". . .there was a tap at the door. Could it be Sir William Bradshaw? Had he sent already?" (Woolf 144).
Virginia Woolf is considered to a great feminist. In her portrayal of Sir William Bradshaw, Woolf was putting every issue she had ever had with men into one character. He embodies upper class oppression; he is a rich, well respected psychiatrist who is actually quite bad at his job; and, the icing on the cake, he firmly believes that women should not be in control, or have rights.
Black, Naomi. "Virginia Woolf as Feminist." Cornell University Press. Web. 05 June 2012. <http://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/?GCOI=80140100470100>.
Woolf, Virginia, and Francine Prose. Mrs. Dalloway. Orlando: Harcourt, 2003. Print.
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Gender Roles - Mrs. Dalloway II
"There was Regent's Park. Yes. As a child he had walked in Regents Park - odd, he thought, how the thought of childhood keeps coming back to me - the result of seeing Clarissa, perhaps; for women live much more in the past than we do, he thought" (Woolf 55).
In this quote, Peter seems to be denying the fact that he is extremely sentimental; he says that women live much more in the past, and that it was Clarissa who brought his thoughts back to that time. In the meantime, Clarissa goes about worrying about her party, and making sure everything is right for it, and briefly thinking about all the times at Bourton, but she has resolve enough to not second guess herself. Peter, on the other hand, is all washed up about the whole deal. Woolf does this in order to illustrate how gender roles can differ completely depending on the people in the roles.
Woolf, Virginia, and Francine Prose. Mrs. Dalloway. Orlando: Harcourt, 2003. Print.
In this quote, Peter seems to be denying the fact that he is extremely sentimental; he says that women live much more in the past, and that it was Clarissa who brought his thoughts back to that time. In the meantime, Clarissa goes about worrying about her party, and making sure everything is right for it, and briefly thinking about all the times at Bourton, but she has resolve enough to not second guess herself. Peter, on the other hand, is all washed up about the whole deal. Woolf does this in order to illustrate how gender roles can differ completely depending on the people in the roles.
Woolf, Virginia, and Francine Prose. Mrs. Dalloway. Orlando: Harcourt, 2003. Print.
Happy Madness - Mrs. Dalloway III
"Through all ages - when the pavement was grass, when it was swamp, through the age of tusk and mammoth, through the age of silent sunrise, the battered woman - for she wore a skirt - with her right hand exposed, her left clutching at her side, stood singing of love - love which has lasted a million years, she sang" (Woolf 81).
In this quote, Woolf explores what society perceives as madness; the old lady looks like someone who has lost their mind, someone to be pitied, when she is actually the happy one. For although the lady does not fit into societal 'norms,' that does not keep her from her happiness; her song of love, true love, is all she needs to keep her spirit alive and well.
Woolf, Virginia, and Francine Prose. Mrs. Dalloway. Orlando: Harcourt, 2003. Print.
In this quote, Woolf explores what society perceives as madness; the old lady looks like someone who has lost their mind, someone to be pitied, when she is actually the happy one. For although the lady does not fit into societal 'norms,' that does not keep her from her happiness; her song of love, true love, is all she needs to keep her spirit alive and well.
Woolf, Virginia, and Francine Prose. Mrs. Dalloway. Orlando: Harcourt, 2003. Print.
Sexual Freedom - Mrs. Dalloway IV
". . .she could not resist sometimes yielding to the charm of a. . .woman confessing, as to her they often did, some scrape, some folly. And whether it was pity, or their beauty, or that she was older, or some accident - like a faint scent, or a violin next door. . .she did undoubtedly then feel what men felt" (Woolf 31-32).
In her novel, Woolf explores sexuality in ways far ahead of her time. As noted in "An Introduction to The Bloomsbury Group," Woolf demonstrated her sexual freedom in various affairs over her lifetime, with both males and females. Woolf also wrote the book Orlando, a tale of a man who then becomes a woman, as if able to see into the future when sex reassignment surgeries are possible.
In Mrs. Dalloway, Clarissa Dalloway often reminisces on when she was in love with Sally Seton; the most interesting part of the love affair was that it was almost completely based on character. In this quote, Clarissa notes that the only times she has really felt sexual it was brought on by a woman. Because women were still so sexually repressed in Woolf's days, she was making a statement about where she believes a person can find love.
Turner, Edwin. "Orlando - Virginia Woolf." Biblioklept. Web. 05 June 2012. <http://biblioklept.org/2011/04/19/orlando-virginia-woolf/>.
