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'She would marry a prime minister, and stand at the top of a staircase; the perfect hostess he called her (She had cried over it in her bed)’
This is the reality as seen in the end of the book.
Peter present a vision of what would have been the expected role for her, which was meant to be socially, fulfilling and representative of a successful woman
It is interpreted as a derogatory comment on her conventionality due to her affection for the unconventional Sally
“For Austen, the satisfactions of sensibility exact a heavy price[...]. Marianne, it is true, does fall ill, and this illness serves to reproach Elinor for failing to take her sister's distress seriously.”
Critic
Claudia Johnson
This doesnt appear to be where the emphasis lies- it is Marianne who goes through the biggest transformation considering the women in her life and reassessing her values
Marianne’s rite of passage requires her to accept that ‘her passionate opinions and principles have been tested by experience and observation and proved false.’ In rejecting her ‘narcissistic subjectivism’, she learns to acknowledge ‘the empirical reality that constitutes a shared world’ [Morris]. Thus that she can be deserving of Brandon)
Her worshipping of Sensibility has hindered her throughout the novel- indulging in her grief unnecessarily- and her illness is self inflicted (literally in the sense that she gets sick as a product of her moping which pushed her to frolic in the rain but also a desire to adhere to sentimental convention and sacrifice herself for love)
Her reading material even influences what she considers to be attractive in landscapes and weather conditions. Her preference for wild weather and exhausting solitary walks over challenging, wet terrain leads directly to her injuring her ankle, and later, catching a serious infection.
“Furthermore, as the figurehead, who looks forward, she appears to be leading the way.”
Critic
Johanna Garvey
This interpretation appears to be false, as in the description Liz is stripped of agency and personhood, being objectified
Ships link to masc domination of women as opposed to this alternative, positive reading
It is clear that her desire for the transgressive and active are quashed by the male view of her
‘this attraction calls forth an opening up, blossoming of the imagination and sparks a new creativity’ ‘Sally’s kiss destabilises the triangular romantic plot between Clarissa, RD, and Peter Walsh’
Critic
Suzan Harrison
There is a contrast between the security and stability of Richard and the excitement for open and emotional expression
Lesbianism disrupts the tradition archetype of the heterosexual love triangle
"Women often play out resistance to [masculine] authority in sexual terms: as the appropriated objects of men, we seek to disturb the system of patriarchal control through acts of sexual defiance.”
Critic
Elizabeth Meese
describes feminine sexuality as the site of rebellion
Though SS may ‘destabilize the triangular romantic plot” Harrison, her relationship with CD, though containing political awakening, is largely about tenderness, comfort and excitement- Meese places the patriarchy in too central of a position, their relationship may be subversive but it is not defiant
‘narcissistic subjectivism that [seeks] to impose self and its systems upon the world’
In rejecting her ‘narcissistic subjectivism’, she learns to acknowledge ‘the empirical reality that constitutes a shared world’
Critic
Pam Morris
She attempts to impose her view on life in the world, assumes Will is virtuous due to their shared traits and his compatibility with the gothic heroes she admires
What lies underneath Marianne’s preference for Willoughby is a narcissistic assumption that a young man's propensity to agree with all her opinions, and imitate her own tastes is what makes him most attractive and marriageable.
The young are perhaps more susceptible to this form of narcissism than the more mature characters, who have more experience with opposing views
To the more mature female mind the most attractive qualities in a man - core values which make him truly ‘marriageable’ - should be kindness, integrity and loyalty- Brandon’s inner worth is central to the plot’s scheme of rewards and punishments.
There is room within a good marriage for superficial differences of taste and outlook - as we find between Marianne and Brandon - but core values such as kindness and integrity must be shared (to find an imitation of yourself is narcissistic)
It is an attitude that Austen seeks to correct in her (slightly) younger heroine, Marianne (she reasses her value)
Marianne’s rite of passage requires her to accept that ‘her passionate opinions and principles have been tested by experience and observation and proved false.’ In rejecting her ‘narcissistic subjectivism’, she learns to acknowledge ‘the empirical reality that constitutes a shared world’ [Morris].
external ‘obstacles’, based on social injustice, must be overcome by the heroine of every Austen novel, before she can be ‘rewarded’ with the happy ending of marriage.
