Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf. Term Paper

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He talks to his dead war buddy Evans, and fears he cannot feel anything at all (Woolf 86). In comparison, Clarissa is extremely interested in what people feel, and she is not afraid to show her own feelings toward her friends and guests, even if they are "effusive" and overly enthusiastic (Woolf 167).

Septimus enters Clarissa's life in many ways, even though she never meets him. He is in the mind of Peter when Peter first visits Clarissa, and he even thinks that Clarissa would have talked to him, while he just walked by ignoring the young, obviously distressed couple (Woolf. "A young man (that is what Sir William is telling Mr. Dalloway) had killed himself. He had been in the army.' Oh! thought Clarissa, in the middle of my party, here's death, she thought" (Woolf 183). This talk of death really makes Clarissa stop and think about her own life, and of course, about death and growing old. He brings a sense of unease to her, and it indicates that she fears death, and yet embraces it at the same time (Woolf 185). It causes her to question her whole being and reason for being, and her life. Woolf writes, "She felt somehow very like him -- the young man who had killed himself. She felt glad that he had done it; thrown it away" (Woolf 186). Ultimately, Woolf shows that while Clarissa and Septimus seem far removed from each other in their lives and outlook, they really could be one in the same. Septimus brings Clarissa some of his own fear of not feeling, and shows that Clarissa has those same feelings inside herself.

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She is able to surmount them and enjoy life, while Septimus is not. However, inside, they could be twins, and he brings her this knowledge by his "appearance" at her party, which causes her to question and pull apart her own life. She seems to be superficial and only interested in society and her place in it, but in reality, she has many of the same dark, troubling ideas that Septimus has, and that indicates that she is much less superficial than she really appears. Septimus allows the dark side of her soul to come out, and to linger in her thoughts.

In conclusion, "Mrs. Dalloway" is a disturbing look at human nature and English society. While there is much social difference between Septimus, who is a clerk and a war veteran, and Mrs. Dalloway, who is a rich socialite, they have many similarities, which seems to be Woolf's ultimate message with this book. It is as if she is pointing a finger at English society and its many social layers and snobbery. She seems to be saying that while English society recognizes too many differences between classes, there really are not that many differences inside. In different circumstances, Septimus could have held it together in polite society, or at least had enough money to gain a cure, and Mrs. Dalloway could have been the one flinging herself out of a window. There is not that much that separates these two characters except for circumstances, and Mrs. Dalloway seems to recognize at least a part of that by the end of the book, which is why she does not pity Septimus, and is instead.....

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