Three Guineas

Three Guineas

Virginia Woolf’s Three Guineas was the easiest to read out of all the novels that we were assigned over the course of the semester. In some ways it was, what I never thought I would say of one of Virginia Woolf’s works, too easy. The reason is because it was a bit repetitive. It seemed like the narrator kept telling and re telling every decision. They did have valid points. The man’s undying efforts to sell the idea of investing in the war efforts ran on and on. While there were funny lines and jabs at the male sex, it could have been shortened. Her decision to give to a school in the end of the chapter was hilarious. It was as if she was telling the man that she would support the school in hope of educating other to be less like him. A woman was not thought to be a suitable scholar in the time period yet; she proves that she cannot be sold on his war efforts. War, which was going on in much of the time that Woolf was writing, proved to serve as a unifying source for the community. However, she always placed education above war. The only thing that I did not like about this work was the continued repetition throughout the novel. Woolf probably did this though to prove her point, which she definitely accomplishes. She also might have felt that the repetition was needed in order for ordinary people to understand her writing purpose.

(I am sorry and embarrassed that this post is so short. I forgot that I hadn’t done it yet and realized you were closing posts at midnight tonight.)

SS: The Legacy

Short Stories

The Legacy

This short story is on of the favorite things that I have read this semester. I love the fact that the narrator remains neutral. She never speaks out against Angela’s husband, Gilbert Clandon. On the first page the reader is told that Angela has died, by stepping off of the curb and being hit by a car. She left all of her personal items to friends, it was as if she new she was going to die. Her preoccupied husband of course, does not come to this conclusion at first. Instead he goes on talking about how much she loved all of her little trinkets. He puts great emphasis that everyone one of her “little gifts” that she gives to friends all have something to do with him. He tells the reader about an enamel dolphin that he gave her. To him the dolphin is just another meaningless gift that mean the world to his simple wife. Dolphins symbolize a renewal and a kind of rebirth. Its significance in this story is that Angela chose death in order to be reborn—away from Gilbert Clandon. Angela was a “Angel of the house” because she let her husband do everything that he wished, keeping a pleasant home. The key to this was not letting him know how smart she actually was. Gilbert even tells the reader that everything had a place to go except her diaries, “fifteen little volumes.” His describing them as “little” shows how insignificant he believes the workings of his late wife’s mind to be. Another interesting aspect of the story as a whole is that Angela is never given a voice. The reader does not ever here from her. Everything is told from Gilbert Clandon’s perspective which is, despite what he may think, limited to say the least. Gilbert’s ignorance is portrayed when he mistakes Sissy Miller’s offer to help in any way as her having admired him all those years. He is so self consumed that he flatters himself with false praises. The gift that she left him was, in his opinion, not much of a gift. Still, he read through her diaries. In them he only focused on the parts of the entries that were about him. When he comes upon an entry about Angela and B.M. spending the evening together alone he becomes bothered. He tried to think back to the night. After checking his engagement book he finds that he was at the Mansion House dinner. Again, he is only thinking about himself, where he was, what he was doing. He cannot recall if there was anything out of place when he got home because he can only remember his speech. The last entry of the book lifts the fog that Clandon has been living in, he realizes that there was an affair and that Angela would rather be dead with B.M. than remain with Gilbert Clandon. As highly as he thinks of himself, he cannot ignore that his wife would rather kill herself to be with a man of lower class that spend one more day as Angela Clandon. “The Legacy” contains all of the irony that any supporter of the feminist movement could want. Gilbert Clandon represents repressive men and even though she is not given a voice, Angela’s actions speak louder than all of Gilbert’s useless, self-consumed, words.

Between the Acts

Between the Acts

Between the Acts was much easier to read than most of the works that we have read throughout the semester. This reason behind this is because Virginia Woolf began thinking more about her readers. Because we are not all able to think on her level (not even close) the story line was much more simple than that of previous works such as Orlando and The Waves. It was especially hard for me to keep up with The Waves, making Between the Acts much more enjoyable. One of the things that we talked about in class was the effect of what was going on around Woolf while she was writing this novel. At the time much of Europe, including England was at war. Because of the war there was more of an instant community. Everyone had something in common. Their country was at war. In this novel she focuses more on this community in the pageant. As we discussed in class, this is a concept that Woolf is not overly comfortable with. Looking back at other works, it becomes obvious that Between the Acts has the most dealing with an instant community. For example, in The Waves, all of the characters go about doing their own things. They start out in a group, a sort of child’s community, but spread out fairly quickly in the beginning of the novel. Another theme is the individual mind versus the communal mind. This theme constantly goes back and forth between the two oppositions. My favorite aspect of this novel is that it includes issues that were occurring in the World around Virginia While she was writing the book. An example of this is the rape of a 14-year-old girl. In real life, she was raped by a British guard. He tricked her into going off the street, and raped her. In the book the story is told from a newspaper article. The girl was told their was a horse with a green tail. Once she got to the stable, she found that there was, of course, no such thing. The troopers took up to a barrack and threw her on the bed. One removed parts of her clothing. Woolf tells the reader that “she screamed and hit him about the face…” It is painfully obvious what the little girl had to go through. The story becomes real, because the article does such a good job of putting the reader in the place of the crime. Lucy becomes the agent that offers the girl the hammer to use for protection against the men. She envisions the attack so clearly that it comes to life in her own home. She pictures the room she is in as the room that the attack happens. She pictures Arc Hall, the barrack, and the bed that the helpless girl was raped on.

There was an interesting footnote on “Swallow, my sister, O sister swallow.” It deals with the connection between swallows, nightingales, and rape. It deals with a Greek myth in which the women are blamed for everything, even being raped. Woolf’s inclusion of metaphors such as this one is sprinkled throughout the novel. Her ability to write on so many different levels is truly inspiring. It is interesting that her last novel was the most easy to read. You would think that she would become more challenging and skilled as she wrote. It is not that she was not becoming more skilled, and she certainly was not becoming less intelligent. I believe that Between the Acts was Woolf’s beginning to understand how to write for an audience.

