Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf - Essay Example

The Significance and Consequences of tearing oneself away from the Family, Language, and Country as portrayed in Virginia Woolf’s “Mrs. Dalloway”. The twentieth century is the age of World Wars. It is an age of modernity. It witnessed enormous reforms in all the fields of life. It is a crucial period in the history of England. A massive change swept over the world especially in the superpowers like England and America. It is an age of science since it affected the lives of the people in every field. The twentieth century witnessed a dislocation of majority of people in search of employment and comfortable life. The people from the villages started migrating towards the cities and this factor led to the Urbanization of the country. It also paved way to the mushrooming of slums in the town, which in turn gave arise to the poor living condition. There was a general dissatisfaction of the government among the people. Unemployment and poverty became prevalent in the country. The war has made peoples lives futile. People lived a mechanical life and forgot the good old moral values cherished by their ancestors. There was a lust for fame, position, and money. In addition, in this path of success many lost track of their culture, values, upbringing, and tradition. The literature of that period faithfully reflects the evils of the modern age. England was a very powerful country in the beginning of the twentieth century. The peaceful reign of Queen Victoria in England came to an abrupt end. The repercussion of ‘the Boer Wars’1 in South Africa awakened the social consciousness in the minds of the people. The people who once eulogized the imperialism became skeptical about the whole concept. They were not as proud as their predecessors in whose age, literary works of the writers like Kipling and Tennyson glorified imperialism. There was an urgent need for social reform in the country, because the issues such as child labour and unemployment was shaking the nation. People became rebellious and started questioning anything associated with the tradition, religion, culture, and politics. The birth of the twentieth century heralded the awakening of the scientific knowledge in the people. The Psychoanalytical theories of Freud and Jung became very popular. This had a great impact on the writers of that period. This age also gave importance to women and their views. Women took an equal position of that of the men in all the spheres of life. Even literature saw a rise of women writers as never before in the production of the literary works. The twentieth century also witnessed the dawn of the post-impressionism in painting. The French painters of this time experimented in their works. They deviated from the objective view of the world. These artists started concentrating on the inner minds of the people, in their works. 1Boer Wars (1880-1902) were fought in South Africa regarding the colonized land. It was fought between England, and the Boer republics, founded by the settlers. Boer Wars, Geocities, 2002 This paved a way for the subjective analysis of the literary works in the hands of the writers. In everyway, this century was different from that of the Victorian age. The writers of the Victorian age like Dickens, Austen, and Thackeray questioned the Victorian hypocrisy, but generally, they accepted the existing conditions of their society. However, the writers of the twentieth century took the literary world by storm, and literature is never the same again. There was a rapid growth in all the branches of literature in this century. It saw great literary giants like Eliot, Lawrence, Virginia Woolf, Yeats, Beckett, Conrad, Joyce, and Galsworthy in the literary fields. Though there was general output of books in all the genres of literature, fiction became the most sought after genre in literature. This is because, novel provided the scope of contemplating, analysing, and dissecting any issues of that time without any restriction. Moreover, it was able to reach out to the readers because of the simple language it adapted. Albert highlights the importance of the novel, when he says, “To a semi-educated modern taste prose fiction was (and still is) more palatable than poetry, which is more sophisticated taste, while by its nature, it is more accessible to the masses than drama.” (434).2 2Edward Albert, History of English Literature (London: Oxford University Press, 1995) 434. The fiction became the dominant and a powerful vehicle of expression, and it reflected the society of that period accurately. It also absorbed the concepts that were experimented in the field of art. The influence of Modernism has revolutionized the whole genre of fiction. The writers under the influence of Modernism produced a