The film The Hours makes a lot of ties with the book Mrs. Dalloway. But, even though there are similar themes and characters, those in the movie don't exactly match up with those in the book.
An example would be that many characters in The Hours have Septimus-like tendencies/actions. Virginia Woolf drew upon her own experiences to write Septimus's character, so it makes sense that she would have similar behavior to Septimus as well. Like Septimus's spouse, Virginia's spouse worries about her and wants to do what the doctors say. Both Rezia and Mr. Woolf don't exactly understand what is wrong which seems to irritate their perspective spouses. Virginia and Septimus share a sort of distance from the rest of the world. They don't always respond to those around them, and tend to get buried deep in their own thoughts. They both, of course, end up taking their own lives.
Laura Brown's story also mirrors that of Septimus. Although one major difference is that Laura's husband doesn't realize that anything is troubling her, while Rezia is constantly worrying over Septimus. Laura and Septimus both share somewhat depressive tendencies, and while Laura never actually ends up killing herself, she comes very close and leaves her family to start a new life after her second child is born because she "can't bear" to go on living like that. On a sidenote, I can't really bring myself to forgive Laura for leaving her family. I understand that she wasn't completely well and that she must've felt trapped in her housewife role, feeling like she had to please her husband who went through the war, but it seems so selfish to just run away from the people who love and who depend on you, especially after you've just added another member to that group. Her husband must've been so devastated, it's a wonder that he didn't kill himself. This also emotionally scarred her son, Richard, who as we find out in the third story of The Hours also turns out to have parallels with Septimus.
We see that Richard has grown up to be a poet and a writer who is very successful and has won an award. But he doesn't seem to care about his success. He is somewhat unstable and experiences similar things to Septimus, such as animals speaking in Greek to him, and voices inside his head. Richard, however has an added layer of difficulties because he also suffers with AIDs, and is barely keeping himself alive for Clarissa's sake. He, just like Virginia and Septimus also takes his life because he doesn't feel satisfied with living the way he is, and it's the only way for him to end it.
Sunday, September 29, 2013
Thursday, September 19, 2013
Cutely irritating, or irritatingly cute?
I find the character of Richard Dalloway to be both extremely cute and extremely irritating. In order to explain these somewhat conflicting sentiments, I'm going to examine one of the only scenes in the book where we get a clear picture or Richard. Which of course is when Richard and Hugh are out and Richard gets fed up with Hugh and decides that he needs to show his wife some romantic gesture and tell her "in so many words," that he loves her. This brings me to a small tangent; "in so many words" what significance does this phrase have? The phrase "I love you" only has three words, and it's a fairly basic way of putting it. There aren't a lot of ways to paraphrase "I love you." That is about as simple as it's going to get.
Moving on from that small point of digression, Richard shows a lot of adorable, timid middle-school-boy-like qualities in this scene. He goes into the jewelry store with Hugh, who is being very annoying, and decides that he can't let Hugh upstage him since he's being such a jerk. He looks at some jewelry thinks about getting something for Clarissa, but then he puts it back and doesn't buy it because he doesn't trust his judgement in those kinds of matters. At this point I was a little disappointed. I wanted Richard to buy the jewelry for Clarissa, especially since Clarissa had been rethinking her choice in marriage all throughout the day, and was visited by Peter. It was brought up in Clarissa's thoughts/conversations that Richard was never spontaneous or as emotionally diverse as Peter, and I wanted Richard to use buying the jewelry as a way to overcome these thoughts about him. But, alas, he decides not to buy the jewelry and instead decides to buy flowers. I found it very cute how excited he is to give Clarissa these flowers and tell her that he loves her, especially since they aren't strangers to each other by any means. They have been married for quite some time and have a daughter who is almost grown up-- they should be comfortable around one another. Nonetheless, I picture Richard as having an endearingly nervous/excited bounce in his step as he's walking home with the flowers, thinking about how he's going to tell Clarissa that he loves her.
But, when he actually gets to her, he chickens out! I am very irritated by the fact that he can't tell his own wife, the mother of his child, that he loves her after all those years. Some people mentioned in class discussions that they thought it was cute how he was too nervous to do the deed, but I do not share those sentiments. I wanted Richard to tell Clarissa that he loves her as much-- maybe more-- than I wanted him to buy the jewelry for her.
I thought that in general, Richard was definitely more likeable and cuter than Peter, but I still got very frustrated with some of his actions toward his own wife.
