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Review: Virginia Woolf - Mrs Dalloway (1925)
I'll be honest, this was a tough read for me. It took me a long time to get used to Virginia Woolf's style of writing. I still can't say that I have, and as a result, I felt that I'd missed a lot of the details.
I read this book upon recommendation by a friend though, so this book may still appeal to readers out there. However, it wasn't for me.
Story
The story of Mrs Dalloway is fairly simple. It follows the day in the life of Mrs Dalloway, a day in which she is having a party in the evening. The book changes perspectives between several different characters, and in doing so we get to see how people view each other, how their thoughts change as they learn about new things, etc.
As mentioned, the writing style was probably the biggest deterrent to me enjoying this book. I'll talk about it more below. Since I did find it difficult to follow the book, I felt that I missed a lot of the character development, which is the main story here. Mrs Dalloway reflected and formed opinions during the course of this book, but to be completely honest with you, I missed a lot of those parts, because it just didn't really connect to me.
I am kind of sad that I found this book such a tough read specifically because a friend had liked it so much. Maybe I'll try the book again later and I'll have an easier time because I'll know what to expect.
Writing
I'm not sure if this style of writing was common in the 20s (when this book was published), or if it was Virginia Woolf's own style of writing.
Her sentence structure was rather hard to follow. As I was reading, I would often have to stop and parse out the grammar of the sentence as it didn't read smoothly to me as a 21st century reader. Again, I'm not sure if this was common language at the time.
I was also very confused by the quick change in perspectives during the book. I got used to it by the end of the book, but in the beginning, I would get really confused as I wasn't expecting the perspectives to change so suddenly.
This writing was definitely the biggest roadblock to me enjoying the book.
Characters
Clarissa Dalloway
Clarissa Dalloway the character we spent time with the most, but I can't say for sure that she was our main character. She as the central character in that the story involved her and her party, as well as the characters around her, but despite the small scope of the book, she wasn't always the center of attention (at least not in a literal sense). Mrs. Dalloway was a woman in her fifties. In my opinion, she seemed an outwardly pleasant woman, but I can't say whether I liked or disliked her. She was just a normal person with her own thoughts.
Peter Walsh
Clarissa had married Richard Dalloway who was a politician with a steady job. However, she had once had a romantic relationship with Peter Walsh, who kept popping in and out of her life. In this book, Peter Walsh had returned from India, where he'd fallen in love with a married woman who had two children. He'd returned to England to arrange her divorce and presumably then they would get married. In my opinion, Peter was kind of judgmental. I think he held some residual bitterness towards Clarissa for not marrying him, but he just seemed to judge her entire lifestyle, which was rather stable and the complete opposite of his own. I don't think it necessarily meant that Peter was a bad person, I think we are all a little judgey about people who are the opposite of us, and mixed in that was the bitterness of Clarissa not having married him.
Doris Kilman
Miss Kilman was the tutor for Elizabeth, Clarissa's daughter. Clarissa and Miss Kilman detested each other. I think Clarissa disliked Miss Kilman for having Elizabeth wrapped around her finger. I think Clarissa basically didn't understand what was so cool about Miss Kilman. As for Miss Kilman, like Peter, I think she disliked Clarissa for being so different from her. Clarissa was rich and fashionable, and Miss Kilman was single and did not intend to impress anyone.
Sally Seton
Clarissa was deeply in love with Sally Seton from her youth. In Clarissa's memory, Sally was always kind of a rebel. However, what's ironic is that at the end, when we actually meet Sally Seton, she's kind of a normal wife, and even has five sons. But I don't think that Clarissa necessarily has a warped view of Sally. I think there's a chance that there are some things about Sally that we just can't see as an outsider.
Septimus Warren Smith
Septimus Warren Smith was the other character who had the biggest focus. Based on what I've read, Septimus was supposed to be somewhat of a reflection of Clarissa. While Clarissa was an older lady who thought about the past but mostly lived in the present, Septimus was a younger man who was trapped by his past. He fought in the war and incurred PTSD which he was still battling, with no help from neither his wife nor the various medical professionals he'd sought.
Septimus hated the idea of being institutionalized. It was suggested to him by Bradshaw, but he didn't like it. By the end of the book, he was forcibly institutionalized, and he committed suicide because of it. His suicide was talked about at the party.
Lucrezia Warren Smith
Lucrezia was Septimus' wife who really wanted Septimus to get better. Part of it was probably that she really did want him to get better. After all, he was her husband. But part of it seemed like she was just tired of him being sick. She'd moved to England to be with him so of course she'd feel kind of isolated if her husband was emotionally absent.