"An Introduction to The Bloomsbury Group." The Bloomsbury Group. Web. 05 June 2012. <http://bloomsbury.denise-randle.co.uk/intro.htm>.
Woolf, Virginia, and Francine Prose. Mrs. Dalloway. Orlando: Harcourt, 2003. Print.
In her novel, Woolf explores sexuality in ways far ahead of her time. As noted in "An Introduction to The Bloomsbury Group," Woolf demonstrated her sexual freedom in various affairs over her lifetime, with both males and females. Woolf also wrote the book Orlando, a tale of a man who then becomes a woman, as if able to see into the future when sex reassignment surgeries are possible.
In Mrs. Dalloway, Clarissa Dalloway often reminisces on when she was in love with Sally Seton; the most interesting part of the love affair was that it was almost completely based on character. In this quote, Clarissa notes that the only times she has really felt sexual it was brought on by a woman. Because women were still so sexually repressed in Woolf's days, she was making a statement about where she believes a person can find love.
Turner, Edwin. "Orlando - Virginia Woolf." Biblioklept. Web. 05 June 2012. <http://biblioklept.org/2011/04/19/orlando-virginia-woolf/>.
"An Introduction to The Bloomsbury Group." The Bloomsbury Group. Web. 05 June 2012. <http://bloomsbury.denise-randle.co.uk/intro.htm>.
Woolf, Virginia, and Francine Prose. Mrs. Dalloway. Orlando: Harcourt, 2003. Print.
Mental Health - Mrs. Dalloway V
"So, thought Septimus, looking up, they are signaling to me. Not indeed in actual words; that is, he could not read the language yet; but it was plain enough, this beauty, this exquisite beauty, and tears filled his eyes as he looked at the smoke words languishing and melting in the sky" (Woolf 21-22).
Woolf uses Septimus's character in order to give depth to society's perceived notion of madness. Septimus is always trying to communicate with things, but he never figures out how to communicate with the people he should really be communicating with. By portraying the emotions of a madman, Woolf is opening up a door to understanding and sympathy toward those dealing with metal illnesses. As the early nineteenth century was the dawn of how mental illness is treated today, Woolf's attention to current issues is obvious.
"Overview of Mental Health in New York and the Nation." New York State Archives. Web. 05 June 2012. <http://www.archives.nysed.gov/a/research/res_topics_health_mh_timeline.shtml>.
Woolf, Virginia, and Francine Prose. Mrs. Dalloway. Orlando: Harcourt, 2003. Print.
Woolf uses Septimus's character in order to give depth to society's perceived notion of madness. Septimus is always trying to communicate with things, but he never figures out how to communicate with the people he should really be communicating with. By portraying the emotions of a madman, Woolf is opening up a door to understanding and sympathy toward those dealing with metal illnesses. As the early nineteenth century was the dawn of how mental illness is treated today, Woolf's attention to current issues is obvious.
"Overview of Mental Health in New York and the Nation." New York State Archives. Web. 05 June 2012. <http://www.archives.nysed.gov/a/research/res_topics_health_mh_timeline.shtml>.
Woolf, Virginia, and Francine Prose. Mrs. Dalloway. Orlando: Harcourt, 2003. Print.
Priorities - Mrs. Dalloway VI
"She had pawned her grandmother's ring which Marie Antoinette had given her great-grandfather to come to Bourton" (Woolf 188).
In this quote, Woolf alludes to the infamous French queen Marie Antoinette. She is known for being an unaware leader, and for the misattributed quote "let them eat cake." In this quote, Woolf shows that she has a good knowledge of history, as the queen truly did want to help her subjects.
In this quote, Woolf also explores the strength of the ties formed from memories. Although the ring was extremely valuable, Sally felt it more important to visit a place than to hold onto that piece of family history.
"Marie Antoinette | Queen of France." Lucidcafé. Web. 05 June 2012. <http://www.lucidcafe.com/library/95nov/antoinette.html>.
Woolf, Virginia, and Francine Prose. Mrs. Dalloway. Orlando: Harcourt, 2003. Print.
In this quote, Woolf alludes to the infamous French queen Marie Antoinette. She is known for being an unaware leader, and for the misattributed quote "let them eat cake." In this quote, Woolf shows that she has a good knowledge of history, as the queen truly did want to help her subjects.
In this quote, Woolf also explores the strength of the ties formed from memories. Although the ring was extremely valuable, Sally felt it more important to visit a place than to hold onto that piece of family history.
