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.