In class on Friday, we had an interesting conversation about the style of Woolf's writing in Mrs. Dalloway. Some people really liked the "stream of consciousness" style, while others found it confusing and difficult to follow. How is Woolf's style different from the style of the other authors that we have read? How is it similar? Do you like this style? Why or why not?
Also, we were recently introduced to Septimus Warren Smith. He is presented on page 14 as "pale-faced, beak-nosed, wearing brown shoes and a shabby overcoat, with hazel eyes which had that look of apprehension in them which makes complete strangers apprehensive too..." Later, his wife, Lucrezia, thinks about his condition and their relationship. "She could not sit beside him when he stared so and did not see her and made everything terrible...and he would not kill himself; and she could tell no one...it was cowardly for a man to say he would kill himself, but Septimus had fought; he was brave; he was not Septimus now" (23). How do you feel about Septimus Warren Smith? What do you think is significant about his relationship with his wife? What, if any, significance do you think he has in the story based on what we know so far?
Although the book is titled Mrs. Dalloway and follows the events of one day in her life, Woolf jumps around to the thoughts and perspectives of other characters as well. What effect does this have on you as a reader? Does it make the book even harder to follow or does it give you a better understanding of what is happening?
I see both sides of the argument concerning Woolf's writing style. Her descriptions are beautiful and do add a lot to the story because it gives the story more of a mood. On the other hand the "stream of consciousness" does make the book harder to follow and therefore harder to understand. It's definitely different from the structure of Heart of Darkness and Clockwork Orange. Clockwork Orange, had the basic structure we all know, beginning middle and end with each piece building the story. Heart of Darkness does have the story within a story structure but it still has the basic beginning, middle and end. When it comes to Septimus's role in the book may be hard to tell that this point. He could be there to show the time period, after the first world war and the the war's effect. He could also be there to add another perspective to the story. Which brings up the question of how to distinguish the important characters from the minor characters? And whether or not Mrs. Dalloway is the main character when he seem to be seeing everyone's lives equally and she is just representing the movement between places.
ReplyDeleteWoolf's style is definitely modernist and artistically beautiful. There is a certain appeal in the unforced flow of ideas. While some characters are not formally introduced by Clarissa or the narrator, their stories can gradually be pieced together. This in some ways is similar to the language in A Clockwork Orange. There was no dictionary given, but eventually, using contextual clues, the meaning could be found, just as the characters in Mrs. Dalloway are slowly becoming more distinct. As for Septimus, I agree with Kaya that he provides a perspective on the war. He may represent the negative effects of the war, mainly PTSD. This contrasts with the rush of patriotism that the Londoners seem to feel as the mysterious car goes by. When the car passes, "strangers looked at each other and thought of the dead; of the flag; of the Empire" (18). Even though the people still feel sad as they think of the losses suffered in the war, there is still a sense of togetherness that is felt which seems to reflect the idea of the war, rather than the reality. This is very different from Septimus' sad and lonely suffering, which is closer to reality. It is definitely interesting to hear different perspectives on the situations in the book. The multiple voices help to understand both the situations specific to the novel and the major historical events of the time.
ReplyDeleteWoolf's stream of consciousness gives us a sense of what Post War London feels like. In specific little rants, characterized by a few paragraphs, Clarissa reveals her relationships one by one. Each of these bursts give us a good look at the effects of her past. Meanwhile the focus jumps from one perspective to the next. The text, though riddled with thematic elements and difficult phrasing leaves little room for analysis. Finding the story's most important characters is especially difficult early on, and the reader is often pages away from the next contact point with Mrs Dalloway. As readers of Modern British Literature, we have never experienced these sort of interruptions, and it is hard to understand having just come from a novel where the change in setting and voice only occurs a few times. The only similarities I can find is the one between her relationships with men and the relationships between Gabriel and Women in The Dead. Clarissa finds it easy to note what is wrong with men and their connection to her. Tenderness in Modern Britain has evidently not evolved for both genders, as we see Mrs. Dalloway shift towards the company of women and the sweeter side of life all in all.The subtleties and the perspective of a female author will be more of a challenge to grasp considering the direction we have gone so far in this class.
ReplyDeleteI think that Woolf has a different style of writing because she tends to fluxuate between the past and the present. It is hard to follow what time we are now reading about and often if you do not pay attetion to the details you can find yourself lost in her story. Conrad's way of switching the narrator and Woolf's showed us the same style in some cases. The similarity between Mrs. Dalloway and The Heart of Darkness was that; we often saw Marlow and the narrator switching back and fort, we saw the story from both of their eyes but sometimes the narrator would take over. The difference between this book and the others that caught my eye the most was that this is just one day in Clarissa's life, she just tells storys within her day, whether its thinking about her past or her present. I personally find the reading quite difficult only because of her changes in time, but once you can catch on to that the story and bring you in more.
ReplyDeleteI did not find that Septimus had any relation to her story. I think he was mainly brought in to give another perspective and tell us about the time they were living in with the war and "shell shock" how there were no doctors and such.
When Mrs. Dalloway jumps around from characters and past events it makes me feel that she is not satisfied with her life. Her peers see her as put together and proper, married to a rich man. While we see past that and go into her mind where her thoughts are all jumbled. I ignored her surface image and saw that she seemed lost and insecure about her life. And maybe that is why Woolf tends to jump around, to show us there is more to Clarissa than what meets the eye.
