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I wanted take this opportunity to expand more on my thoughts about the relations between Septimus and Clarissa Dalloway and how the reflect each other's characters in this book. This might be a slightly more sad and serioud blog, so bear with me please. On one hand, Septimus's trauma is visible through his emotional outbreaks and hallucinations. His trauma is easier to comprehend because of how clear it is that he has PTSD. On the other hand, Clarissa struggels on the inside with her stressful thoughts and insecurities about how she is portrayed by others. Both have different characteristics of struggle that are equally as important, but yet society refuses to acknowledge these two examples and focus on the surface of these character or the tip of the iceberg.
These two people could not be any more different from each other when looking at it from an outsider perspective. Clarissa is a middle-high class hostess married to Richard Dalloway. She seems to have a refined judgment on how she percieves people and judges them based off of their impression. On the inside however, she has a sense of insecurity on who she is to other people. She is often time categorized as the "perfect hostess" with the purpose of serving and looking pretty for guests. Especially when comparing her to other female characters like Lady Burton, she significantly lacks political educations and intellect. Her character is boiled down to simply Mrs. Richard Dalloway as a subcomponent of her husband when there is so much more to her character. This has brought her to always feel insignificant to others and losing her identity as herself, not just as a servant for others.
Septimus is slightly different, but has the same ideology in terms of incomprehendable struggle. Post WW1, Spetimus experiences severe PTSD which at the time, is not very acknowldeged as a "real" disorder. Even when seeking help from Dr. Holmes and Sir William Bradshaw, they refuse to understand the reason for his actions, and even attempt to send him away into one of his country homes and be seperated form Lucrezia. Eventually, Septimus takes his own life. Despite not having a relationship with each other, clarissa is also shook by this news which is a symbol of companionship and understanding the struggles that go on inside. Septimus's death was not an act of defeat, but a desperate cry for help to eveyone that did not understand their struggels. Virginia Woolf even stated that the originial story had Clarrisa taking her own life furthermore showing how these two characters reflect each other despite not even knowing each other.
- Brandon lee
I really like your point about how Clarissa and Septimus experience different kinds of internal struggles despite appearing so different on the outside. I also found it interesting how society fails to understand both characters, although in very different ways. Septimus is dismissed by the doctors who are supposed to help him, while Clarissa feels restricted by the expectations placed on her as a woman. Do you think Clarissa’s reaction to Septimus’s death shows that she understands his struggles better than the people who actually knew him?
ReplyDeleteWhat’s up Brandon! Your title didn’t give me much insight into the content of the post, but I soon understood it was about the relationship between Septimus and Clarissa. I liked that you pointed out how they don’t necessarily suffer from the exact same thing but are still overall very similar in their struggles in life and society. I also think that Septimus’s death is partially shown as a defeat for him, as he says how he wanted to live longer before he ends his life, but I agree that it is a desperate cry for help and also his way of liberation from this society and suffering. I personally found his death very sad especially after he had seemed to be enjoying life a little with Lucrezia a few moments before. Overall tho, I think this was amazing work!
ReplyDeleteHi Brandon! Virginia Woolf's depiction of Septimus and Clarissa in this novel is something that really needs analysis to bring out their interconnectedness. The two characters have minimal interactions in the novel, almost seeming like two parallel story lines, but their inner thoughts and struggles truly resonate with each other. Clarissa is perhaps the only person who can understand the death of Septimus. Great Blog!
ReplyDeleteI like the idea that these characters embody similar struggles, but that the struggles take contrasting forms in their lives. Clarissa is much more capable of maintaining the facade of stability and "sanity," but we see that under the surface her picture is a lot more complicated and fraught. Septimus has lost the ability to maintain the facade, and we're told that he just looks like a tormented, mentally ill person as he walks down the street (looking paranoid, talking to himself, behaving erratically). My favorite example of this idea that they exist on a "spectrum" of sanity is that Septimus literally hallucinates and hears voices, and this often takes the form of his traumatic past (Evans) rising up and walking toward him in what he takes to be "real life." The inability to distinguish between what is real and what is a hallucination is part of Septimus's challenge, obviously. With Clarissa, we see that "sanity" maybe just means that she is better able to keep these voices under wraps, to walk down the street looking respectable and serious and legitimate. No one seems to think that Clarissa is "crazy," but when we engage her internal monologue, we realize that she too is hearing voices in her head--Peter Walsh speaks to her from 30 years earlier on the first page! We understand on some level that this is how memory works, but the parallels enable us to see a spectrum here: Clarissa pondering memories of the past in contrast to Septimus's repressed past literally walking toward him in broad daylight. The novel suggests these are merely differences of degree.
ReplyDeleteHi Brandon. I really liked that you drew upon the fact that Septimus's PTSD was easier to see. Clarissa is a character that understands Septimus, and there isn't many others who can understand how he feels. And it's interesting that in Woolf's first draft, she wanted Clarissa to die in the end. Why do you think she changed the plot? Nice blog post!
ReplyDeleteHey Brandon, nice blog! It's really interesting how different the backgrounds of Clarissa and Septimus are, yet they share similar qualms with the world. Both are boxed away and almost neglected, Septimus for his condition and Clarissa becoming just Mrs. Dalloway. I really like that your description of their connection. Even though they never met, when Clarissa hears the news of his death she immediately understands and empathizes with him.
ReplyDeleteI can really see how these characters share similar struggles, even though the same vastly different from an outside perspective. It’s really their circumstances that separate their responses: Clarissa finds that for her, she is able to put on the facade in public, as she finds meaning in social connection, but Septimus is unable to do so, and decides to commit suicide in order to protect himself. This is a great exploration of Septimus and Clarissa’s closely related struggles.
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