Later Essays: Death of a Moth

Later Essays:

Death of A Moth

This essay had a great deal of effect on me toward the end. At the beginning of the essay Virginia Woolf did a very good job of differentiating between moths that fly during the day and those that are primarily nocturnal. I had never thought before of a moth as a “hybrid creature.” Woolf’s description of them being ”neither gay like butterflies not somber like their own species” gives the reader a more in depth view of the moth. Without this comparison I would have never thought of a single moth on such a personal basis. The detail in which she describes the wings of the Moth are more beautiful that one would normally think this flying insect to be. The wings being described as “narrow hay-coloured” makes me think of simplicity and nature rather than what I would normally consider a dirty tan. The wings being “fringed with a tassel”, further pushes the illusion that this moth’s wing are comparable to a beautifully woven rug, or cushion of some kind. Woolf does a good job of explaining the setting that the story takes place in. First, she gives background on the moth, then she describes the scene in which the story takes place. This pleasant mid-September morning was described so well that I pictured myself there, breathing the mild air. The rooks journey round the tree tops is an important detail because it illustrates the freedom that lies just outside. Being an “annual festivity” allows the reader to assume that this is another typical mid-September day. There is nothing out of the ordinary. This moth was surely not the first to be stuck in a windowpane. Finding a dead moth on my window sill is not extraordinarily uncommon. I have even seen them get trapped in-between my window and blinds. Virginia Woolf’s description of watching this moth die leaves me with a bad taste in my mouth. She personifies the life of the moth to a degree that makes me feel guilty for not sticking out a pencil, or opening the blinds when I knew the moth to be stuck and without hope. Even though the narrator does not help the moth in the end, and the creature dies, there is a sensitivity that is felt. The most depressing yet honest line in the essay, in my opinion, is “there was something marvelous as well as pathetic about him.” In the same paragraph the narrator goes on to state the obvious, no matter how insensitive it may sound “the thought of all that life might have been had he been born in any other shape caused on to view his simple activities with a kind of pity.” This is of course, referring to his continued efforts to pick himself up and fly away. If he only had been created as something more powerful such as a human being. That will to live would have served a greater purpose. Being a moth is to an extent, insignificant. No matter how many times he failed, he seemed to refuse to give up. Eventually of course he does give in to death, which is one of the most powerful statements. The essay contains a bit of irony when the moth finally succumbs to death. As insignificant as the moth may be, it dies. As powerful and indestructible as human beings believe that we are, we also die. In the end how can we say that moths are more insignificant that us when, both of use have no way of defeating death?

Critical Review: Jacob's Room, A Buried Discomfort

The Elusive Self

Jacob’s Room

Some Buried Discomfort

Louise A. Poresky’s chapter on Jacob’s Room goes into several different themes of the novel. The overall topic is Jacob’s search for the self. Poresky points a great deal of her attention to Jacob’s need to escape from his mother’s imago. She explains that Woolf’s sense of the existence of the parent in the child is obvious in the novel. Jacob constantly tries to find himself by running away from his mother, including anyone or anything that reminds him of her. On page 76 Poresky explains that the reader usually concentrates on the masculine because it is the “portion of composite personality that manifests fear of growth through its wish to over power the feminine.” She continues to explain that Woolf “stylistically abandons realistic clarity of her first two novels and adopts impressionism to reflect this step out of the conscious world and into the dark unconscious.” In the beginning of the novel Jacob is trapped in the conscious world and slowly slips into a much darker and deeper unconscious as he runs from his mother’s intolerability and degree of protectiveness. Poresky states that the only way to find the purpose of the difference in the narrator is to compare normal passages to those where the narrator directly addresses the reader. This is an interesting viewpoint in that she explains that Woolf originally planned for the Narrator to come from the conscious to serve as a “norm:” so that the reader could better pick up on and understand Jacob’s “deep unconscious.” This article really stresses the strong dislike that Jacob holds toward his mother. She is described as being a dark and cold woman who constantly works to repress any passion, a very depressing and oppressing lifestyle. An example of her repression is given on page 80, she repeats that she does not like men with red hair at least two times. She does this in response to reading a letter that Mr. Floyd wrote professing his love for her. An example is given in the article where latter in life Jacob expresses his rebellion, as he does not read a letter from his mother until after making love to Florinda. Jacob is never found throughout the book. It ends with woman being left alone, without him, when in all reality he was never there psychologically. Jacob’s dying in war is explained as being his death from the physical world. Poresky argues at the end of the chapter that he lives on with Bonomy through the wind. This is an interesting analysis, and the entire chapter discussed some unique and valid points.