Critic
Professor Alan Mullan
In contrast, Woolf’s novel opens with the heroine’s unsatisfactory experience within marriage.
Women in Woolf’s world are trained to internalise societal expectations of beauty and youth: physical attractiveness is central not only to the ‘male gaze’ (Berger), but to a woman’s view of herself and others.
AN
a woman should be ‘half the age of her husband with seven years added’.
Critic
Locker-Lampson’s ‘Patchwork’ 1879
The dominant perspective pushed a younger wife as youth and beauty are intrinsically linked for women but this results in greater immaturity and a need for greater guidance (encouraging paternalistic marriages)
The marriage outcome of Marianne’s plotline may seem to reinforce this- the older man exerting a stabilising influence on the younger, less experienced woman.
Littleton Clarissa’s “gatherings serve as… Creative acts of social artistry“ “Woolf is concerned… With the absolutely private mental world of a woman who, according to the patriarchal idea… Was not imagine to have any artistic feeling at all. “ “an individual, feminine power, fundamentally exposed to the male dominated social order is the source of her feelings of human affliction“
Critic
this links to the lack of education, her age and status, which would prevent her from gaining any kind of cultural awareness, leading to greater assumptions that she is on creative.
As she has “selected“ a conventional life. These inadept may be unexpected.
She criticises a metric of judging human character on the basis of external measures which are coherent with in a patriarchal framework.
The stream of consciousness style facilitates this.
Clarissa seems to contemplate her status as a woman in a offhanded manner, and wolf select an ordinary upper middle-class woman to make this point more universal I’m not overly radical
Elaine Showalter “Clarissa… She has internalised the medical attitudes which saw the change of life as a hopeless process of decline.
Critic
acknowledges that some modern readers are disappointed in the way the older, stable (and some feel, dull) Colonel Brandon is given the young, beautiful Marianne in marriage as a ‘reward for all’ - a gift to repay all ‘his sorrows and their obligations’
Critic
Magee
ΒUT Austen presents the marriage of Marianne to Brandon in a predominantly positive light as “widening” her sphere of influence (Nazaar) and being a reward for Mari’s personal development
“Clarissa has chosen the life she leads when she married Richard instead of Peter, and she does not repudiate that life. She seems to herself to depend upon Richard for her very survival[…] [women like CD their] cultures have denied them an intellectual idom”
Critic
Vereen M Bell
She may not ‘repudiate’ her decisions but she does question them
While these women were limited it feels reductive to imply they lack ‘intellectual idom’ (expression)- we see women expressing themselves still, just in a less traditional, masculine manner
“pictures of perfection, make me sick, and wicked”
Critic
Not idealised portrayals, each heroine is deliberately created as flawed.
Elinor, needs to rebalance noble restraint and self-effacement with fuller, more truthful emotional expression. Marianne’s maturation process/rite of passage involves a more radical shift, as we have seen.
The inner strength of her imperfect heroines, as they correct mistakes and face personal challenges, is central to the reader’s process of identification.
Flawed heroines signal a move away from the 18th and early 19th century’s destructive idealisation of both women’s beauty and moral goodness/formulaic heroines in novels of sentiment towards a new, more realistic and fluid presentation of feminine identity.
Heroines are endearing Mullan (AO5), because they ‘keep getting it very, very wrong’ (Mullan)
We may view Austen’s characterisation of Elinor and Marianne in ‘S&S’ as a direct response to the formulaic heroines of the ‘novel of sentiment’,which Austen later ridiculed in her 1816 sketch: ‘Heroine - perfectly good - no wit - no foibles. Morally impeccable, even if tricked.’ This sketch highlights Austen’s commitment to creating a strong inner life for her heroines: flawed but fluid beings, whostrive continuously to get things right. According to Mullan, Austen positions the reader so that she/he ‘shares’ and ‘owns’ the mistakes her heroines make.