Moving on from that small point of digression, Richard shows a lot of adorable, timid middle-school-boy-like qualities in this scene. He goes into the jewelry store with Hugh, who is being very annoying, and decides that he can't let Hugh upstage him since he's being such a jerk. He looks at some jewelry thinks about getting something for Clarissa, but then he puts it back and doesn't buy it because he doesn't trust his judgement in those kinds of matters. At this point I was a little disappointed. I wanted Richard to buy the jewelry for Clarissa, especially since Clarissa had been rethinking her choice in marriage all throughout the day, and was visited by Peter. It was brought up in Clarissa's thoughts/conversations that Richard was never spontaneous or as emotionally diverse as Peter, and I wanted Richard to use buying the jewelry as a way to overcome these thoughts about him. But, alas, he decides not to buy the jewelry and instead decides to buy flowers. I found it very cute how excited he is to give Clarissa these flowers and tell her that he loves her, especially since they aren't strangers to each other by any means. They have been married for quite some time and have a daughter who is almost grown up-- they should be comfortable around one another. Nonetheless, I picture Richard as having an endearingly nervous/excited bounce in his step as he's walking home with the flowers, thinking about how he's going to tell Clarissa that he loves her.
But, when he actually gets to her, he chickens out! I am very irritated by the fact that he can't tell his own wife, the mother of his child, that he loves her after all those years. Some people mentioned in class discussions that they thought it was cute how he was too nervous to do the deed, but I do not share those sentiments. I wanted Richard to tell Clarissa that he loves her as much-- maybe more-- than I wanted him to buy the jewelry for her.
I thought that in general, Richard was definitely more likeable and cuter than Peter, but I still got very frustrated with some of his actions toward his own wife.
Happily ever after?
At one point in one of our class discussions, the question of whether the ending of Mrs. Dalloway was a happy or a sad one was raised. There were several different answers given to this questions, and off of it branched other topics, as often happens in class discussions. Some people said that it was a happy ending since Clarissa shared a connection with Septimus and didn't end up killing herself. I don't recall if anyone firmly took the sad-ending stance, but it is likely that someone did.
I don't believe that it is applicable to put a happy or sad label on the ending of Mrs. Dalloway. It is true that Woolf avoids a tragic ending by having Clarissa return to the party instead of killing herself, but can this really count as happy? In my opinion, it doesn't. Just because she doesn't kill herself, doesn't mean that she's happy putting on her Mrs. Dalloway face and going back into the fray. Speaking in terms of a more longterm standpoint, we don't necessarily know that Clarissa is totally happy with her marriage to Richard, either. We don't know what is going to happen to Clarissa in the future. She might spend the rest of her life contemplating what things would've been like if she'd married Peter, being totally dissatisfied with her marriage. She might even do something as extreme as have a break down/go crazy and kill herself later on. She does seem to have some similarities with Septimus, and as far-fetched as it might seem, it is a very possible future for Clarissa.
We can safely conclude that the ending of Mrs. Dalloway isn't necessarily tragic, but we can't say that it's good because of it's vague nature and lack of resolution. The only thing we can sort of consider a resolution is Clarissa not killing herself, but because of the event itself as well as the context, we can by no means insert that this is a happy ending. We don't know what Clarissa has in store for her beyond this one day in her life where she throws a party.
Clarissa & Katniss-- Caught in the middle
Peter and Richard represent a classic case of two males vying for the attention of a female in many ways, such as how one of them (Richard) is really nice and the other (Peter) kind of resents his rival for being the typical nice guy and feels like he deserves the woman's affections more. Another, more modern pair of fictional rivals that share a similar dynamic is Gale and Peeta from The Hunger Games. Peeta is the nice guy who Katniss is supposed to end up with, and Gale is somewhat moody but has known Katniss for longer and has an established bond with her.
In this comparison between Mrs. Dalloway and The Hunger Games, the characters of Peter and Gale have multiple parallels in terms of their relationships with their perspective love interests. As far as we know from the information provided in Mrs. Dalloway, Peter was Clarissa's first beau. Or at least the first that was of importance. The two spent a lot of time together, especially at the vaguely referenced Bourton. Peter is one of the characters who understands and/or connects with Clarissa the most. He is able to see through her facade of being the "perfect hostess." It seems like even though they tended to bicker a lot, and criticize each other, they were very close and had a strong relationship. Similarly in The Hunger Games, Gale and Katniss have been friends/partners in crime for at least four years. They worked together to provide food for their families, and shared everything with each other. The fact that they were doing something illegal together (hunting) also brought them closer. Although their relationship was never officially romantic like Peter and Clarissa's, they shared a similar bond in that they were really the only ones who understood each other despite their teasing and banter.
Peter and Gale are not only similar in their role in Clarissa and Katniss's lives, but also in their dispositions. They both tend to be somewhat sullen and negative. They speak their minds and focus mostly on practical things, or things that are important to them. Clarissa specifically states this about Peter on page 7 of Mrs. Dalloway, as demonstrated by the following quote:
"But Peter-- however beautiful the day might be, and the trees and the grass, and the little girl in pink-- Peter never saw a thing of all that. He would on his spectacles, if she told him to; he would look. It was the state of the world that interested him; Wagner, Pope's poetry, people's characters eternally and the defects of her own soul."