Critical Review: Words, Words, Words

Words, Words, Words

A pragmatic and socio-cognitive view of lexical repetition

Peter Verdonk’s “Words, Words, Words” is an article looking at the pragmatic and socio-cognitive view of lexical repetition. This article first defines the meaning of word, “the minimal meaningful unit of language.” There are two categories that a word can fall under which are, context and functional. Context words are described as being nouns, verbs, adverbs, and adjectives. These are known as “open classes” because they easily allow new “members” or words to fit into the category of being a “context” word. Verdonk defines a lexical word as being one straight from a dictionary’s definition. He also brings about another valid point that “word” is not a legitimate definition for a “word” because there are some that are not just one word. Some examples are “tight-rope walker” “sound out” “tidy up” and more. As confusing as it may sound, Verdonk does a good job of making it clear that a word can actually consist of more than one word. The other category of words is that of “Function words.” These are defined as being a closed class who do not as easily permit newcomers. They are primarily grammatical. Examples are pronouns, artifacts, auxiliaries, conjunctions, and prepositions. An interesting and important term that Verdonk brings to light and defines is “intertextuality” which is, the notion that “texts are produced and interpreted through our conscious or unconscious experiences of other texts” (15). One of the main concepts that this article focuses on is the audiences’ attraction to repetition of any kind in literature. According to this article, it is imbedded in our instincts to structure everything according to patterns, including repetition. The reason behind this is that we understand our world through these patterns, and through what we refer to it as, symmetry. Verdonk claims that symmetry is all that we know, therefore if we wish for our brains to survive, we must make sense of everything through patterns and repetition so that we can find the “symmetry” that we are so accustom to. In a sense, symmetry is the key to deciphering the complex code that makes up the world around us. There are two reasons for repetition that Verdonk lists in his article. One is the unifying affect that was just described, the locating of symmetry. The second is to convey emphasis and to heighten emotion. Both, are important ways of using repetition and help explain why we do not get fed up with it in some works that when being looked at from a statistical standpoint, we should be fed up with. Instead of being annoyed, the reader becomes even more infatuated and engrossed in the worked. After reading this article, we know that the reason lies in our natural instincts. We are used to the symmetry of the world. If we are used to it in our everyday lives, it makes sense that it would become appealing to us through literature. Verdonk’s ability to describe this instinct through socio-cognitive science was a unique way of researching and finding reason behind what Verdonk describes as “why humans are charmed by patterns of repetition.”

Verdonk, Peter. "Words, Words, Words: A Pragmatic and Socio-Cognitive View of Lexical Repetition."Twentieth-Century Fiction: From Text to Context. 7-31. London: Routledge, 1995. MLA International Bibliography. EBSCO. Web. 4 Dec. 2010.

Critical Review: Developing an Ear for the Modernist Novel

Developing an Ear for the Modernist Novel:

Virginia Woolf, Dorothy Richardson and James Joyce

Angela Frattarola

Angela Frattarola’s article discusses the attention given to sound in modernist author’s works. Frattarola’s purpose is to prove this newfound focus on sound is a way of evolving past the typical focus, which had been placed on sight in the Victorian period. She focuses on the works of Virginia Woolf, Dorothy Richardson, and James Joyce. Sound became increasingly more prevalent in literature as inventions such as the phone and radio became staple items in the household. Woolf’s attention to the squeak of hinges and the bursting open of windows is compared to Dicken’s lack of sound in Great Expectations. Woolf includes the sound of Big Ben’s chime as Mrs. Dalloway walks through London. Joyce, Richardson, and Woolf chose to put to paper the sounds of war which was at least one thing that almost all Europeans had in-common. While there was much emphasis on sound, Woolf is noted to keep a healthy balance between the “eye and the ear” (138). Woolf’s works included auditory detail more and more. Richardson’s works are studied, as she was skilled in including sight and sound. Her work was described as “distinctly visual and cinematographic” (141). Even her silent films were not silent, there was music included. Frattarola expresses an interesting view on Joyce’s motivations for writing so much about the inner-self; he had very poor eyesight. Each sense is introduced throughout Ulysses. This article argues that modernist artist’s focus on stream of consciousness was vital in the movement from traditional, Victorian, focus on visual, to the inclusion and adoration of sound in their works.

Critical Review: Consciousness as a Stream

Consciousness as a Stream

Anne Fernihough

This article explains Woolf’s stream-of-consciousness writing style along with that of several other authors. Woolf explains that without it a work looses its sharpness and passion. The reader would be unable to find a connection without all of the “trivial” details. Woolf’s work in Jacob’s Room is described in this article as a sort of “mind wandering.” This mind wandering is also an attribute of going mad. The article uses Septimus Smith as an example. His going mad and eventually throwing himself out of a window prove that mind wandering and stream of conscious can be dangerous. The author, Anne Fernihough, explains some causes of the birth of stream-of-consciousness writing, “was just one facet of the complex cultural response to this sense of invasion and contamination, as were movements and trends centring on food reform and on the ‘simple life’” (73). She is referring to the growing trend of the masses choosing urban living. Fernihough argues that Woolf’s writing is unique to the majority because it consists of multiple people’s conscious, rather than sticking to one main character’s stream-of-conscious. It is not rare for several different characters conscious’s to be expressed on just one page. Throughout the article many other authors are studied. Among them are James Joyce, William James, and Henri Bergson to name a few. All of their opinions and techniques on writing in stream-of-consciousness are discussed.

Fernihough, Anne. "Consciousness as a Stream." The Cambridge Companion to the Modernist Novel. 65-81. Cambridge, England: Cambridge UP, 2007. MLA International Bibliography. EBSCO. Web. 18 Nov. 2010.

The Waves

The Waves

The Waves consists of six main characters. Each of them hold a certain importance and act as narrator. Susan is most concerned with nature, and focuses most on smell. Jinny is more tactile and is also the most superficial of the group. She plays more of the city role while Susan plays the tradition county role. Rhonda simply flew away. Louis constantly tries to get back to the very beginning. Neville expressing the most feeling, and is in love with Perciville, who is written in a negative light due to none other than gender roles and politics of the time. Bernard is the most talkative of the group and, is who I was assigned to pay specific attention to. He constantly has something to say. While reading the novel, there were many times that I wanted to tell him to shut up! I hadn’t thought of it before it was pointed out in class, he is the cousin of the biographer in Orlando. He seemed to talk just to hear himself speak. It was not until the end of the book that I formed respect for his character. Everything seemed to come together. His words began to have meaning rather than just sound. The last forty or so pages of the book belong to Bernard. In last five to ten pages his tone changes. We discussed in class the possibility that Woolf’s voice came through in Bernard in the last few pages of the book.

