Critical Study of Texts & Content – Sample Essays – Mrs Dalloway

HSC English – Advanced – MODULE A - Critical Study of Texts & Content – Sample Essays – Mrs Dalloway & The Hours

"An examination of a pair of texts reveals similarities in their concerns and contexts." To what extent does a comparative study of Mrs. Dalloway and The Hours support this view?

Despite the fact that Virginia Woolf’s novel Mrs Dalloway (1925) and Stephen Daldry’s film The Hours (2002) were composed over 75 years apart, upon comparison the issues and contexts of the two contain many similarities.Both texts explore the need for physical and spiritual liberation that can arise in a society where being different from the norm in any way was seen as a negative and how these concerns influence human-kinds fascination with mortality. In the Post -World War I British context of Mrs. Dalloway, Woolf’s commentary on the impact of social oppression and mortality is influenced by the current social and political concerns of her time, mainly concerning the harsh nature of the ‘Great War’ as well as the revival of firm gender roles. Although The Hours is composed in the early 21st century post modern context, Daldry recontextualises the issues of inner turmoil and mortality present in Mrs Dalloway through the storylines of three women of different contexts whose lives are interconnected by Woolf’s novel.

In the novel Mrs Dalloway, Woolf explores the lack of understanding that could arise from living in a society that is centered upon more conservative ideologies and how this could possibly lead to a loss of identity. The fact that Woolf was writing in the post -World War I era comes through clearly in the character of war veteran Septimus Warren Smith, who Woolf uses to contrast withthe superficiality of the upper class that we see with Clarissa Dalloway. In Post -war England, society was still recovering from the unforeseen reality of the war – being one of the most deadly conflicts in history. Of the soldiers who had returned home from the war, many found it difficult to return to a society attempting to recover from the war resulting in a lack of connection between those who had gone to the war and those who remained home. Woolf portrays this disconnect through the juxtaposition of Septimus’ characterization of his participation of war as ‘an appalling crime’ with his wife Rezia’s antithetical response ‘He has done nothing wrong whatsoever’, revealing the psychological trauma of the war on the soldiers and how this was not understood by the others around

Page 1 of 5 HSC English – Advanced – MODULE A - Critical Study of Texts & Content – Sample Essays – Mrs Dalloway & The Hours them. This lack of understanding is further confirmed through the character of Sir William Bradshaw who represents the social perspective on mental illness in the post-war period. The fact that Bradshaw fails to recognise Septimus’ condition as a mental illness but rather ‘not having a sense of proportion’ that could somehow be restored through ‘rest, rest, rest; a long rest in bed’ highlights the fact that this lack of understanding of the mental illness led to a lack of treatment and thereby a sense of insecurity and anxiety in the sufferer. This anxiety is expressed through the nature of Septimus’ and Rezia’s walk together where Septimus is described as living in his ‘internal world’ where he sees and talks to things that aren’t really there and talks to his dead friend Evans. Woolf’s contrast between Septimus who is clearly disturbed by the death of his friend and Rezia who believes ‘every one has friends who were killed in the War’ further adds to this notion of society’s lack of understanding as Reziatrivilises the matter of death as a common experience that no one else seems disturbed by.Woolf’s use of free indirect style further adds to this notion of misunderstanding as it allows the reader to enter inside the thought process of her characters - particularly effective during the lead up to Septimus’ suicide. As the reader is given the opportunity to go through Septimus’ suicide the use of truncated sentences ‘He did not want to die. Life was good. The sun was hot.’ create an atmosphere of suspense and chaos and the use of the rhetorical question of ‘what did THEY want’ stresses that Septimus’ mental state is caused by this lack of understanding and guilt that he faces due to his participation in the war as well as the repeated doctor’s consultations.

Through the characters of VirginiaWoolf , Laura Brown and Richard Brown in the film The Hours, Daldry recontextualises the issues of inner turmoil and mortality presented in Mrs Dalloway while highlighting the change in context and values between modern and postmodern society.The Early 2000’s were a time of great social change; society was a lot more understanding of issues such as mental illness and homosexual couples were allowed to be open about their relationship. Although the film is composed in an early 21st century context in which society was a lot more understanding of mental illness, the issue of gay rights was quite a sensitive topic as the aids epidemic swept through the world. In factat the time that the film released, there were over 42 million people HIV/AIDS world-wide. Through contrasting different perspectives on the concept of homosexuality the viewer gains an understanding of how similar concerns of acceptance in society can be found in a