“the label of mother unifies a female population[...] but the label of motherhood “does little other than provide an impossible system of measurement “
Critic
Destiny Cornelison
We are led to be more sympathetic for Mrs Dashwood, who is still in the immediacy of her own grief, and lacks a father figure for her daughters, but we are still meant to feel greater empathy for Eleanor, who is not allowed to feel her own grief, but assume a parental role
though she may have indulged Marianne and neglected Eli she is given opportunities to gain self awareness and redemption, and in crisis we say her good heart conquers her self indulgence “could be calm, could be even prudent when the life of a child was at stake“ (Marie instinctively calls her mother to her sickbed )
We see this in the interactions between mothers in MD, SS + CD being united in spite of their maternal positions
‘Identity is first formed in the home. How a child is defined by the parents, […] and how a child sees himself or herself in relation to his or her siblings all work together to form a self-concept […] ‘This competition [for attention] may be encouraged, albeit unconsciously, by the parents, for in Austen’s novels many do play favorites. ”
Critic
Stephanie M. Eddleman
Eddleman claims these attitudes push siblings into stifling roles
According to sociologists Bank and Kahn, “there is only one person who can occupy a certain psychological space in a family at any one time.”
Each child is encouraged to occupy a different role in the household (sensitive v rational)- this psychoanalytical lens can clarify how the women fall into rigid characterisation and the misconceptions over who is capable of authentic and passionate feeling
The families in JA are viewed as “Darwinian micro environments” CN in which siblings compete for attention (that will help them have a successful life arguably giving them favourable marriages, although this isn’t always the case, feed excessive pride)
Parents play clear favourites, most are drawn to children who exhibit valued traits, especially beautiful
BUT the sensibility promoted by Mrs Dashwood is a key part of all her daughters identities, and though she does devote more intention to mari this is not based on her slightly superior beauty but on their shared romantic sensibility (though her radiant beauty is linked to her self image as a sentimental heroine)
“Austen makes clear that the old patriarchy cannot be replaced by a matriarchy’ since’ Mrs. Dashwood seems less like Elinor’s mother than like a younger sister.’
Critic
Nazaar
“[Mrs Dashwood] now found that she had erred in relying on Elinor’s representation of herself; and justly concluded that [Elinor’s pain] had been expressly softened at the time, to spare her from an increase of unhappiness” “was shocked to perceive by Elinor’s countenance how much she really suffered, and in a moment afterwards, alike distressed by Marianne’s situation, knew not on which child to bestow her principal attention”
Austen critiques (and in PP) mothers who lack insight and self restraint, forcing their sensible daughters into a parental role
She also examines mothers who are excessively indulgent and we see how motherhood, due to its elevated significance, is a means of manipulation
“Kindliness [was] sacrificed for toughness, imagination for firmness”
Critic
Bertrand Russel
This plays into “Muscular christianity”- an English philosophical movement that was characterised by moral and physical athleticism, compassion, patriotic duty and self-sacrifice
That gave way to secular and aggressive ideas of ‘stoic endurance, forbearance of pain, suppression of sentiment’ (Roper), there was a shift, with the decline of religion, towards emotional restraint with less significance on spiritual goodness
In an era of international commercial competition, imperial dominance, and military threat
Public schools educated them in ‘manly independence’, removed from domestic comforts and placed in Spartan settings to toughen them, and were prepared in militaristic institutions such as boy scouts
imagination and kindliness relegated as weak and feminine
masculinity is ‘body and soul, outward appearance and inward virtue were supposed to form one harmonious whole’
Critic
Mosse
In the late Victorian period it was the appearance of a singular, ‘hegemonic masculinity’, that was valued (complete balance)
HOWEVER the external (physical appearance and performance) were how internal qualities were judged, the focus was on the external qualities (nervous complaints were treated by physical exercise -Michel Cohen ‘bodily exertion was the means to a sound mind’), and war was the ultimate test of masculinity