The beginning of the book reads like a poem. We are informed, “the sun has not yet risen” (0). This is the first of the seasons that the reader is introduced to. Bernard is the first to speak—shocking, I know. He begins a game of what I saw as eye-spy. This game begins with Bernard, Susan, Neville, and Jinny seeing, while Rhoda and Lewis hear different sounds. Woolf’s decision to tell the first few pages of the book the way that she did was unique and compelled me to continue reading. It was as if they were each singing a different line of a song, or poem. Everyone had relatively short sentences and ordinary words. They are simple lines that a child could keep up with, again, making me think of the adolescent game of eye-spy. Jinny quickly grows up a bit as she describes to the reader running through the leaves to the tool-house where she found Louis. She kissed him, “with my heart jumping underneath my pink frock like the leaves, which go one moving, though there is nothing to move them” (7). Jinny is still a girl, in her pink frock, which illuminates her innocence. Thus, beginning the growing up and the changing and evolving that comes with the act of aging.

The structure that Woolf wrote The Waves in makes the book more interesting yet more difficult to follow. Someone will begin telling a story, as if they were being interrogated in a crime show. They are not defensive as much as picture perfect recollections. They remind me of when a character in a show like CSI, Cold Case or Without a Trace is interviewed. As they begin to talk the show always resorts to a flashback moment so that the audience can see exactly what happened. The story is slowly built and put together by several characters. The change in tenses is also unique. As an English major who has done my fair share of writing essays and reports, I have always been told to pick a tense and stick with it. Woolf bounces between past and present constantly. This is used at times to let the reader know that a character has left the narrator role and begun talking to another character. It also lets us know when the narrator is talking in real time. An example of this is on page 8. Bernard tells the reader that Susan has left all of them and is walking thought a field. He also says that he must follow her. When Susan speaks again, it is not to the audience, it is to Bernard, “I saw her kiss him” (8). They go into dialogue. They begin speaking in more developed paragraphs, which I saw as signs of growing up, maturing, and developing.

At the beginning of each episode there is a page that lets the reader know the location of the sun and the movement of the waves. Throughout the play, as the characters grow and the sun rises and falls, the buds bloom, and the waves rise and fall, we see many climaxes and declines. The symbolism is impossible to ignore. Life is full of repetition. Who has ever lived a life with only one dramatic event? No one. Life is full of unexpected ups and downs; it is a cycle. Just like the waves in the ocean, the sun in the sky, and the buds on trees. When I first found all of these symbols I was impressed, as usual, but then my emotions changed. I can’t help but find it depressing. Life is not a complete cycle, at least not when looked at from an individual standpoint. I will die, we all will. In the grand scheme of things that is a cycle but, our individual cycle ends. We will leave this earth and depending on your personal beliefs, will never return. But all of that is not the part that saddens me most. It is the fact that after we die the waves will continue crashing, the sun will keep rising, and the buds will bloom. While there is beauty in the power of a cycle, comes also a feeling of utter insignificance.

Critical Review: Suffrage and Virginia Woolf: 'The Mass Behind the Single Voice'

Suffrage and Virginia Woolf: ‘The Mass Behind the Single Voice’

Sowon S. Park

Sowon S. Park begins this article by explaining that Virginia Woolf is viewed as the ‘mother’ of feminism for the 21^st century. Park focuses on Woolf’s lack of action toward the suffrage movement. It is argued that A Room of One’s Own and Three Guineas have strong ties to the suffrage movement. They were reviewed as “ahead of their time.” It is brought to light that Woolf worked in a suffrage office, but privately expressed concerns about the movement. Woolf did not work there for very long, and was believed to be of higher class than the women who were typical activists. Woolf chose to put her energy towards the Women’s Co-operative Guild which was a way to show her feminist views. She viewed the suffrage movement as limiting. In A Room of One’s Own, Woolf invents Shakespeare’s sister who is equal to him in intellect. In Three Guineas, Woolf proves the power of women through the narrator. This article explains Woolf’s participation in the suffrage movement as compared to her activism as a Feminist as a whole.

Critical Review: A Rediscovered Eulogy: Virginia Woolf's "Miss Janet Case: Classical Scholar and Teacher"

A Rediscovered Eulogy: Virginia Woolf’s “Miss Janet Case: Classical Scholar and Teacher”

Henry M. Alley

This article is about Janet Case, Virginia Woolf’s tutor, and the affect that she had on Woolf throughout her life. She began as a Tutor who taught Woolf of Plato and other great classics. Woolf was eager to learn, and especially enjoyed embarrassing George Duckworth with her knowledge. There relationship eventually evolved into a deep friendship that was based on a great deal of respect and adoration. This relationship turned for the worst over time as Case grew older. Woolf began to see Case’s beliefs as those of a “rigid classical view of literature.” Case and Woolf’s relationship dwindled, especially after Woolf visited Case at her home. She was instructed to give up fiction and focus on biographies as Case said that they were more “useful.” Case began to stand for the classical views, which inhibited and did not except Woolf’s modern writing style. This brought about a great deal of discomfort, self-consciousness, and anxiety in Woolf as she continued to pursue her writing. Woolf’s studies of Greek under Case were also a great influence throughout her work. She was even accused of following in Case’s footsteps by being too rigid. Eventually Woolf’s confidence grew and she was able to at least partially put Case’s criticisms of her work aside. Although their relationship was rocky, it began and ended with great respect. There is no doubt, after reading this article, that Janet Case played an important hand in Woolf’s developing as a writer and as a Woman through their differing opinions on classical vs. modern writing styles.