variety of literature that covered almost all the spheres in the life of a common man. The term ‘Modernism’ refers to a phenomenon, shaped by the socio-economic, cultural, and moral attitude of the people. Modernism was a movement initiated and spurred by the social and cultural dissatisfaction of the people. Modernism in literature is not an addition to the Victorian age; on the other hand, it is a thorough break from the values, ideas, attitudes, and tradition of the Victorian era. The beginning of the twentieth century provoked the feeling of alienation, isolation, frustration, meaninglessness of life, emptiness, and bitterness in people’s lives. All these are expressed through the paintings of that period. This in turn influenced the writers who projected in their works, the general distrust, and disbelief in any form of institution; and loss of faith in culture, tradition, and values of the age. Thus, the labour pains of the society such as disillusionment, anger, unemployment, discontentment, and frustration prevalent in that time gave birth to a wonderful child called ‘Modernism’. The concept of modernism varied from artist to artist. However, a common feature of modernism is that it experimented with the form, concept, and theme in a piece of work. The literature before modernism was objective and its main purpose was to delight the readers. However, modernism revolted against the whole concept of reading a book. The modernist movement was innovative and interesting; and it deliberately broke away from the previous era in its subject. There was a shift in the subject of the modernists from the outer world to the inner reality of a person. The modernists gave importance to the subjective role in their works. Instead of describing the outer appearance, their works started giving a glimpse of inner feelings of the characters. These writers were profoundly influenced by the theories of Nietzsche, Marx, Frazer, Freud, and Jung. Due to the exposure to such minds, the modernists began stressing on the Psychoanalytical depiction of the subject they handled. This gave them freedom to experiment in their works. ‘Avant-garde’ is an important feature of modernism. Most of the modernist adapted an exaggerated view of lives in their works. They deliberately distorted their works to make it new and different from others. Abrams is of the view that these writers, “By violating the accepted conventions and proprieties, not only of art but of social discourse, they set out to create ever-new artistic forms and styles and to introduce hitherto neglected, and sometimes forbidden, subject matters.” (120).3 3M.H. Abrams, A Glossary of Literary Terms (U.S.: Harcourt Brace And Company, 1993) 120. The most famous modernists of the twentieth century are James, Mrs. Woolf, Eliot, Joyce, and Pound. In order to capture the emotion of their characters, they adapted techniques like Surrealism, impressionism, and expressionism. Some like Joyce and Mrs. Woolf invented their own styles such as interior monologue and the stream of consciousness. Virginia Woolf is a pioneer in using the stream of consciousness technique in all her works. Mrs.Woolf entered the literary field, when it was ripe for a change. It was the transitional period from the Victorian age to that of the modern time. She broke away from the shackles of the traditional literature, and enjoyed the freedom of experimenting in her works. She was born to a renowned writer Leslie Stephen, and was surrounded by the literary figures throughout her life. This had an influence on her as a writer and a famous critic. All her works are unique and versatile. They described the subjective lives of the characters rather than chronologically depicting the incidents, and a linear character development. The narration of the story did not follow any order and there was a free shift in the narration from present, past and back to the present. There was also a frank treatment of sex in her novels, which hitherto was a taboo in the literary writings. Mrs.Woolf along with the writers like Lawrence, James, and Joyce broke the tradition by their frank discussion of sex in their works. “Mrs. Dalloway” is one of her masterpieces. It follows her theory of fiction, and adheres thoroughly to the modernist theory of a piece of literature. It was published in the year 1925, and has been translated into many languages since. The novel revolves around a middle-aged woman, Mrs. Dalloway who belongs to the upper middle class society. She plans to host a party that evening in her house. Her friend Peter Walsh visits her unexpectedly, and the party takes off successfully. Later they all go for a walk. The party includes Clarissa Dalloway, her husband Richard, Smith, a soldier, and his wife Rezia. They all reflect on the various incidents in