The difficulty of the stream of consciousness was clearly seen, but Woolf’s ability to refine her work in order to switch tenses flowed seemingly uninterrupted. Although it is difficult at first to see the change from person to person and past and present, as in A Clockwork Orange the reader is able to adapt to the text and eventually, as seen in Mrs. Dalloway, the changes are able to connect the memories of the past with the events of the present. While the steam of consciousness is hard to comprehend, after understanding the tone and meaning of a person, the rest of the text is easier overall.
ReplyDeleteSeptimus, being a WWI veteran, has very distinct qualities in this book. His character is overstressed, and to his wife, very distant. So far, he is reflective of Mrs. Dalloway, both being socially different, and both feel removed from society. Although Clarissa is not seen as this in the first few pages, as she reflects on past memories, just as Septimus does, their similarities begin to arise. Clarissa is much more of a romantic and sees different sides of life, while Septimus is a realist, seeing the truth, although most of these traits were probably gained from the war.
Woolf's style is set aside on it's own for many reasons, but there are also similarities with authors such as Joseph Conrad (Heart of Darkness.) The stream of conciousness I found to be quite confusing and the switches were sometime so subtle that I missed them and had to go back and read passages or sometimes even entire pages a couple times before anything even began to click. This is frustrating, because the stream switches so frequently. In a book such as the Heart of Darkness the view only switches from time to time and it is pretty obvious that there has been a change in view. The vocabulary in Mrs. Dalloway isn't as hard as a book such as A Clockwork Orange, which had a very large learning curve throughout the first couple chapters to attempt to master the language of the "droogs" called "Nadsat." It would be easier to read Mrs. Dalloway if the changes in tense and view were more clear. The stream of consciousness writing style would not need to change, but the abrupt changes in time period (if they were better marked) would allow the reader to not get so lost in the timeline so frequently.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if anyone has actually had an easier time reading this book than any of the other ones that we have covered this year?
The fluid nature of Woolf's writing style, though at times confusing, is in the end, to the readers benefit. The multiple forms of narration, including both internal thought and external dialogue, allows for a more developed understanding of the events and perspectives that the novel describes. This format allows for the individual characters to be connected to one another, an example of this being the contrast of Mrs. Dalloway’s reaction to the car backfiring compared to the reaction of Septimus. While it catches Mrs. Dalloway, off guard, before drawing her to the window, for Septimus, the noise brings back all the negatives of the world, causing him emotional and mental pain, “The world wavered and quivered and threatened to burst into flames” (15). If a more defined format was used, it would draw attention away from the important aspects of the day-to day.
ReplyDeleteThe nature of Lucrezia and Septimus’ relationship is one sided, not unlike that of Gabriel and Gretta. As an Italian in England in the aftermath of WWI, Lucrezia has no one but her husband, she is not only a foreigner, but the enemy. On the other hand, Septimus only has himself, if that, his own essence being eaten away in his shell shocked mind. Septimus has said that he will kill himself, so perhaps he doesn’t even have himself at all. When it comes to Gabriel and Gretta, she is in love with the memory of her sweetheart, who in the ultimate act of devotion, gave his life for her. Gabriel, is incapable of love, instead obsessing over moments that only he would find significant.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThe writing style in Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway is complex, psychological, intricate, and dense. Furthermore, the manner in which the author changes the point of view allows the reader to hear the different styles of speaking and thinking of certain characters. This writing style is both eloquent and mechanically impeccable, but can also be quite cryptic and confusing. In addition, Woolf’s use of stream of consciousness is similar that which T.S. Eliot employs in The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.
ReplyDeleteSeptimus Warren Smith is a World War I veteran who appears to be lost in his own mind. His numbness and insanity is questioned by his doctor, and the doctor wants the wife to help Septimus notice things outside of himself and reenter reality. However, this disconnect between Septimus and reality takes its toll on the relationship between him and his wife, and she struggles to help him see the beauty in life. Moreover, the character of Septimus endures many internal struggles that are similar to those that Clarissa Dalloway experiences throughout the beginning of the novel.
In my opinion, the constantly changing point of view or narrator is both interesting and confusing. Even though the alteration of style allows the reader to enter the thoughts of different characters and understand their inner emotions, Woolf’s use of this method is at times overwhelming.
In the beginning, Wolfs style was not one I really enjoyed.And quite honestly, its still hard to keep up with it and I still don't really enjoy it but I think that its a rather interesting style that could turn into something I find unique and interesting. I really do like how the book is set in one day, i find that extremely interesting and it makes me want to continue on to read to see what goes on in that day.
ReplyDeleteI had a lot of fun discussing the style of Mrs. Dalloway, and it certainly is an interesting issue. I believe that the difficulty in following is part of the style: stream of consciousness is in and of itself confusing and often fractured, which is part of the reason it is so powerful. The reader is truly immersing herself in the mind of the character, which is never a clean-cut, orderly exercise. Another novel we witnessed this total immersion with was Clockwork Orange. Burgess wanted the reader to live and breath Alex while we read about him, to understand him better than he understood himself. By using the fractured narrative, Woolf achieves the same effect. The reader can see other sides of Clarissa, another perspective of her, without completely loosing the essence of her shown in her inner monologues.
ReplyDelete