Gale seems to be interested in the "state of the world" as well, although his world is much different from Peter's and doesn't consist of poetry and people's souls. Gale is constantly analyzing the justness of the way things are run in District 12, and even is somewhat treasonous/rebellious as he asks Katniss to run away with him. He reveals some very shocking things to her that would get him severely punished if authorities heard him saying them.
Not only do Peter and Gale parallel each other, but so do Richard and Peeta. Richard and Peeta both entered the picture later than Peter and Gale in their love interests' lives. Richard starts coming to Bourton well after Clarissa and Peter have already established a somewhat steady romantic relationship (from what we can infer from the novel). Peeta and Katniss really only start interacting once they are both chosen to compete in the Hunger Games, where Gale is conveniently unable to communicate with Katniss. Ricsyhard and Peeta are the ones that Clarissa and Katniss are "supposed" to love. Clarissa is married to Richard, and therefore assumed to have feelings solely for Richard. Katniss is encouraged by sponsors and her coach in the Hunger Games to display a relationship with Peeta and gain sympathy from the audience. She does end up having real feelings for him, but she is torn between Peeta who she is pressured to be with and Gale who she has known since she was twelve. Clarissa, similarly, does care for Richard, but throughout Mrs. Dalloway we see her struggling with the question of whether or not she made the right choice by marrying him, showing that she probably has residual feelings for Peter.
Even though Clarissa is married to Richard, and the epilogue of Mockingjay lets us know that Katniss ends up marrying Peeta, we will never know if Clarissa and Katniss will always be happy with their choice of choosing the "nice guy." Comparing their relationships, though, can help us to understand their balance and put Clarissa's relations in a more modern light.
In this comparison between Mrs. Dalloway and The Hunger Games, the characters of Peter and Gale have multiple parallels in terms of their relationships with their perspective love interests. As far as we know from the information provided in Mrs. Dalloway, Peter was Clarissa's first beau. Or at least the first that was of importance. The two spent a lot of time together, especially at the vaguely referenced Bourton. Peter is one of the characters who understands and/or connects with Clarissa the most. He is able to see through her facade of being the "perfect hostess." It seems like even though they tended to bicker a lot, and criticize each other, they were very close and had a strong relationship. Similarly in The Hunger Games, Gale and Katniss have been friends/partners in crime for at least four years. They worked together to provide food for their families, and shared everything with each other. The fact that they were doing something illegal together (hunting) also brought them closer. Although their relationship was never officially romantic like Peter and Clarissa's, they shared a similar bond in that they were really the only ones who understood each other despite their teasing and banter.
Peter and Gale are not only similar in their role in Clarissa and Katniss's lives, but also in their dispositions. They both tend to be somewhat sullen and negative. They speak their minds and focus mostly on practical things, or things that are important to them. Clarissa specifically states this about Peter on page 7 of Mrs. Dalloway, as demonstrated by the following quote:
"But Peter-- however beautiful the day might be, and the trees and the grass, and the little girl in pink-- Peter never saw a thing of all that. He would on his spectacles, if she told him to; he would look. It was the state of the world that interested him; Wagner, Pope's poetry, people's characters eternally and the defects of her own soul."
Gale seems to be interested in the "state of the world" as well, although his world is much different from Peter's and doesn't consist of poetry and people's souls. Gale is constantly analyzing the justness of the way things are run in District 12, and even is somewhat treasonous/rebellious as he asks Katniss to run away with him. He reveals some very shocking things to her that would get him severely punished if authorities heard him saying them.
Not only do Peter and Gale parallel each other, but so do Richard and Peeta. Richard and Peeta both entered the picture later than Peter and Gale in their love interests' lives. Richard starts coming to Bourton well after Clarissa and Peter have already established a somewhat steady romantic relationship (from what we can infer from the novel). Peeta and Katniss really only start interacting once they are both chosen to compete in the Hunger Games, where Gale is conveniently unable to communicate with Katniss. Ricsyhard and Peeta are the ones that Clarissa and Katniss are "supposed" to love. Clarissa is married to Richard, and therefore assumed to have feelings solely for Richard. Katniss is encouraged by sponsors and her coach in the Hunger Games to display a relationship with Peeta and gain sympathy from the audience. She does end up having real feelings for him, but she is torn between Peeta who she is pressured to be with and Gale who she has known since she was twelve. Clarissa, similarly, does care for Richard, but throughout Mrs. Dalloway we see her struggling with the question of whether or not she made the right choice by marrying him, showing that she probably has residual feelings for Peter.
Even though Clarissa is married to Richard, and the epilogue of Mockingjay lets us know that Katniss ends up marrying Peeta, we will never know if Clarissa and Katniss will always be happy with their choice of choosing the "nice guy." Comparing their relationships, though, can help us to understand their balance and put Clarissa's relations in a more modern light.
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