She also sought the advice of medical professionals who didn't really seem to know what they were doing. They would encourage Septimus to get into some hobbies and such, which was clearly not the way to go. And Bradshaw specifically disgregarded Septimus' extreme distaste for staying in an institution. And in the end, perhaps it was such "help" that pushed Septimus to commit suicide.
Themes
As I mentioned, I had trouble follownig the book so there is a lot I missed. You're better off looking up a study guide or even Wikipedia for a better discussion of the themes.
The themes I sensed were more to do with conflicts between individuals; in particular, the tensions of Clarissa vs. Miss Kilman and Clarissa vs. Peter.
Clarissa vs. Miss Kilman
As mentioned, Clarissa and Miss Kilman hated each other. I think part of it was a class thing, and part of it was a lifestyle thing. Miss Kilman used to be a headmistress of a school but was dismissed because of her political beliefs. So she was probably at least a little bit bitter that she now relied on the generosity of one woman to fund her life. I think she also felt Clarissa to be frivolous, so caught up in parties and beauty and pleasing others, whereas Miss Kilman always lived for herself.
On the other hand, Clarissa was definitely a little bitter that Elizabeth seemed so rapt with this woman. To Clarisa, Miss Kilman probably seemed a little stuck up because she was so unyielding and unwiling to play nice any more than the bare minimum.
Clarissa vs. Peter
Clarissa really did not want Peter in her house and yet she had to receive him as a visitor because he'd ambushed her. From then on, I thought their relationship was rather interesting. They were civil, but there was some underlying resentment from their past history between them.
Peter had proposed to Clarissa but she had rejected him. Instead, she had married Richard Dalloway, who was a much more practical guy. Some might say he was boring, though in the brief snippets we saw of him, I thought he was pleasant. Anyway, Richard and Peter could not be more different and so I think there was some resentment there. Richard was incredibly practical and stable. On the other hand, Peter was always traveling, and he'd returned to England in this book because he'd fallen in love with a married woman and he had to arrange her divorce for her. Very messy stuff, especially since she had two kids. I think part of Peter's resentment was also that he thought that Clarissa was judging his lifestyle.
As for Clarissa, she probably saw Peter as an amusing guy, someone who could be a friend, but not someone she'd want to bet her life on. But she was still civil with him because that was to be expected of someone in her position (wife of a well to do man).
Overall
I can see why this book might be interesting, because how it so interestingly plays with perspective. However, the writing style made it very difficult for me to enjoy it.
I read this book upon recommendation by a friend though, so this book may still appeal to readers out there. However, it wasn't for me.
Story
The story of Mrs Dalloway is fairly simple. It follows the day in the life of Mrs Dalloway, a day in which she is having a party in the evening. The book changes perspectives between several different characters, and in doing so we get to see how people view each other, how their thoughts change as they learn about new things, etc.
As mentioned, the writing style was probably the biggest deterrent to me enjoying this book. I'll talk about it more below. Since I did find it difficult to follow the book, I felt that I missed a lot of the character development, which is the main story here. Mrs Dalloway reflected and formed opinions during the course of this book, but to be completely honest with you, I missed a lot of those parts, because it just didn't really connect to me.
I am kind of sad that I found this book such a tough read specifically because a friend had liked it so much. Maybe I'll try the book again later and I'll have an easier time because I'll know what to expect.
Writing
I'm not sure if this style of writing was common in the 20s (when this book was published), or if it was Virginia Woolf's own style of writing.
Her sentence structure was rather hard to follow. As I was reading, I would often have to stop and parse out the grammar of the sentence as it didn't read smoothly to me as a 21st century reader. Again, I'm not sure if this was common language at the time.
I was also very confused by the quick change in perspectives during the book. I got used to it by the end of the book, but in the beginning, I would get really confused as I wasn't expecting the perspectives to change so suddenly.
This writing was definitely the biggest roadblock to me enjoying the book.
Characters
Clarissa Dalloway
Clarissa Dalloway the character we spent time with the most, but I can't say for sure that she was our main character. She as the central character in that the story involved her and her party, as well as the characters around her, but despite the small scope of the book, she wasn't always the center of attention (at least not in a literal sense). Mrs. Dalloway was a woman in her fifties. In my opinion, she seemed an outwardly pleasant woman, but I can't say whether I liked or disliked her. She was just a normal person with her own thoughts.
