonder if Clarissa returning to the party means she has some realization about how SHE wants to live her life, or if it's a brief moment of realization and respite and yet as she returns to the party she goes back into the state she was in before.
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