Mrs. Dalloway
7/10. Good. Because I didn’t read anything more interesting this month than the big bad Woolf.
Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway is far more accessible than both its reputation and To the Lighthouse would lead one to believe. It’s a story of a social circle in English society, centered around its eponymous protagonist, Mrs. Claudia Dalloway. The story is disjointed, weaving seamlessly in and out of the lives of many characters, like an arthouse film taken in one shot. Through this chaos we see the misunderstandings of many of the characters, but more importantly, their unhappiness.
I think plot summaries are ordinarily limited to physical things and events that happen to them, but I’ll have to make an exception in this case, since the plot takes place in the heads of the characters. Mrs. Dalloway happens over a day, and begins with Claudia Dalloway thinking to herself as she organizes a dinner party. Her thoughts are varied, but she is essentially unhappy with her marriage. She feels unappreciated, and wonders would life would have been like if she married the adventurous and romantic Peter Walsh instead of the stable and simple Richard Dalloway. As she’s out shopping, we are introduced to a cacophony of perspectives when a car backfires. The narration settles on the thoughts of Lucrezia and Septimus Smith. Their marriage and Rezia’s well-being are deteriorating as Septimus’ shell shock worsens, up to the point where it is necessary to see a psychiatrist. Out of the blue, Peter Walsh appears, back from India, unhappy with his failed ventures, and still in love with Claudia. He invites himself into the Dalloway residence, and just as the conversation seems to be heading towards a reconciliation towards the two, Peter gets cold feet and leaves as abruptly as he arrives. The story follows the thoughts of these three characters and more, culminating in Septimus’ suicide and Claudia’s dinner party.
Nothing really happens in the story. Septimus dies, Claudia throws a dinner party, and Peter resolves to marry again. But most of the writing follows thoughts and emotions. The feelings and experiences of the characters slide smoothly and naturally; although difficult to follow at times, there is no break in narration. Septimus’ story isn’t even related to Claudia’s, but going from one narrative to the other never feels unnatural. I’ve read some “stream of consciousness” before, but this was the first time that it was in my face, so noticeable and overwhelming. Or maybe it was the first time I understood it.
Instead of telling us explicitly how the characters feel, Woolf manages to give us a look into the workings of their minds, their thoughts as they would think them. The sentences seemed to wander, treading on the thin line between artistic expression and poor English. Here are a few that struck me as I was reading.
“Did it matter then, she asked herself, walking towards Bond Street, did it matter that she must inevitably cease completely? All this must go on without her; did she resent it; or did it not become consoling to believe that death ended absolutely?”
“As we are a doomed race, chained to a sinking ship, as the whole thing is a bad joke, let us, at any rate, do our part; mitigate the suffering of our fellow-prisoners; decorate the dungeon with flowers and air-cushions; be as decent as we possibly can.”
“But he could not taste, he could not feel. In the teashop among the tables and the chattering waiters the appalling fear came over him - he could not feel. He could reason; he could read, Dante for example, quite easily…he could add up his bill; his brain was perfect; it must be the fault of the world then- that he could not feel.”
“One cannot bring children into a world like this. One cannot perpetuate suffering, or increase the breed of these lustful animals, who have no lasting emotions, but only whims and vanities, eddying them now this way, now that.”
Mrs. Dalloway left me with a feeling of despair. All the characters’ thoughts touched on alienation, death, or lack of fulfillment. Moreover, all the adult characters represented beings that I could simultaneously see myself as, and as people that I didn’t want to be.
Through stream of consciousness, Woolf is able to assert the impact of the past decisions and experiences in the present psyche. Claudia is fundamentally unhappy, because her in her youth, she chose stability in Richard over romance and adventure in Peter. Correspondingly, Peter is upset that his string of romances after Claudia didn’t work out, and thinks that his life would be much better with her. Septimus is traumatized by the war, and Rezia longs for the life she had with her family in Italy. The influence these have on present thoughts is abetted by the character’s naked flow of thoughts, so much so that it’s often difficult to establish what is happening in the present and what are memories of the past. It makes for a confusing read at times, but a novel experience; it’s quite impossible to describe someone’s unfiltered thoughts in words on paper.
It’s interesting to note here that while Septimus is the only character presented as mentally ill, his thoughts appear to the reader no different than that of any of the other characters. Alternatively put, past trauma and regrets affect the characters equally, it’s how they chose to translate those thoughts into actions that differentiate them. Claudia largely chooses to ignore them, alienating her feelings from her actions. Peter acts upon them, treading societal expectations, alienating himself from society. And Septimus cannot bear the gap between the two, and chooses suicide.
Mrs. Dalloway doesn’t prescribe any cures nor preventative measures for the monotony and dread of middle-age adulthood. I don’t think it quite advocates for suicide as a solution, but the rest of the characters are merely going through the motions of existence. At the end of the novel Claudia’s party turns out to be a success, but she is still unhappy. As the narration drifts to other people, it’s clear that everyone only appears to be having a good time. News of Septimus’ suicide causes Claudia to reevaluate her own life, and she realizes how inauthentic it is, as we have realized throughout the novel. Upon meeting an old friend, Sally, she also realizes that her impressions of the past are just that, and should have no bearing in the present. The novel then ends, without any indication of a change of heart on her end.
Despite its complete lack of plot and unconventional narrative structure, Mrs. Dalloway shows the lives of several adults unhappy in their middle age, and in doing so, made me realize that I did not want to become like them. Although the writing was pretty, I was confused. I would have liked a proper plot and climax. I found it tough to get through, and I had to reread a line or two. Sometimes I hoped that the action would pick up a little. But after reading it, I felt like I knew the characters intimately. I don’t want to turn into a depressed voice reliving the past, trapped inside a body going through the motions of life every day, but I can not only see myself possibly in that position, but also feel myself slowly heading towards that direction. Mrs. Dalloway identified the problem but leaves me to find the solution myself.