Page 2 of 5 HSC English – Advanced – MODULE A - Critical Study of Texts & Content – Sample Essays – Mrs Dalloway & The Hours variety of contexts. In the first strand of Virginia Woolf in the year 1923, we are introduced with the issue of the stigma of mental illness through the tracking shot of the Woolf Household which briefly rests on the conversation between Leonard and the doctorabout Virginia and the viewer immediately realises the fact that these two men are discussing Virginia’s life without her involvement and the out of focus camera hints that she is not aware of what they are saying. Thus right from the beginning we are introduced with the notions of male dominance and men overlooking women’s lives as well as the stigma associated with mental illness. Through this depiction of Virginia’s life being dictated by the doctor’s orders we can draw a connection between the character of Septimus in Woolf’s novel and Woolf’s personal life as they both had the restrictions of obeying what other people believed was ‘the best’ for them. Like the character of Septimus in Mrs Dalloway this misunderstanding of mental illness leading to a fascination with the concept of death. Daldry depicts this sentiment through Virginia’s visit by her sister Vanessa Bell. The influence of Virginia’s doctor can be seen through the fact that Virginia is not invited to her sister’s party despite the seemingly close relationship they share. The close up of Vanessa’s face when she asks ‘do the doctor’s not forbid it’ shows that the stigma associated with mental illness limited people in their social aspect as Virginia realises she would have been prevented from attending her own sisters party due to the ‘unpredictable’ nature of her condition. By choosing to interrupt this scene with the introduction of the dead bird, Daldry forms a direct correlation between the stigma associated with mental illness and Virginia’s musings on death. Through Daldry’s use of intertextual connection of Virginia cutting of the heads of the roses as she places them beside the dead bird with the character of Sally Seton in Mrs Dalloway who also cut the stems off her flowers we realise that like Sally, Virginia is unconventional. Also by implementing the dead bird as a symbol for the inevitability of death and Virginia’s conversation with her niece Angelica, the idea of death as a ‘very peaceful’ way to escape from the pressures of restricting life is introduced.This idea heavily resembles the impact of social pressures on the character of Septimus InMrs Dalloway and it is only through death that Septimus gains freedom from his illness and pressure.

A similar notion is explored through the second strand of 1951 Los Angeles, during the post- World War II period. The 1950s in America were a time of economic boom and also considered considered both socially conservative and highly materialistic in nature. This is

Page 3 of 5 HSC English – Advanced – MODULE A - Critical Study of Texts & Content – Sample Essays – Mrs Dalloway & The Hours reflected through the Nuclear family unit of the Browns family who appear to have everything needed to be content in life. Through the character of Laura Brown we realise that this pressure for conformity is present in a variety of contexts even in 195O’s America , which was supposedly all about ‘The American Dream’ of a society with few social barriers. Daldry’s use of contrast between the characterisation of Kitty with that of Laura introduces the notion that conformity can result inthe reinforcement of rigid gender roles which can lead to anxiety and confusion when not matched up to. In the scene where Kitty visits the Brown household the stark contrast between the attire of Kitty and Laura is immediately evident as Kitty lives up to the ‘perfect housewife’ model but Laura doesn’t. To highlight this notion Daldry uses the ruined cake as a symbol for Laura’s incompetency as a housewife. Throughout this scene Daldry implements long shots of the two ladies in the Kitchen to present Kitty as superior to Laura as she is clearly taller than the petite figure of Laura who is forced to look up when she speaks to her. A similar high angle shot is later used in Laura’s hotel room where she reflects on this inadequacy to conform. Although she initially looks towards suicide as her only option to ending this pressure she decides to run away from her family. A comparison between the character of Septimus in Mrs Dalloway and Laura in The Hours reveals that the concept of mortality is one that crosses many people’s minds and is a common concept that people reflect on despite their differing contexts.

These issues are also explored in the thirdstrand of the film in which the impact of social expectations on people living in the early 21st century is explored. The difference between the context of Mrs Dalloway and The Hours is highlighted by the fact that Clarissa Vaughan appears to be much more in control and aware of her life then the character of Clarissa Dalloway even though they both set out to accomplish the same task of buying flowers. This contrast is achieved through Daldry’s use of camera angles when Clarissa Vaughan is walking. The tracking shot of her walking coupled with the dialogue “This is Clarissa Vaughan” gives the appearance of confidence and independence as Clarissa has the authority and the freedom over her own life choices. Following this with Long shots of roads and trains combined with the diegetic sound of traffic highlights the complexity and tension of 21st century modern metropolitan life. However these busy roads are juxtaposed with the constricting lift shaft that Clarissa Vaughan has to go through to get to Richard’s apartment, the fact that it is filled with graffiti and a gloomy atmosphere due to the dark lighting helps

Page 4 of 5 HSC English – Advanced – MODULE A - Critical Study of Texts & Content – Sample Essays – Mrs Dalloway & The Hours the audience to become aware of how shut off Richard is from the rest of society. Clarissa’s bright flowers contrast with the dimly lit and shabby atmosphere of the apartment and this intertextual reference to flowers continually in both Woolf’s novel and Daldry’s film introduce the notion of flowers as a symbol of disguising the truth similar to the way that Mrs Dalloway uses the flowers as an excuse to step out of the house, disguising the fact she needs a reason to go outside without a male chaperone with her. In this context however the flowers disguise the depressive atmosphere of Richard’s apartment. Through the sequence of dialogue in which Clarissa questions Richard over his eating habits and whether or not he is following the doctor’s prescriptions we realise that the characters of Clarissa Vaughan and Richard Brown are very similar to the characters of Rezia and Septimus in Mrs Dalloway. Both Richard and Septimus suffer from some form of mental illness involving hallucinations and both view death as their only option of escaping their mental illnesses and pressure from their lack of understanding with others. The fact that an almost identical relationship can occur in a British Post-World War I context as well as an American 21st century context shows that the issues of mental health and mortality are issues can transcend the supposed barriers of context as they are relevant to both couples.

The need for physical and spiritual liberation that can arise in a society with rigid conformist attitudes and how these attitudes can result in a fascination with mortality manifests in Virginia Woolf’s Novel Mrs Dalloway through the exploration of the character of Septimus and the lack of understanding about mental illness in the Post-World War I period. By contextualising these ideas regarding mental illness and mortality in his 21st century film The Hours Daldry highlights the notion that the same issues and concerns can still affect people in completely different contexts.

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