(although, when Freud gained national popularity (infiltrated through magazine not more intellectual spheres) mid 1920s there was a shift to focus on the internal, though his core teachings on sexual repression being overlooked, shellshock was attributed rather to clash between instinct to preserve live and social/military duty)
Freud’s influence is incredibly notable as manliness was viewed as perfectible, but Freuds teachings that personality was impacted by early influences and sexual repressions leading to an unstable and ununified individual
Post war memoirs and lit focused on the diversity and complexity of emotional reactions to war > masculine subjectivityMosse
Moral reeducation aimed to “make clear to her how she is to regain and preserve dominance over her emotions” and patients promised to fight “every desire to cry, or twitch or grow excited”
Critic
Mitchell
Women were considered too emotionally expressive and this was believed to weaken their physical endurance, thus they were encouraged to partake in STOICISM
The self sacrificing maternal role was considered a factor in the disorders and they were encouraged to suppress those instincts
The women were also encouraged not to share emotions for fear of boring, worsening the disorders, or indulging emotional excess in a self absorbed manner
Believed women’s behaviour should conform more with masc values, rational ordered
“the central unit of British society was the family. It’s important as the foundation of all social life and order cannot be overstated“
Critic
Frank O’Gorman
The mother (biological or substitute) is given the main responsibility for organising the household and children, he highlights the irony of doing this as men “assume [women] to be in of inferior, intellectual ability… Inferior, moral strength” as seen in the femme
Destiny Cornelison builds on this to suggest mothers was set up to fail, as they could not live up to the expectations of perfection for mothers in the 19th century > very few maternal figures in Austin novels, managed to balance financial practicality, moral education, and emotional support.
“by emphasising the heroes marital status in her title, Woolf draws attention to the way MD is an ordinary woman of her time, defined in terms of her husband, her identity submerged in his, even her first name erased by her social signature
Critic
Elaine Showalter
marriage is “represented by Austin is compatible with a widening of the sphere of influence be on the home”
Critic
Nazaar
as seen in the treatment of marital relations, Marianne, with Colonel Brandon is “she becomes not only “a wife “and the mistress of a family But also “the patron of a village“ this more public role for her would appear to be a token of her great immaturity
In her illness she declared “I shall now live solely for my family““- her future is one far beyond that which is only facilitated by the support she received in the domestic sphere
Magee acknowledges that some modern readers are disappointed in the way the older, stable (and some feel, dull) Colonel Brandon is given the young, beautiful Marianne in marriage as a ‘reward for all’ - a gift to repay all ‘his sorrows and their obligations’ ΒUT Austen presents the marriage of Marianne to Brandon in a predominantly positive light.
(CD ‘Because it was silly to have reasons for doing things. Much rather, would she have been one of those people like Richard, who did things for themselves’
This is an interesting comparison as Richard works as a politician, does she underestimate him– reflecting how your mind is a prison, as you cannot access another perspective– or is this a critique on the Conservatives?
It is socially ingrained in Clarissa to feel as a product of someone’s gaze.
Clarissa is aware of the social response to how she behaves, this image consciousness is ingrained in women who are valued for their appearance.
AN
‘Suddenly Elizabeth stepped forward and most competently boarded the omnibus, in front of everybody. She took a seat on top. The impetuous creature—a pirate’
‘And now it was like riding [...] the beautiful body in the fawn-coloured coat responded freely like a rider, like the figure-head of a ship [...] having no eyes to meet, gazed ahead, blank, bright, with the staring incredible innocence of sculpture.’
Her actions inherently suggest political defiance – as she is acting transgressive for a woman, so her actions appear intentional and exciting.
The bus is compared to a “pirate“/ship, reflecting its ability to facilitate Elizabeth’s adventures
Candis E Bond suggests Liz has greater agency “ While Clarissa rides with Peter companionably,’ Liz is in ‘an active political defiance”
The sentence reflects how men reduce her in their mind – she begins as an active figure, but throughout the sentence turns passive and objectified.
