‘Mrs. Dalloway’ Essay
Stephanie MacDonald
ENG 4UE
Mr. P. Murray


“Mrs. Dalloway said she would buy the flowers herself.” (Woolf 1)
With just the opening line of the book, one can already assume a little about Mrs. Dalloway as a character. She comes off an independent woman, or at least able to get what she needs on her own. Not to mention, with flowers being her current objective, it sets her up as proper or lady-like. These are one’s impressions of that sentence, none of it is directly pointed out or written, but it can still be taken away based off of whatever the reader takes away. The novel ‘Mrs. Dalloway’ highlights some different angles of impressionism through; the way the characters see each other, the way the reader feels about said characters, and the general appearance of the book itself.

The numerous characters in Virginia Woolf’s novel each have very diverse personalities, thoughts and opinions. This leaves plenty of room for each person to form further personal opinions on characters other than themselves. These individually formed impressions from character to character are right in their own sense but, pertaining to that character, may be completely different from their truth. On the other hand, it’s possible that what is being perceived is exactly what’s happening. An example of how these impressions are perceived is between Peter Walsh and his allusion of Septimus and Lucrezia as a couple in that first introduction in Regent’s Park.

“And that is being young, Peter Walsh thought as he passed them. To be having an awful scene – the poor girl looked absolutely desperate - in the middle of the morning. But what was it about, he wondered; what had the young man in the overcoat been saying to her to make her look like that; what awful fix had they got themselves into, both to look so desperate as that on a fine summer morning?” (Woolf 77)

In this case Peter has been given the impression that Lucrezia, the ‘poor girl’, is absolutely desperate involving whatever terrible situation she and her young lover are in.

“He dropped her hand. Their marriage was over, he thought, with agony, with relief. The rope was cut; he mounted; he was free, as it was decreed that he, Septimus, the lord of men, should be free; alone (since
his wife had thrown away her wedding ring; since she had left him)..” (Woolf 73-74)

“She could stand it no longer. She would go back.” (Woolf 73)

Seemingly, Peter has seen through what was going on, Lucrezia is in a desperate mood, wanting to go back. Septimus himself has recognized their situation as an ‘awful fix’, desperately searching for truth and seeing the despair in his marriage. Impressionism can also be considered when dealing with the view of a person from different times in their life, or relationship. Peter again has input of significance on this angle, when he comes to judging Clarissa (Mrs. Dalloway). When he thinks or refers to Clarissa he always first see’s her as his former love, remembering how they were together and how she had acted at a previous time. He uses these same impressions when first beginning to re-interact with her. Comparing his former impression of her soul, it’s workings and thoughts, to how she is presently acting, and those changed impressions he gets from her. It is a slight difference, taking into reason how he knew a different side of her at both times. Impressions in these character to character scenarios are biased, totally based on the person’s guided view.

The characters in ‘Mrs. Dalloway’ are also giving off impressions to a different audience.. the reader. The reader theoretically has less to go on than the other characters in the book because they’re just being introduced and have no prior knowledge of that person’s characteristics. The reader will have to base their opinions on what they think of the characters. This can be based off their personal experiences and how they relate to that specific situation or personality. For example, if the reader has been in a passionate relationship and been heartbroken, they might relate to Peter and be able to better see his side of the story as things move along. The reader may also be swayed into thinking different things about a person based on how the author has portrayed a “mood”. Their impressions might differ after reading an excerpt where a character is in one mood, thinking certain things, than when they’re doing/thinking something different. Here is a quote from Septimus, going on about human nature and in particular, about Bradshaw.

“Once you fall, Septimus repeated to himself, human nature is on you. Holmes and Bradshaw are on you. They scour the desert. They fly screaming into wilderness. The rack and the thumbscrew are applied. Human nature is remorseless. “ (Woolf 107)

After reading that one might think that Septimus is depressed, and disappointed or spiteful towards humans and their actions. From these points a reader may get a negative feel from the character and refer to that feeling later on while reading about them, therefore influencing their impression.

“Septimus was one of the first to volunteer. He went to France to save an England which consisted almost entirely of Shakespeare’s plays and Miss Isabel Pole in the green dress walking in the square.” (Woolf 94)

Now in contrast, after reading this part, it seems like Septimus is a kind man, eager to help his fellow men and save lives. This impression is much more positive and can leave the reader feeling connected to Septimus because of his human compassion. These ideas that the reader has perceived are totally based off of how they can relate to the personality of that character and their actions.

With impressionism being a major theme throughout this story, it is understandable that the presentation of the book itself has a little bit of impressionistic thought behind it. One way Virginia Woolf and her publishers have used this is through the look of the cover on the novel. It’s an abstract picture, made up of many little shapes and smudges. When one first glances at this picture, they may just see the variety of colourful shapes and a woman’s face, with her bright red lips. Taking into consideration the title and content of the novel, it can be assumed that this prominently displayed woman is Clarissa Dalloway, as if to show that she is the focus of the book, with the storyline revolving around her. A deeper look at the cover image and it becomes apparent there are other people and objects in the background, some more defined than others. Using the same train of though as used on the bold woman, it’s assumed that all of these background pictures have a role in the story, perhaps as characters, slightly less obvious than Mrs. Dalloway but have just as much effect on the story. Without one of these background characters, the shapes and colours wouldn’t have the same pattern, ruining a part of the picture, just like the lack of a character would destroy parts of the novel content itself. The content of the novel is also foreshadowed by the teaser on the back of the book. It mentions the party, Clarissa, her past, unnamed friends, and Septimus. By only mentioning these two main characters, it gives the impressions of what the story will revolve around yet again. If you relate those two characters, after knowing more about them from reading the book, it’s almost as if the teaser was only mentioning those two because they are on the opposite ends of the spectrum in the book, having completely different views and positions, and never quite intertwining, unlike the rest of the characters, who in at least some small way interacted with each.

Overall, this novel could be taken numerous ways, all depending upon how the reader interacted with the story and what impressions they were able to grasp from it. After seeing how the characters views of each other were achieved, how easily their own opinions were swayed, and how the book’s first impression was, it’s obvious that a persons impression dictates the way a story is read and understood.




References
Novel:
Woolf, Virginia. Mrs. Dalloway. England: Penguin Books, 1992.