their lives. The novel centrals around Mrs. Dalloway and portrays her relationship with others. All the characters in this novel, at one point or the other, are pulled away from their hometown, families and are distanced from their languages. Clarissa was born at Bourton and lived there with her family for nearly twenty years. Her marriage has ripped her away from her parents, country life, and her sweetheart Peter Walsh. Whenever she thinks of Bourton, it brings her a longing for those happy years, and in turn, her association with Peter Walsh. Though she did not marry him because of his possessiveness, she could not forget him either. Mrs. Dalloway becomes overwhelmed when she receives Walsh in her house. She becomes very excited to the extent of kissing him. This shows her physical love for him. Though she is married to Richard, she does not hide her love for Walsh. Her attraction towards Walsh is evident throughout the novel. London for Mrs. Dalloway is world apart from Bourton. Whatever incidents she comes across in London, she compares it with Bourton. Every single incident she undergoes, floods her with the memory of Bourton. To quote her words from the novel, “Mrs. Dalloway”, 4 “’I love walking in London’, said Mrs. Dalloway. ‘Really it’s better than walking in the country.’” 4Virginia Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway, ed. Steve Thomas. The University of Adelaide Library Electronic Texts Collection, 28 Feb. 2003< http://etext.library.adelaide.edu.au/w/woolf/virginia/w91md/>. Septimus Warren Smith, who is a foil to the character of Mrs. Dalloway, is also portrayed as an alien in London. His hometown was Stroud. He went to France to fight for England. This incident has destroyed his life. He thinks, “…it might be possible that the world itself is without meaning.” He becomes a misfit and neurotic. He is a victim of war. His alienation from his native place and family cause him, his life. He commits suicide in the novel. Though he might have been a clerk with a good salary, he closes it fro war along with his love for Miss Isabel Pole. The war has disoriented Smith. Though he came out of the war alive, he could not shed the scars, war has left on him. He could not bear the loneliness of the life, and he is completely shattered. He suffers because he is pulled away from his quiet, happy, calm, and peaceful life. “London has swallowed up many millions of young men called Smith; thought nothing of fantastic Christian names like Septimus with which their parents have thought to distinguish them.” Lucrezia, commonly referred as Rezia is the wife of Septimus Warren Smith. Her life is also dislocated. She had a happy life with her parents and sisters in their beautiful home in Florence. She did not have any worries or burden there. “Far was Italy…where her sisters sat making hats, and the streets crowded every evening with people walking, laughing out loud, not half alive like people here… looking at a few ugly flowers stuck in pots!” But, when she married Smith and left Italy, her life gets affected. Her dreams for a happy life are shattered because of her marriage to a neurotic man. She often thinks, “She could not stand it any longer, she would go back.” Thus, we could see that due to her action of leaving her home country, a familiar language, and her family, she has to undergo a traumatic left with her husband Smith. “’I am alone’, I am alone!’ she cried.” This shows her loneliness in an alien land with no one to care for her. Sally Seton is one other character of this novel who runs away from her hometown. While hometown for other characters had some charismatic quality, it meant suffering for her. Mrs. Dalloway’s recollection of her past life in Bourton brings in the lively images of Sally. “Sally it was who made her feel, for the first time, how sheltered the life at Bourton was.” She in fact has a physical attraction for Sally, something like a man’s feeling towards woman. “But this question of love (she thought, putting her coat away), this falling in love with women. Take Sally Seton; her relation in the old days with Sally Seton. Had not that, after all, been love?” Therefore, Sally is also connected to the hometown of Mrs. Dalloway. She fascinates Mrs. Dalloway emotionally, intellectually and physically. Clarissa keeps on thinking in the novel that Sally is in her house and this fact thrills her. Sally holds a physical attraction for Mrs. Dalloway. Peter Walsh is also portrayed as an image from the past, an association that could not be wiped away from the life of Mrs. Dalloway. For her, he stands for all the joy and carefree life of Bourton. In a way, he is affected by tearing away from his loved one. He was in love with Clarissa. Her rejection petrifies him. “And she said, ‘It’s no use. It’s no us. This is the