Peter Walsh
Clarissa had married Richard Dalloway who was a politician with a steady job. However, she had once had a romantic relationship with Peter Walsh, who kept popping in and out of her life. In this book, Peter Walsh had returned from India, where he'd fallen in love with a married woman who had two children. He'd returned to England to arrange her divorce and presumably then they would get married. In my opinion, Peter was kind of judgmental. I think he held some residual bitterness towards Clarissa for not marrying him, but he just seemed to judge her entire lifestyle, which was rather stable and the complete opposite of his own. I don't think it necessarily meant that Peter was a bad person, I think we are all a little judgey about people who are the opposite of us, and mixed in that was the bitterness of Clarissa not having married him.
Doris Kilman
Miss Kilman was the tutor for Elizabeth, Clarissa's daughter. Clarissa and Miss Kilman detested each other. I think Clarissa disliked Miss Kilman for having Elizabeth wrapped around her finger. I think Clarissa basically didn't understand what was so cool about Miss Kilman. As for Miss Kilman, like Peter, I think she disliked Clarissa for being so different from her. Clarissa was rich and fashionable, and Miss Kilman was single and did not intend to impress anyone.
Sally Seton
Clarissa was deeply in love with Sally Seton from her youth. In Clarissa's memory, Sally was always kind of a rebel. However, what's ironic is that at the end, when we actually meet Sally Seton, she's kind of a normal wife, and even has five sons. But I don't think that Clarissa necessarily has a warped view of Sally. I think there's a chance that there are some things about Sally that we just can't see as an outsider.
Septimus Warren Smith
Septimus Warren Smith was the other character who had the biggest focus. Based on what I've read, Septimus was supposed to be somewhat of a reflection of Clarissa. While Clarissa was an older lady who thought about the past but mostly lived in the present, Septimus was a younger man who was trapped by his past. He fought in the war and incurred PTSD which he was still battling, with no help from neither his wife nor the various medical professionals he'd sought.
Septimus hated the idea of being institutionalized. It was suggested to him by Bradshaw, but he didn't like it. By the end of the book, he was forcibly institutionalized, and he committed suicide because of it. His suicide was talked about at the party.
Lucrezia Warren Smith
Lucrezia was Septimus' wife who really wanted Septimus to get better. Part of it was probably that she really did want him to get better. After all, he was her husband. But part of it seemed like she was just tired of him being sick. She'd moved to England to be with him so of course she'd feel kind of isolated if her husband was emotionally absent.
She also sought the advice of medical professionals who didn't really seem to know what they were doing. They would encourage Septimus to get into some hobbies and such, which was clearly not the way to go. And Bradshaw specifically disgregarded Septimus' extreme distaste for staying in an institution. And in the end, perhaps it was such "help" that pushed Septimus to commit suicide.
Themes
As I mentioned, I had trouble follownig the book so there is a lot I missed. You're better off looking up a study guide or even Wikipedia for a better discussion of the themes.
The themes I sensed were more to do with conflicts between individuals; in particular, the tensions of Clarissa vs. Miss Kilman and Clarissa vs. Peter.
Clarissa vs. Miss Kilman
As mentioned, Clarissa and Miss Kilman hated each other. I think part of it was a class thing, and part of it was a lifestyle thing. Miss Kilman used to be a headmistress of a school but was dismissed because of her political beliefs. So she was probably at least a little bit bitter that she now relied on the generosity of one woman to fund her life. I think she also felt Clarissa to be frivolous, so caught up in parties and beauty and pleasing others, whereas Miss Kilman always lived for herself.
On the other hand, Clarissa was definitely a little bitter that Elizabeth seemed so rapt with this woman. To Clarisa, Miss Kilman probably seemed a little stuck up because she was so unyielding and unwiling to play nice any more than the bare minimum.
Clarissa vs. Peter
Clarissa really did not want Peter in her house and yet she had to receive him as a visitor because he'd ambushed her. From then on, I thought their relationship was rather interesting. They were civil, but there was some underlying resentment from their past history between them.
Peter had proposed to Clarissa but she had rejected him. Instead, she had married Richard Dalloway, who was a much more practical guy. Some might say he was boring, though in the brief snippets we saw of him, I thought he was pleasant. Anyway, Richard and Peter could not be more different and so I think there was some resentment there. Richard was incredibly practical and stable. On the other hand, Peter was always traveling, and he'd returned to England in this book because he'd fallen in love with a married woman and he had to arrange her divorce for her. Very messy stuff, especially since she had two kids. I think part of Peter's resentment was also that he thought that Clarissa was judging his lifestyle.
As for Clarissa, she probably saw Peter as an amusing guy, someone who could be a friend, but not someone she'd want to bet her life on. But she was still civil with him because that was to be expected of someone in her position (wife of a well to do man).
Overall
I can see why this book might be interesting, because how it so interestingly plays with perspective. However, the writing style made it very difficult for me to enjoy it.