Analysis Of Virginia Woolfs Mrs. Dalloway - 1756 Words

It is itself doubtable that Virginia Woolf’s 1925 novel Mrs. Dalloway would or even could exist, as we know it today, without T.S. Eliot’s 1922 poem The Waste Land – but what’s near-certain to me now is that Woolf may not have ever even written the character of Septimus Warren Smith, had she not read Eliot’s poem first. Moreover, after going back and reviewing both of these works, the presence of The Waste Land in Septimus, and of Septimus in The Waste Land, are intensely palpable, if not completely overwhelming. Radical an interpretation as it may be, I can’t help but now see Eliot’s poem as being something Septimus himself could have written, including and especially the portion entitled â€Å"Death by Water.† In fact, I’d contend that one†¦show more content†¦But something so easily discernible cannot be satisfying, neither to write nor to read, and I myself am thoroughly unfulfilled by that analysis alone. Wh at’s more important is the speaker, and his ostensible state of mind herein: this is clearly someone who is as well-versed in the world as he is exhausted by it, a sort of misanthropic malaise eerily like that of Septimus in Mrs. Dalloway. Had I read Woolf first and then dived into Eliot, actively looking for an area where Septimus’ perspective seems to shine through most vividly, the strongest candidate would be within Part IV, entitled â€Å"Death by Water.† In its entirety, the brief section reads: Phlebas the Phoenician, a fortnight dead, Forgot the cry of gulls, and the deep sea swell And the profit and loss. A current under sea Picked his bones in whispers. As he rose and fell He passed the stages of his age and youth Entering the whirlpool. Gentile or Jew O you who turn the wheel and look to windward, Consider Phlebas, who was once handsome and tall as you. (The Waste Land IV.312-321) Taken at face value alone, this notoriously indecipherable penultima te portion of the poem tells of the recurrent character PhlebasShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of Virginia Woolfs Mrs. Dalloway1131 Words   |  5 PagesI, highlights the ineffable aspect of the war even for the most skilled authors, saying that: reviewing a novel in 1917, Virginia Woolf suggested that the War was towering too closely and tremendously to be worked into fiction yet†¦ (Tylee, 154). Regardless of this, Virginia Woolf was able to successfully portray individual aspects of the war through her novel Mrs. Dalloway, using a variety of stories to historicize this catastrophic event. One lens in particular, the love story, provides an importantRead More An Analysis of Virginia Woolfs Mrs. Dalloway Essay examples3326 Words   |  14 PagesAn Analysis of Virginia Woolfs Mrs. Dalloway Somewhere within the narrative of Mrs. Dalloway, there seems to lie what could be understood as a restatement - or, perhaps, a working out of - the essentially simple, key theme or motif found in Woolfs famous feminist essay A Room of Ones Own. Mrs. Dalloway does in fact possess a room of her own - and enjoys an income (or the use of an income) that is at least five hundred a year - (Room: 164). But most importantly, Clarissa Dalloway alsoRead More Feminism and Insanity in Virginia Woolfs Work Essay examples1105 Words   |  5 Pagesin Virginia Woolfs Work The critical discussion revolving around the presence of mystical elements in Virginia Woolfs work is sparse. Yet it seems to revolve rather neatly around two poles. 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This will be followed by defining the narrative techniques that is depictedRead MoreEssay on The Hours by Michael Cunningham1456 Words   |  6 PagesAbsences in The Hours.† My aim, however, is not to say that Michael Cunningham’s The Hours is strictly a queer novel, but to highlight what makes the novel queer and to discuss Cunningham’s idea of sexual orientation as a fluid entity. To begin my analysis on the queer narrative in The Hours, we must fist discover what makes a queer narrative. Marilyn Farwell discusses what makes a lesbian narrative in her book Heterosexual Plots and Lesbian Narratives: â€Å"Does the text have a political purpose? CanRead MoreAnalysis of Mrs. Dalloway by Ââ€" Virginia Woolf Essay1460 Words   |  6 PagesAnalysis of Mrs. Dalloway by Ââ€" Virginia Woolf Mrs. Dalloway, published in 1925, is a romantic drama with deep psychological approaching in to the world of urban English society in the summer of 1923, five years after the end of World War I. The book begins in the morning with the arrangements for a party Clarissa Dalloway will give and it ends late in the evening when the guests are all leaving. There are many flashbacks to tell us the past of each character, but it does not leave the range ofRead MoreThe Hours - Film Analysis12007 Words   |  49 PagesThe Suicide of the Author and his Reincarnation in the Reader: Intertextuality in The Hours by Michael Cunningham Andrea Wild In his novel The Hours, Michael Cunningham weaves a dazzling fabric of intertextual references to Virginia Woolfs works as well as to her biography. In this essay, I shall partly yield to the academic itch to tease out the manifold and sophisticated allusions to the numerous intertexts. My aim, however, is not to point out every single reference to Woolf and her works--suchRead MoreMrs Dalloway1427 Words   |  6 PagesAnalysis of Mrs. Dalloway Ââ€" Virginia Woolf Mrs. Dalloway, published in 1925, is a romantic drama with deep psychological approaching in to the world of urban English society in the summer of 1923, five years after the end of World War I. The book begins in the morning with the arrangements for a party Clarissa Dalloway will give and it ends late in the evening when the guests are all leaving. There are many flashbacks to tell us the past of each character, but it does not leave the range of thoseRead More Society, Class, and Conflict the Social Criticism of Virginia Woolf1936 Words   |  8 PagesVirginia Woolf offers interesting analysis of social pressure and social class in Mrs. Dalloway and The Years. Understanding Woolf’s message about society demands a certain amount of sensitivity and decoding on behalf of her reader. Her social criticism in both texts can be easily overlooked because she keeps it subtle and implicit, hidden in the patterns and courses of her characters’ trains of thoughts. Yet upon such close reading, the essential importance of conflict between the individual andRead MoreEssay on Virginia Woolfs Mrs. Dalloway1927 Words   |  8 Pagesof a window. The book Mrs. Dallowayâ€⠄¢s Theme is to show proper balance in the lives of all characters because Mrs. Dalloway, who chooses a life of safety with Richard, Septimus couldn’t keep stability in his life, and lady burton wants to enforce balance by sending people to Canada. Raised by a privileged English household in 1882, writer Virginia Woolf had freethinking parents (Adeline). Born Kensington, London, England, United Kingdom, January 25, 1882 as Adeline Virginia Stephen never married;