end’- after he had spoken for hours, it seemed with the tears running down his cheeks- it was as if she had hit him in the face. She turned, she left him, went away.” He deliberately pulled himself away from her and went to India. Because of Clarissa’s separation from him, he left his family, language, and country and lived in a foreign country, namely India for five years. The aspect of ‘tearing away’ is present in the lives of all the characters in “Mrs. Dalloway”. This separation has affected them and acts as a turning point in their lives. It is the point of cross road for them, where they had to take a firm decision in their lives. These decisions change their lives completely. Mrs. Woolf deals with this isolation and the aspect of ‘tearing away’ not only in this novel. The novel “To the Light house” talks about the house in the island of Skye, and the contrasting picture of happy life here as against the isolated one in London. The novel ‘Orlando’ also talks about the protagonist’s voyage to various countries irrespective of time and space. Therefore, as Kristeva says, everything is possible in the modern fiction. To cut off oneself from his family, place and language and to adapt to live at a different place is a very daring a risky thing to do. It secures life for some people like Sally who dared to adapt to a new place, while it completely shattered the lives of Rezia and Smith. Mrs. Woolf pictures how all her characters were trapped in the framework of their past. It does not let them to experience the present and enjoy the surprises; life has in store for them. These characters are crippled emotionally by the hold, their past have on them. All of them risk their lives in the decision they take dictated to them by their passions. But it does not help them to achieve what they longed for. In addition, these characters’ constant comparison of their present with that of their past worsen their state of living. Rezia’s life is one such example. She is trapped in a loveless marriage. Because of her rash decision, she suffers the consequences of a loveless marriage. Smith is highly a disturbed individual, and he is too occupied with himself to consider his wife. Rezia is an alien in a foreign land, and feels isolated and lonely there. She has no one to confide and nor is there anyone to comfort her as in her homeland. She muses, “She put on her new hat and he never noticed; and he was happy without her. Nothing could make her happy without him! Nothing! He was Selfish. So men are. For he was not ill. Dr. Holmes said there was nothing the matter with him… She had grown so thin. It was she who suffered- but she had nobody to tell.” Thus, her language, family, and country had affected her largely, and her she could not understand why she alone has to undergo turmoil in her life. Clarissa too has married a miner’s son, a man beneath her social status. Her past haunts her and changes her completely from what she used to be. Her friend Walsh is also under the clutches of his past, a peaceful, pleasant, and joyous life. Clarissa was part of his past, and so he cherishes it. However, he lives a restless life, because his past troubles him. He could not forget his love for Clarissa and her rejection of him. When he meets her in London, he is not able to digest the fact that she is a changed woman, not only physically, but also in her attitudes and emotions. Mrs. Woolf has intricately presented how the lives of these characters past affect their present lives. Therefore, Mrs. Woolf proves through her characters that it is inevitable to close the door to one’s past, because it has a strong grip in a person’s life. Mrs. Woolf is able to produce a picture of how family, hometown, and passion affected her characters using “the stream of consciousness” technique. She gives a glimpse of the mind of her characters, and states how change of place, language and family affects a person. To conclude, Albert rightly says, “…in the delicate analysis of motive, impulse, and reaction to situation, she sets a standard which very few have been able to attain, and of the three chief characters in “Mrs. Dalloway”, at least, we may claim that we know them from the inside as we know few other characters.” (518) 5 ************ 5Albert 120. Works Cited Abrams, M.H. A Glossary of Literary Terms. U.S.: Harcourt Brace And Company, 1993. 120. Albert, Edward. History of English Literature. London: Oxford University Press, 1995. Gray, Martin. A Dictionary of Literary Terms. London: York Press, 1984. Ward, A.C. Twentieth Century English Literature. Methuen and Co. Ltd., 1965. Woolf, Virginia. Mrs. Dalloway. Ed. Steve Thomas. The University of Adelaide Library Electronic Texts Collection. 28 Feb. 2003< http://etext.library.adelaide.edu.au/w/woolf/virginia/w91md/>. ************* Read More