Critical Review: Significant Form in Jacob's Room: Ekphrasis and the Elegy

Significant Form in Jacob’s Room: Ekphrasis and the Elegy

Kathleen Wall

Kathleen Wall’s article discusses the form that Woolf used in Jacob’s Room. The form used throughout the novel is considered abnormal when studying the plot and character development. Wall brings the readers focus to the less discussed and studied topic of the “narrator’s uneven authority and inconsistent relationship to the textual world.” It is said that through the form the worlds of art and life’s differences are put on the stand. Wall goes on to say that this broken relationship, the reader is incapable of processing and knowing the perception of the world that has been created. Woolf is described to be bridging the gap between reality and literature, or the real world and art. Woolf’s brother, Thoby, died at an early age, which forced Woolf into a motherly role of protecting Violet by writing letters as if they were from Thoby. Wall goes on to infer that Jacob’s Room is so realistic because of an inscription of Thoby’s name was written across the bottom of the final page of the draft of Jacob’s Room. It would have been an elegy soley for her brother but Woolf decided that Jacob should die in the war. Because there was war during that time, the book served as an elegy that served an entire generation. Another interesting stance on Thoby’s elegy is that Woolf saw it as a way to blurry the distinction between public and private. Clive Bell is referred to quite often throughout the article. His theories, opinions, and beliefs are discussed.

Critical Review: The Spaces in Jacob's Room

Mind the Gap: The Spaces in Jacob’s Room

Edward L. Bishop

Edward Bishop discusses the importance of silence in Jacob’s Room. Bishop puts a great deal of emphasis on the gaps and spaces in the pages of the novel. He goes so far as to say they are “the essence of the text itself, the vital ingredient that makes it possible for the narrative to exist at all.” Bishop describes the silences as a way to give the reader a steady pace that helps their minds move into and through the silence. Harvena Richter is referenced in an argument that wolf “uses negative ‘blank spaces’ or ‘intervals’ in a positive way so as to make them contribute to subject feeling.” Bishop goes on the further argue that the gaps are necessary in order to engage the reader. He expresses extreme displeasure with the fact that the novel has been reprinted, shrunk, and edited so much that these valuable space breaks have been ignored and discarded. Bishop explains how to read the works best and what to avoid. It is noted that one should not read Jacob’s Room on a screen. The article describes the differences between the original book published by the Hogarth Press and the American Addition that came three months after. There were several sections missing in the American edition. Bishop gives detailed examples of the differences between the two texts. This article places a great deal of emphasis on the spatial gaps on the pages that he believe Virginia Woolf and the Hogarth Press intended to include, that were ignored in the American editions. Without these spaces, Bishop argues that the novel does not reach its full potential and purpose.

Critical Review: The loss of roses: mother-daughter myth and relationships between women in Mrs. Dalloway

The loss of roses: mother-daughter myth and relationships between women in Mrs. Dalloway

This essay deals with the use of the Demeter myth in Mrs. Dalloway. It first discusses the lack of study of the myth in the novel with regards to the relationship between Mrs. Dalloway and her daughter, who ventures out on her own for a bit in order to explore the world of liberal gender roles rather than the conservative lifestyle that she has been brought up in throughout her entire life. The myth deals with a “motherless daughter.” As we know, Virginia Woolf lost her mother at an early age. This essay argues that Clarissa is Demeter, the goddess of vegetation, which is why she is always associated with flowers. The author, Lisa Tyler, states that Mrs. Dalloway’s constant association with flowers throughout the novel is also one with motherhood. Tyler makes an interesting observation about Clarissa’s obsession with being a perfect hostess; she is a “high priestess” because she is a “mediatory between people, is the closest thing to a holy person that there is.” Clarissa’s lifestyle definitely reflects this importance of the hostess. All she cares about throughout the day is putting on a perfectly wonderful party. Clarissa’s daughter, Elizabeth, is Persephone because she wonders off from her mother’s choices in lifestyle. Tyler also points out that Clarissa’s trying to find and know Elizabeth stands for Clarissa’s need to find and approve of herself. There are several other examples of characters who follow along with the myth of Demeter and Persephone. One of which is that of Peter as Hades because he asks Clarissa why she did not choose him over Richard, which is inappropriate especially because of Elizabeth.

Tyler sums up her essay by admitting that Mrs. Dalloway does not end in the same way that the myth does. It does however show that Elizabeth decides to return home to her mother, Clarissa, rather than following the independent path of Ms. Kilman, which is the approval and desire that Clarissa had been in search of all along.

A Room of One's Own

The role of the women was portrayed very well in Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own. Woolf focused on the importance of money to a woman in the Renaissance. I couldn’t help but think about the fact that money has always been important to women. An example of this is Mrs. Dalloway. She chose Richard over Peter because he was more secure and had better standing in society. Perhaps I should rephrase myself, material goods have always been important to women. They alone define a woman’s worth and depth in the eyes of the rest of society. So what is the difference between Woolf’s, Room of One’s Own and every materialistic socialite throughout history? The will to write. For the first time women were breaking the mold and daring to do what only men could do, unthinkable in those times. Women couldn’t write and if they could, certainly not as well as men. Because women were not allowed to write so much talent has been lost throughout history. Woolf’s creation of Shakespeare’s sister is very powerful. It made me think not only of what would have happened without Shakespeare’s mark on literary history but of what we have missed out on. There were most likely dozens of women who obtained the ability to write as well as Jane Austen who have been lost in the crowd. I would be willing to bet that more than once, a woman sat in the audience at one of Shakespeare’s productions who was just as talented, but trapped in the cramped role that society had placed on her gender.

Woolf further explains exactly how drastic the limitations placed on women are in chapter 3, “Some of the most inspired words, some of the most profound thoughts in literature fall from her lips; in real life she could hardly read, could scarcely spell, and was the property of her husband” (43). To think that I may have never had the chance to read Pride and Prejudice because Jane Austen never learned to read and write is devastating. So many women were limited and confined to a simple lifestyle while their husbands read and wrote right in front of them.

I fell in love with the metaphor that Woolf came up with to describe fiction, “Fiction is like a spider’s web, attached ever so lightly perhaps, but still attached to life at all four corners” (41). The spider’s web is perfect because they are flexible and almost transparent. In my opinion a good fiction work must have some resemblance to reality (attached at four corners) and they should also have uniqueness about them. They do not have to conform to a specific “shape” or story.