“Fawn-coloured coat“ reflects the pervasiveness of this comparison – she still retains identifiers that signal vulnerability – and alternate perception of this could be her wearing the perceptions intentionally, however, Elizabeth does not have the agency to do this, and to reclaim these ideas.
There is a dissociative quality to the description of ‘the body’ – links to “the body she wore”
The “figurehead” is a being who is traditionally feminine, who lacks agency.
No one engages inwardly with her
“I did myself, the honour… Find yourselves and Mrs Jennings… My card was not lost I hope.”
“I had the pleasure of receiving the information of your arrival in town”
Willoughby
There is bathos in his politeness, which is meaningless.
He refuses to address the letters, instead, reducing them to mere information, ignoring their personal elements.
He uses formulaic conventional language and phrasing in order to shift from the questions, and to appear polite as he is in a social setting. His reference to Mrs Jennings plays against Elinor’s early critique of him as being overly and inappropriately focused on Marianne
He replaces the letters she asks about with cards. He ignores the question, and suggests that the letters were merely information when they were deeply personal.
She is revealed that he lacks integrity with his external actions Going against and not reflecting his internal motivation is contrasting with Marianne, who is incapable of suppressing either
Sensibility resulting from Tony Tanners, ascribed internal instability clashes with the rigidity of societal expectations, and results in public, humiliation and miscommunication
The politeness and directness of Will’s letters despite its insincerity contrasts with Mari’s passionate sincerity despite its transgressiveness reveals Will’s lack of integrity and compellingly presents issues of communication
Will Mari Social decorum
(Eli) his influence over her mind was heightened by circumstances which ought not in reason to have weight; - by that person of uncommon attraction, that open, affectionate and lively manner, which it was no merit to possess.’
She acknowledges her pity for him
Even wise Elinor, knowing all she knows about Will’s actions, admits after their final meeting that Willoughby’s charisma/external charm weaves a spell over anyone he talks to.
Shows the power of Beauty and charm however in Elinor/Austen’s eyes it has no merit - we're in danger of responding unthinkingly being too influenced by values of sensibility, rather than guided by our sense/reason.
This idea is explored with astute Elizabeth Bennet falling victim to the allure of male beauty (believes Wickam’s(dishonest) testimony only because she considers Wickham the more attractive of the two.)
Claudia L Johnson “‘Romanticism was a widespread movement [...] which valued the concepts of emotion, individualism and freedom. [...] In the ‘sentimental novel’ of this period, sensibility was the quality most admired in literary heroes and heroines.’
Critic
These heroines were typically romantic, innocent young girls
Austen's witty novel takes this sensitive heroine-figure and displaces her – instead of being in a novel that glorifies emotion and sentimentality, Marianne is stuck in the real world, a place of money, practical marriages, and common sense.
Her decision to marry Colonel Brandon is the ultimate practical step in her life
Jane Austen put quite as much of herself into Marianne as into Elinor- the divided self
Critic
Tony Tanner
Though Eli’s perspective is prioritised as hailed more consistently, both undergo development, and Mari connects to autobiographical details- Marianne's favourite author's align with Austen's
marriage was a ‘gift exchange between men’ with female beauty being ‘the most valuable commodity’
Critic
Gayle Rubin
Encourages rivalry and competitiveness between women (like competing businesses)
Men fear Mari will lose her beauty ‘the bloom of youth’
“Austen’s central concern with independent judgment … present us with a rapidly changing social order in which the young women of the gentry acquire unprecedented responsibilities.” “the Dashwood sisters must begin to worry not only about money but also about their non-pecuniary interests, since there are no patriarchal figures”
Critic
Hina Nazar
Eli is already skilled in independent judgement, whereas Mari is too easily influenced by both her novels of sentiment and those who fit those values (Mari must evolve to be more like her sister to be better suited for the larger world)
Although JA does emphasise the significance of individuality, she is not against conformity (and Mari is rewarded for ditching her unconventional desires and tendencies by marrying a socially acceptable fellow),
society cannot be trusted to protect them either. Tony tanner has argued that the tension between the rigidity of societal expectations and the instability of individuality is the novels central question.