"Marie Antoinette | Queen of France." Lucidcafé. Web. 05 June 2012. <http://www.lucidcafe.com/library/95nov/antoinette.html>.
Woolf, Virginia, and Francine Prose. Mrs. Dalloway. Orlando: Harcourt, 2003. Print.
Consolation - Mrs. Dalloway VII
"Fear no more the heat o' the sun/Nor the furious winter's rages" (Woolf 9).
The piece of poetry that Virginia Woolf uses in her novel is alluding to the poem found in Shakespeare's Cymbeline. The poem is a type of funeral song, trying to find consolation after the death of a loved one. Clarissa reads the poem after thinking some tumultuous thoughts about how much life matters, and the poem almost seems to be there to console her.
Woolf, Virginia, and Francine Prose. Mrs. Dalloway. Orlando: Harcourt, 2003. Print.
The piece of poetry that Virginia Woolf uses in her novel is alluding to the poem found in Shakespeare's Cymbeline. The poem is a type of funeral song, trying to find consolation after the death of a loved one. Clarissa reads the poem after thinking some tumultuous thoughts about how much life matters, and the poem almost seems to be there to console her.
Shakespeare, William. "Fear No More the Heat O' the Sun." Cymbeline. The Poetry Foundation. Web. 05 June 2012. <http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/176855>.
Woolf, Virginia, and Francine Prose. Mrs. Dalloway. Orlando: Harcourt, 2003. Print.
The Time of Memories - Mrs. Dalloway VIII
"What a lark! What a plunge! For so it had aways seemed to her, when, with a little squeak of the hinges, which she could hear now, she had burst open the French windows and plunged at Bourton into the open air" (Woolf 3).
In her book, Virginia Woolf plays with time in a way most books do not. In this quote, she is describing just how easily a memory can pop up and transport a person back in time. All it took for Clarissa to feel as if she was back at Bourton was the sound of a hinge squeaking, and that sound sends her into thinking back on, and questioning, the choices she made in her past.
Woolf, Virginia, and Francine Prose. Mrs. Dalloway. Orlando: Harcourt, 2003. Print.
In her book, Virginia Woolf plays with time in a way most books do not. In this quote, she is describing just how easily a memory can pop up and transport a person back in time. All it took for Clarissa to feel as if she was back at Bourton was the sound of a hinge squeaking, and that sound sends her into thinking back on, and questioning, the choices she made in her past.
Woolf, Virginia, and Francine Prose. Mrs. Dalloway. Orlando: Harcourt, 2003. Print.
Distraction - Mrs. Dalloway IX
“But what letters? A C was it? an E, then an L? Only for a moment did they lie still; then they moved and melted and were rubbed out up in the sky, and the aeroplane shot further away and again, in a fresh space of sky, began writing a K, an E, a Y perhaps?” (Woolf 20).
Virginia Woolf uses the symbol of the aeroplane to represent how short human attention spans can be; the people are all extremely interested in the car, and who is inside of the car, until they spot a shiny aeroplane. Then, the car is completely forgotten.
Woolf also uses the letters the plane is writing to symbolize the unclarity often found when analyzing symbols. After the letters are seen, the people all sit about trying to decipher the meaning of the letters; eventually, a few people agree that one of the words was “toffee,” but other than that, the letters stay muddled.
Woolf, Virginia, and Francine Prose. Mrs. Dalloway. Orlando: Harcourt, 2003. Print.
Woolf, Virginia, and Francine Prose. Mrs. Dalloway. Orlando: Harcourt, 2003. Print.
Monday, April 9, 2012
Objective Information - Mrs. Dalloway X
"A charming woman, Scrope Purvis thought her (knowing her as one does know people who live next door to one in Westminster); a touch of the bird about her, of the jay, blue-green, light, vivacious, though she was over fifty, and grown very white since her illness" (Woolf 4).
In this quote, Virginia Woolf jumps from the thoughts of Clarissa Dalloway, and into the mind of one of her neighbors; Woolf does this in order to give the readers some information about Clarissa: she is thought well of by those who know of her; she is rather wealthy, as she lives in Westminster; she is a bit bird-like, which Clarissa comments about herself later on in her narrative; and Clarissa is over fifty, and has dealt with some sort of illness. Although Woolf could have let the readers know all this information through Clarissa's thoughts, by using a bystander the information becomes more objective.
Woolf, Virginia, and Francine Prose. Mrs. Dalloway. Orlando: Harcourt, 2003. Print.
Woolf, Virginia, and Francine Prose. Mrs. Dalloway. Orlando: Harcourt, 2003. Print.
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