Like Woolf, I adore Jane Austen. It was not until reading A Room of One’s Own that I understood what it is that I love so much about her work. She and Shakespeare share the unique ability to write without being affected or bogged down with their own emotions. While Jane Austen wrote some of the greatest love stories of all time, it is important to note that they are not full of sappy romance. It is equally important to realize that thought in most of her books the couple lives “happily ever after” Jane Austen’s love life did not work out as smoothly. Still, Austen was not bitter and was able to write timeless pieces due to her ability to take her emotions out of the equation.

Mrs. Dalloway

Mrs. Dalloway is an interesting play on gender roles. From the surface it seems like another story about aristocracy and the roles of women and men in society. Mrs. Dalloway seems like the typical housewife, wandering around aimlessly until she decides that she will “buy the flowers herself.” (1) She has servants and workers that do everything for her. She is charged with the difficult task of assigning them their duties. What shall she serve? What will the musicians play? How to set the table, what to offer as beverage, and so on and so on… Through the reading though, we see a more unique side to Clarissa. She is privileged. She does have a lot of money. She did choose social standing over passion, Richard over Peter. Through all of the aristocracy we are given a view of the woman of the house from the inside rather than the out. She has stresses within her life. Peter’s appearance offered a view of the constant worry and stress Clarissa lives with. She remains upset with herself over losing Peter. She repeats herself over and over when she asks him to “Please remember her party.” After three or four repetitions the tone turns from a plea to begging and almost crying in utter desperation.

Clarissa values throwing parties above almost everything. She ranks herself according to her abilities as a hostess. At the party she worries that people are not dancing, then is later comforted when more of a crowd begins to arrive and liven things a bit. The most rewarding thing that could happen to Clarissa as a hostess does; the Prime Minister makes an appearance. His appearance means Clarissa is a success in her book because she puts so much stock in being a hostess.

It is funny that the only times we see Clarissa in a negative light is when Peter is speaking. He sculpts her life as unfulfilling because she chose society over him. We are able to see his childish antics through his travels to India, affairs, and especially the time that he followed a young girl on her walk. He thought it fun and exciting. As a grown man he still flirts immaturely yet cannot understand why Clarissa chose Richard over him. Peter is a bit of a child and as pointed out in class similar to Peter Pan. He seems to have no drive to grow up and take full responsibility of being an adult and is nowhere near emotionally ready to settle down with a wife and children.

Elizabeth serves an important role of the new independent woman. Clarissa is the model of a woman stuck in the traditional role of the housewife, and hostess. Elizabeth begins to play with the idea of becoming independent, not like her mother. She is a young girl who is curious about the world outside of her home and her part of town. The omnibus was a way explore. The image of Elizabeth on the omnibus is very powerful for a few reasons. One, she is traveling the streets alone which was highly frowned upon during the time period. Two, she goes to a section of town that was not considered appropriate for young woman. Woman, especially at Elizabeth’s age were not to walk and travel alone.

Virginia Woolf’s ability to write an entire novel about one day in the life of Clarissa Dalloway was amazing. Time seemed to travel forward, backward, in slow motion, and even stand still for days.

Orlando

Orlando’s life is a view of aristocracy. He was privileged as a young boy and man. In the first chapter Queen Elizabeth is described as falling head over heels for him at first glance. Everyone who saw him, loved him. He had an air of entitlement. He was betrothed to a Lady of the court, Euphrosyne. He decided on her over a handful of other women who were eager to marry him. His affair with the Russian Princess shows that he felt entitled to anyone and everyone. He did not feel guilty, nor did he care about others within the court seeing him with another woman. Orlando (as a male) reminds me of Mr. Ramsay. Like Mr. Ramsay, Orlando craved instant gratification. It is a perfect dose of karma that Orlando turns into a woman, after he has belittled them in his life as a male. Perhaps Woolf wanted to show the humor in karma. The Russian Princess also gave Orlando a dose of his own medicine. She was unfaithful to him with a sailor who was most likely unsanitary, not worthy of a princess, and certainly not on the same level as the beautiful Orlando. He caught her red handed and talked himself out of what he saw. He did not/ could not believe that she would sink to the level of a common sailor when she could have him. I laughed when I read his thought process and steps of talking himself into believing she was faithful because it reminded me of Mr. Ramsay. Orlando was being a bit of a “big baby.” If it is something he doesn’t like, he does not want to hear about it. Orlando thought that no one would be unfaithful to him yet, he had the ability to be unfaithful to everyone else. He believed that he was entitled to everything.

The three spirits remind me of the three witches in Macbeth. I didn’t like this scene at all the first time I read it. It seemed silly and so far from reality. I couldn’t take it seriously, and found myself completely lost as to why Woolf would write this into the novel. It wasn’t until we read the spirits paragraphs individually that I began to understand. I was able to see the smart-aleck tone and the underlying meanings of the spirits. I saw Purity as one that hides imperfections and “spots.” Chasitity does not allow any movement. Modesty, of course is the enemy of reproduction, fruitfulness, and sex. It was interesting that someone pointed out that Modesty is the frailest and fairest of all the spirits.

Throughout my reading, Orlando stood for privilege and entitlement. I still believe that it is a very important theme throughout the novel but, we came to an alternate conclusion in class that I have grown fond of. Orlando can stand for the soul of British Literature. He changes into a woman. Throughout the history of Literature men have always run the show. Women did not even have the choice to write and become published. Eventually women were given the right to write and have proved themselves as being just as worthy as men. Orlando’s transformation into a woman shows the evolution of British Literature and societies acceptances of women’s ability and independence.

Critical Analysis of "Where the Spear Plants Grow" by Jane Lilienfeld

Jane Lilienfeld’s “Where the Spear Plant Grew” discusses the relationship between Mr. and Mrs. Ramsay. Their marriage is an example of what was expected in the Victorian society. Men went out and worked for their family and women were expected to stay home and maintain the house. Lilienfeld describes Woolf’s interpretation of the marriage as being “mature with sharp critical examination. (149) Mr. and Mrs. Ramsay’s marriage was Woolf’s way of calling for a change in expectations of gender roles. In Woolf’s mind it was time for women to evolve into their own beings outside of their “domestic sphere.” This “domestic sphere” as described by Lilienfeld, limited women to only having power within their homes. Even then, when their husbands returned home the power was given the male. Women limited themselves by staying home. Lilienfeld suggests that Mrs. Ramsay is unconsciously angry at her role. This anger is transferred to further devotion to Mr. Ramsay. On the outside Mrs. Ramsay seems content with her position. As Lilienfeld exemplifies, Mrs. Ramsay says this of books, “She never had time to read them” (150). Mrs. Ramsay’s comforts herself by saying that she is far to busy to relax and read a book, therefore she leads a meaningful and productive life. Woolf wants to reader to see the need for reading and independence. Lilienfeld describes Lily Briscoe as the symbol for change. At first she wishes to structure herself according to Mrs. Ramsay but, finds that she would rather break the mold. Lily Briscoe is the symbol of the modern woman. Lilienfeld’s article explains the symbolism behind Mr. and Mrs. Ramsay’s marriage. It was Woolf’s cry for a change in societies expectations.

To the Lighthouse

Virginia Woolf uses repetition in all or almost all of the works that we have read thus far in the semester. It has been interesting to pick through and see the differences and similarities in the various uses of repetition. In Jacob’s Room it seemed that she repeated phrases or the beginning of a paragraph at the end or at the beginning of the next paragraph to let the reader know that the perspective had changed, or that another character was now talking or narrating.

In To the Light house repetition occurs again but in a different way. There is not as much repetition to signify the change in perspective as there is repetition of phrases by the same character over and over. An example of this is, “Someone had blundered.” (22) Mr. Ramsay repeats this phrase over and over again in different instances. That I know of, he does not go into detail as to who or what the “who” did. This repetition was significant in my reading because it showed the distance Mr. Ramsay was sure to keep between himself and everyone else. He is in his own world and as stated in the book, “What he said was true. It was always true” (8). Mr. Ramsay also repeats himself several times by saying “He was a failure” (40-41). He repeats this at least 3 times within three different paragraphs. Ramsay does this to be comforted by his wife. He breaks the mold of being distant when he is ready to be consoled and praised. He does not break until Mrs. Ramsay says enough of what he wants to hear which shows her function in their marriage. She is not independent, though she believes that she is. She justifies her acts toward members of the community as marks of her being such a good and giving person and as a measure of how happy her life is. It is obvious through her constant need to compliment herself and have pity on others that she is anything but secure and happy.

Another form of repetition that shows up quite a bit is back to back repetition such as, “And after all – after all (here insensibly she drew herself together, physically, the sense of her own beauty becoming, as it did so seldom, present to her – after all…” (44) Which gave a tone of desperation and longing. In this example Mrs. Ramsay is speaking to the reader about her ability to make people like her. There are three uses of “after all” in the beginning of the sentence. It reminded me of a child who stutters to gain attention or more personally of myself. My family calls me “useless chatter” because of my habit of always wanting to talk and almost always having nothing important to say. When it is going to be useless, nine times out of ten, I stutter and repeat the first 3 or so words of my meaningless sentence about four times. Mrs. Ramsay is clearly trying to justify her likability to herself. Although it is noted that her sense of beauty was there, it is also noted that it’s presence is a rarity. She is desperate for approval, which is ironic because it is her that is always giving approval to her husband and other characters through the book, such as Lily.

As it has been covered many times, Virginia Woolf loved flowers. There are different themes throughout all of her books and stories dealing with them. A specific repetition that I have found interesting is her usage of the lily in To the Lighthouse. According to the Oxford English Dictionary a lily is “…large showy flowers of white, reddish, or purplish colour, often marked with dark spots on the inside…” (1.a) I find it interesting that she used this flower as a name of one of the characters in her novel. It is not the first time she has done this. A character was named after the flower in “Kew Gardens” as well. Lily is evolving into a very interesting character. She is an artist who paints what she sees, not what she know people would prefer to see. She is a modernist who paints shapes rather than lifelike images of people. She gets mad at herself and says, “It was bad, It was bad, it was infinitely bad!” (51) She explains that she could have done it differently, more normally, but she just does not see it that way. Ironically, Mr. Tansley whispers in her ear “Woman can’t paint, woman can’t write…” (51) He most likely does not understand or approve of her style because it is ahead of his time. She is on the breaking edge of a new form of painting and he is too bogged down in gender control and in men being better and brighter than women that he is actually the ignorant one. Gender roles in society are also repeated throughout her works. I find it intriguing that Mrs. Dalloway and Mrs. Ramsay are the same in their acceptance of gender roles and Elizabeth Dalloway and Lily are on the cutting edge and are independent in many ways.

Jacob's Room and repetition

It took reading the second half of Jacob’s Room to understand how to read and interpret the first half. I felt like I read the first half of the book without understanding any of it. I was lost. If someone had asked me to give a summary or make an outline without referring to any outside sources I would have been out of luck. All of the different perspectives that the novel was written in was threw me for quite a few loops. I finally broke the or at least one of the codes for reading and understanding Virginia Woolf-repetition.