Many JA novels struggle with the question of adhering to Social decorum (as done by CD)
Dashwoods gain unprecedented worries (eg financial) in the absence of a patriarch, as due to the changing social fabric chivalry is less prévenant, meaning men can no longer be relied on for protection and to replace unfit patriarchs, meaning the law should change to protect women by affording them the agency to protect themself
“John Dashwood, exemplifies the new economic man and is unwilling to assume the traditional role of the male guardian”
Critic
Hina Nazar
“not only deaf to the call of kinship … also dismissive of the old norms of chivalry,”
Patriarchs in JA are either dead, leaving the children to women, or otherwise unfit
Facilitate her critique of Regency’s confidence in male chivalry to protect women which have led them not to implement safety features to provide safety for the women
claimed motherhood is more than a job as ‘holidays are not feasible’, family must be viewed as ‘an extension of her personality’ and said ‘the education we give the girl is for herself alone, for her own edification, her own amusement’ AND THIS SILLINESS MUST STOP
Critic
Times educational supplement
‘modern education […] neither fitted [helping] girls to become the helpmeet of the working man nor for an independent economic and social responsibility’
Critic
Catherine Webb wrote in 1906 Uni Review
There were questions on the effectiveness of ‘domestic education of girls remaining at elementary’ ‘would not such a tuition be forgotten’ ‘was the training a smokescreen for the production of young domestic servants? The Board of education expressly denied this’
‘She inclined to be passive.[...] for she never seemed excited, she looked almost beautiful, very stately, very serene. What could she be thinking? Every man fell in love with her, and she was really awfully bored.’
Her impassivity allows for men to project onto her – from a distance, she appears powerful and alluring
There is an emotional distance between her and her mother – this contrasts with the Dashwood, who are united by their similarities and experiences – however, Elizabeth is able to leave “the drawing room“ so these bonds are less necessary
‘People must notice; people must see[…] She looked at the crowd. Help, help! She wanted to cry out[…]But failure one conceals’
(Rez)
She focused on external perceptions, as her position and identity as a wife is tied to him.
She expresses shame, feelings she has failed in her duties as a wife.
Due to his illness, Lucrezia must manage and take care of Septimus, pushing her into the role of a mother, or a nurse, which is a role reversal.
'How she had gone through life on the few twigs, of knowledge… she knew nothing; no language, no history’
Clarissa
She lacks substantial education, suggested by the reference to twigs, which have fallen from a larger entity – this reflects women’s subsidiary position, and reliance on men to gain scraps of information, though they may have a more holistic view
(Rez) ‘Tomorrow was nobody. Her words faded. So a rocket fades. It’s sparks, having grazed their way into the night’
Her words are compared to sparks that fade, though unsuccessful, and unacknowledged, the very act of attempting creation and expression is viewed as impactful, and as beautiful as the sparks.
She exists in the darkness of individual thought, unexpressed, and unnoted
‘but that fibre which was the ramrod of her soul, that essential part of her without which Millicent Bruton would not have been Millicent Bruton; that project for emigrating’
Bruton
Her deepest self (that which is meant to be sacred and abstract) is consumed by her work which feels trivial comparatively (the sentence crescendo builds to this affect of bathos)
This passion feels like the impact of her femininity on this masculine topic
Feels like an avenue to express her inner self- Clarissa’s party on a larger, political, scale
(RD places less significance on it They had been writing a letter to the Times for Millicent Bruton. That was about all Hugh was fit for.)
PW following woman ‘The very woman he had always had in mind; young, but stately; merry, but discreet; black, but enchanting’
‘She was not worldly, like Clarissa; not rich, like Clarissa.‘
‘he was an adventurer, reckless, he thought, swift, daring, indeed (landed as he was last night from India) a romantic buccaneer’
Tricolon of contradictions- the fictive idealised woman impossibly embodies ideal states
The feminine ideal is a male authored fantasty (pygmalion)
He places himself egocentrically at the centre of her world and suggests a shared intimacy between them, believing she's ‘whispered through hollowed hands his name’
The adjectives do not serve her but him
These traits are both socially acceptable and attractive
To maintain the illusion he must do no more than creepily follow her and never talk (flâneur>projection)
Peter’s desperation to find an ideal woman is conveyed by his willingness to observe a passerby claiming that she has these qualities even though there is no evidence.
‘she’s young’ which ties into the societal pressure for a wife to be young CN .adventurer- he seems to associate marriage with aging, conforming to traditional convention, and limiting his youthful freedom.
She is not a threat like CD with her successful life and personality nor to his personal self as he has no substantial attachment to the woman
She is not obtrusive enough to make him feel inferior
This woman would possess admirable qualities but not to the excess (balance he desires emphasises the impossibility of the male standard eg Imagines her as entertaining but not loud)
Describes himself in an exaggeratedly heroic way, he see himself going against convention (which Richard exemplifies) (formal socialising, the hobbies and the domesticity)
PW following woman ‘”You," she said, only "you," saying it with her white gloves and her shoulders. Then the thin long cloak which the wind stirred as she walked past Dent's shop in Cockspur Street blew out with an enveloping kindness, a mournful tenderness’
Peter enjoys projecting his desires onto her (her gestures+clothing)
Female speech subsumed to the language of gesture- the unspoken is all he needs (finds speech encoded in her appearance, can fill in the gaps of what he WANTS her to say, she remains a silent entity to reflect the male psyche back, either flattering or condemnation (TS Elliott))
He parrallels being singled out (sexual man) but we also see, through the warmth he envisions a maternal longing (extension of Peter Pan complex and Madonna whore dichotomy)
‘The very woman he had always had in mind; young, but stately; merry, but discreet; black, but enchanting’
‘”You," she said, only "you," saying it with her white gloves and her shoulders. ‘
‘This escapade with the girl, made up, as one makes up the better part of life’
Visually and conceptually our self views are inaccurate and filtered through our lived experiences
We are not immune to outside influences
Woolf explores how identity is constructed (a modernist preoccupation)
Peter stalking girl
Tricolon of contradictions- the fictive idealised woman impossibly embodies ideal states
The feminine ideal is a male authored fantasty (pygmalion)
He places himself egocentrically at the centre of her world and suggests a shared intimacy between them, believing she's ‘whispered through hollowed hands his name’
The adjectives do not serve her but him
These traits are both socially acceptable and attractive
To maintain the illusion he must do no more than creepily follow her and never talk (flâneur>projection)
ties into the societal pressure for a wife to be young
Peter enjoys projecting his desires onto her (her gestures+clothing)
Female speech subsumed to the language of gesture- the unspoken is all he needs (finds speech encoded in her appearance, can fill in the gaps of what he WANTS her to say, she remains a silent entity to reflect the male psyche back, either flattering or condemnation (TS Elliott))
He parrallels being singled out (sexual man) but we also see, through the warmth he envisions a maternal longing (extension of Peter Pan complex and Madonna whore dichotomy)
Visually and conceptually our self views are inaccurate and filtered through our lived experiences
We are not immune to outside influences
Woolf explores how identity is constructed (a modernist preoccupation)
‘After a morning's battle beginning, [...] she used to feel the futility of her own womanhood as she felt it on no other occasion, and would turn gratefully to the thought of Hugh Whitbread who possessed—no one could doubt it—the art of writing letters to the Times.’
Bruton
Hugh, being a simple inoffensive conventional man, is the ideal diplomat
The letter is a bridge between the domestic and public- a statement of her political intentions declared from her jhome
She is moving beyond subtle influences, and the significance of this issue to her (the essential part of her) makes it like an expression of her truest self- hence her nervousness
She views her femininity as a hindernace to her advancement, cannot engage in the masculine sphere as fluidly
Modernists often question if there is a way to write femininely, but Woolf seems to suggest, through Bruton’s need for male assistance, that the lexicon of the public sphere is inherently masculine (perhaps due to their holistic education)
There is a sense of masculine domination in the passage over her opinions, reducing them and making them palatable
(CD) ‘this body she wore[…] She had the odd sense of being herself, invisible and unknown; there, being no more marrying, no more, having of children now, but only this’ ‘not even Clarissa anymore; this being Mrs Richard Dalloway’
‘she had just broken into her fifty-second year’
Clarissa
Her own body feels ill fitting. She has greater control over how she dresses, and how she appears
She feels as though her body and self are disconnected the society has them intrinsically linked
This feeling of invisibility contrasts with Septimus, who feels scrutinised in the situation.
Her loss of identity and purpose links to how she resents men for squandering their own opportunities.
The focus on her loss of identity that occurs with marriage and motherhood reveals the sense of obsolescence. Now that she has performed her role which was always limited to her youth inherently.
She has internalised societies idea of her own worthlessness.
Elaine Showalter “Clarissa… She has internalised the medical attitudes which saw the change of life as a hopeless process of decline.
‘Narrower and narrower would her bed be. The candle was half burnt’
Clarissa
Claustrophobic image of a life growing increasingly constricted
Duality of comfort and confining (swaddled)
Memento Mori
‘“A woman of seven-and-twenty,”, said Marianne “[…] can never hope to feel or inspire affection again”’
Arbitrarily assigns an age where it is impossible to inspire attraction
She looks at women through the ‘male lens’ and plays into Bergers idea of women being the observed ‘earliest childhood […] has been taught and persuaded to survey herself continually’
BUT According to Pam Morris what lies underneath Marianne’s preference for Willoughby is a narcissistic assumption that a young man's propensity to agree with all her opinions, and imitate her own tastes is what makes him most attractive and marriageable-‘narcissistic subjectivism’ (young are susceptible).
Austen attempts to correct this
Marianne’s journey involves a complete reassessment of her values, before she is able to ‘see’ Willoughby and Brandon correctly.
She initially considers Brandon - a man of thirty-five, of rather dull and dreary appearance to be ‘an old bachelor’, wholly unsuitable for marriage +praised Willoughby based on a rather superficial, naive appreciation of his aesthetic attractiveness, youth and charisma.
To the more mature, discerning female mind, Austen suggests, the most attractive qualities in a man - core values which make him truly ‘marriageable’ - should be kindness, integrity and loyalty.
There is room within a good marriage for superficial differences of taste and outlook - as we find between Marianne and Brandon - but core values such as kindness and integrity must be shared.
Revelation of Brandon’s colourful past reveal that, in his youth, Brandon in fact manifested many of the qualities of an attractive romantic hero, which Marianne so deeply admires in the romantic fiction she reads, and so foolishly projects onto Will
‘she has never seen the sense of cutting people up, as Clarissa Dalloway did[…] not at any rate when one was 62’ ‘had the reputation of being more interested in politics than people; of talking like a man’
Bruton
She implicitly attributes Clarissa’s expressions of creativity to the work of a younger woman- she views it as a purposeful pursuit when in the search for a husband
She too reduces her artistry to something less sophisticated (cutting up seems arbitrary, a childish image, as though led by arbitrary curiosity)
Bruton engages in the social to push her political agenda, whereas Clarissa does the inners, they are foils for each other, navigating the upper class sphere in contrasting manners to emphasise the diversity of female experiance
‘She's grown older, he thought, sitting down. I shan't tell her anything about it, he thought, for she's grown older.’
Peter comments on the extent to which Clarissa has changed through ageing, contrasting this with Clarissa's emphasis on how little he has changed
The repetition of ‘grown older’ (framing his thoughts- epanadiplosis) emphasises his difficulty overcoming this observation
This contrasts with Mrs Dalloway’s response to Peter’s ageing process: ‘Exactly the same, thought Clarissa; the same queer look; the same check suit; a little out of the straight, his face is a little thinner, dryer, perhaps, but he looks awfully well, and just the same.’
(By repeating the adjectival phrase ‘the same’) