Isa
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Post by Isa on Dec 5, 2007 20:01:33 GMT -5
OK, finally I get to do Part 3: I have to admit that I was mislead at first by the character of Sir William. When he diagnoses Septimus with a nervous breakdown and recommends rest I thought "finally, a doctor who know what he's talking about". But I changed my mind when he started insisting that he had to be moved to the country, away from his wife. Again it reminded me of how Virginia Woolf was forced to leave London because doctors said that the excitement of living in a big city would bring about another nervous breakdown. I'm sure the reason we all feel so sympathetic towards Septimus is because there's so much of Woolf in this character. And I agree with you lu, the scene where Rezia and Septimus make the hat together is so beautiful, it's like for the first time we are able to see what drew them together, and what life might have been like if it hadn't been for his disease... I kinda felt sorry for Richard, who very much wanted to tell Clarissa that he loved her, but in the end he couldn't bring himself to do it. It made me realize that we really don't know that much about Richard, pretty much all we've learned about him so far we've learned through another character. I hope he comes back in the last part of the book!
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Kristie
Novel turned into BBC miniseries
"If a book is well written, I always find it too short."
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Post by Kristie on Dec 6, 2007 11:36:12 GMT -5
Here are a few of those questions for discussion I promised a week or so ago:
1) In Mrs. Dalloway, Virginia Woolf combines interior with omniscient descriptions of character and scene. How does the author handle the transition between the interior and the exterior? Which characters' points of view are primary to the novel? How do the shifting points of view, together with that of the author, combine to creat a portrait of Clarissa and her milieu?
2) Woolf saw Septimus Warren Smith as an essential counterpoint to Clarissa Dalloway. What specific comparisons and contrasts are drawn between the two? What primary images are associated, respectively, with Clarissa and with Septimus? What is the significanc of Septimus making his first appearance as Clarissa watches the mysterious motor car in Bond Street?
3) As the day and the novel proceed, the hours and half hours are sounded by a variety of clocks (for instance, Big Ben strikes noon at the novel's exact midpoint). What is the effect of the time being constantly announced on the novel's structure and on our sens of the pace of the characters' lives? What hours in association with which events are explicitly sounded? Why? Is there significanc in Big Ben being the chief announcer of time?
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Kristie
Novel turned into BBC miniseries
"If a book is well written, I always find it too short."
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Post by Kristie on Dec 9, 2007 11:36:41 GMT -5
Okay, well Friday was the day we were supposed to start discussing the last part of the book, so here goes:
Part 4 Most of the last part of the book focuses on all of the people at Clarissa's party. Throughout this section, I was unsure of how Septimus and Rezia are incorporated into everyone else. Clarissa saw Septimus and then the Bradshaws come to her party, but I feel they weren't as connected to the rest.
I really did enjoy reading about Clarissa's party. It was great how Woolf incorporated her multiple persepectives of the party. As the rest of the book, the party was ordinary, but still interesting.
Overall, I really liked this book. It was a really interesting novel to discuss.
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Lu
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Post by Lu on Dec 10, 2007 3:28:35 GMT -5
I really like this part too.
I agree Kristie. I felt the same about Rezia and Septimus. I had the impression Woolf used them to introduce the topic of mental illness. They're gret character.
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sagedautumn
Collection of short stories bought by Random House
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Post by sagedautumn on Dec 10, 2007 8:10:50 GMT -5
I loved the internal conflict that Woolfe posed in this part of the book. Sally and Peter Walsh find themselves segregated within themselves at the party. They gaily talk about past times. Meanwhile, Clarissa tries to be a good hostess and flits about. She realizes that she is unable to face her two best friends. Even Sally, who she had agonized about for so long. She finally gets to see her two friends together and she is unable to face them much like she is unable to face her past. She comes twice to talk to them and then quickly runs away. I found this aspect of the book especially interesting since her "fear" is never resolved. At the close of the book we see Clarissa trying to sum up the courage to go see her friends and essentially to sum up the courage to face her friends. As she makes her way to them the novel comes to a close. It is up to the reader to decide Clarissa's fate.
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Kristie
Novel turned into BBC miniseries
"If a book is well written, I always find it too short."
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Post by Kristie on Dec 10, 2007 9:45:00 GMT -5
I guess that's true, Lu. Woolf probably had Septimus and Rezia to introduce the topic of mental illness. I don't know much about Woolf, so I don't know if her own illness and Septimus' illness were similar (obviously not the circumstances causing Septimus' illness weren't the same for Woolf), but I think it's good to address the issue. It makes the reader realize that any person can be "normal" and then not.
I like what you said sage, about how Clarissa's friends represent her past. It's really true, and I'd like to think that Clarissa had a good fate, that she did confront them.
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Isa
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Post by Isa on Dec 16, 2007 17:15:56 GMT -5
Took me a while, but I finally finished the novel.
The party scene was incredible - it felt like one of those movies, where the camera constanly moves from one group to the next, and you're meant to feel and experience so many different things all at once! I love your take on the Clarissa/Sally & Peter situation, sage, I guess it goes back to the lack of communication that is felt throughout the entire novel. Whenever two characters are about to talk, something comes along to put an end to their conversation. In a weird way, it made me think about the paintings I've seen by Jean Paul Lemieux, where the characters are portrayed close to one another, yet they are never speaking... would make for a great book cover!
How do you guys picture Clarissa's life after the party? Do you think she'll continue to throw parties, or will she try to become more than the upperclass wife she's been so far, or could she even commit suicide to prevent further damaging her soul, the way Septimus has?
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Kristie
Novel turned into BBC miniseries
"If a book is well written, I always find it too short."
Posts: 7,214
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Post by Kristie on Dec 17, 2007 14:33:06 GMT -5
I would like to say that Clarissa was able to overcome her problems and go talk to Sally and Peter. I also would hope that if she's unhappy just being the housewife who throws parties, that she will change and be herself. I feel that Clarissa kept a lot of emotions inside, and could therefore go the way of Septimus, but I don't think she would. I think she would be too much of a coward to commit suicide--more cowardly of that than of confronting her past.
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Lu
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Post by Lu on Dec 18, 2007 3:01:29 GMT -5
Interesting question, Isa! I'm not sure, I think I agree with Kristie and I'd like Clarissa to become more than just an upperclass wife and just be herself. The other time I read Mrs. Dalloway I thought she would just continue throwing parties and being the same way. I can't understand the reason or impression which made me change my mind.
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