Throughout the novel there are different forms of repetition. The first example that we spoke about in class was “Jacob! Jacob!” The importance behind the repetition of calling his name by his brother at the beginning of the novel did not strike me as unusual at first. It seemed like it’s only purpose and significance was his brother calling his name. However because I read the introduction, which gave a summary of the novel as well as insight on interpretations, details, and importance, I took this repetition as also asking where Jacob was. It stood as foreshadowing of Jacob’s life as he moved from place to place never seeming to settle or find happiness. He was a bit of a lost soul in my opinion. Also, this same repetition of his name was used again in the last page of the novel. After Jacob died his life long friend called his name in agony. This symbolized that Jacob never “found” himself in my opinion.

Florinda’s appearance was described in one chapter. Part of the description included her shoe have, “silver buckled toe” which was also used in one of her other works, Kew Gardens. Its usage in that short story still is a mystery to me. In Jacob’s Room it was used to describe her shoes. I do not think that it was a coincidence. The only interpretation or insight that I have been able to come up with is this, in both stories it seemed to have a negative connotation.

Another form of repetition that I noticed was a way of changing perspectives. An event or situation would be described in one person’s perspective then it was repeated through the eyes of another person. At first I thought this was just her stream of consciousness on paper but, I noticed it was being used to inform the reader that the perspective had just been changed. I am absolutely amazed with the ingenuity of Virginia Woolf. She found a way to put the ways the human mind works on paper. She writes in a “stream of conscience” but includes patterns such as the importance of repetition, which allows slower and more average individuals like myself to better follow and understand the story line.

I think of her usage of repetition as the keyword to decipher a code. Or at least, that is what it has served as for me. I hope to study her usage of repetition more closely throughout the rest of the semester. Without it in Jacob’s Room I know I would have been discouraged and lost.

Kew Gardens

Kew Gardens is my favorite reading so far this semester. I am beginning to familiarize myself with Woolf’s style of writing. Of course, I have not even scratched the surface but it has gotten better. I am starting to understand her random sentences not as words strung together but as a sort of stream of consciousness. I have also learned that I cannot just flip the pages. Virginia Woolf is by no means an easy “beach read.” I have to read each paragraph and circle, highlight, and comment on nearly every sentence in order to understand what it is she is trying to say. Still, I come to class confused.

When reading it before class I immediately noticed the importance placed on color. Of course red, blue, and yellow flowers were explained in the first couple of sentences. Throughout the rest of the work these three primary colors popped up frequently. This is the perfect example of a pattern that I am beginning to notice and understand of Woolf’s. These red and blue flowers are the same color as the flowers on the dress of Woolf’s mother in her first memory, which is documented in “Sketch of the Past.” That first memory is the one that all others are based on which clearly influenced her stories. The constant description of these colors always makes me pause and re read that sentence because I automatically associate them being of importance. Not just minor detail.

Other colors that I was intrigued by were silver, grey, and gold. I still do not understand the significance of the “square silver buckle at the toe.” In class we talked about silver being symbolic of mirrors and reflections. Is the square silver buckle supposed to be a reflection of the past and what could have been? Possibly the shoe symbolizes the mans curiosity of what would have happened if the dragonfly had landed on that flower and Lily had said yes. Not that it would be any better but how it would have been different.

I never thought about the story being told from the point of view of a snail before class. After our discussion I can see how that may have been the case but I am still not completely convinced. The only thing that could persuade me to agree is the lines, “Sugar, flour, kippers, greens, sugar, sugar, sugar.” It seems to be things that a snail would be interested in and that maybe the only words he heard out of a sentence due to selective hearing.

The last paragraph of the story explains each couple moving about in “the same irregular and aimless movement passed the flower-bed…” and describes their colors of green and blue vapor that were once there dissolve into the green-blue atmosphere. This statement of bodies that “had substance and a dash of colour, but later both substance and colour dissolved” immediately stood out as a symbolism of what happens when you commit to someone else. It gives reason to remain independent rather than married because your uniqueness and identity will fade and vanish just as the vapor.

Sketch of the Past

“Sketch of the Past” was my first Virginia Woolf experience. At first glance her writing is very dense and a bit disturbing. After reading a biography on her life it would be impossible not to understand why her work is the way that it is. She writes in a blunt tone. When I read works I usually take into the account the likely possibility that the author has embellished his or her story in order to make it more interesting and in many cases more entertaining.

Virginia Woolf beings “Sketch of the Past” by acknowledging that there are different forms of writing a memoir. She also states that she cannot recall them and will not decide on which way to write because she is confident “it will find itself.” I love the way she goes from this first paragraph about form and immediately jumps into her first memory. This memory is of the red and purple flowers on her mothers dress. Woolf states that they were returning to London but prefers to remember returning to St. Ives instead. I love that she admits to her own embellishments in her memoir. This is proof of how refreshingly honest she writes, or at least how I perceive her to write in this first encounter.

Her writing seems so unconventional especially when she states reasons that many memoirs are failures. It is because they do not explain the person that these memories and events happened to. She writes in a conversational tone and asks, “Who was I then?” After asking this question she immediately answers it first by giving her full name then those of her parents and continues from there. In this way Woolf sees herself as a character. She introduces herself to the reader so that they understand who she is in order to reach full interest in the memoir.

In the first few days of class we spoke a lot about themes such as flowers, nature, color, and water. The sound of the waves in St. Ives clearly made a large impression on Virginia’s life. She also describes the colors of the flowers on her mothers dress. This memory is the first and as she claims, it is the memory on which all others stand.

Woolf also writes about a yellow room in St. Ives. This immediately reminded me of a short story that I read last year, “The Yellow Wallpaper.” It is by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. I believe that Gilman and Woolf have a few similarities in their writing. Both seem to be a bit disturbed. Gilman was known to be unhappy with treatment of woman in her time and struggled with it throughout her life. Woolf has clearly been through quite a bit as well. I cannot say for certain how similar the two authors are because I have only read one piece by each. However, in both works I feel depression and hardships.

“A Sketch of the Past” was most interesting because of the tone that Woolf used. She was so descriptive, which allows the reader to travel back to her memories and hear the waves breaking in St. Ives.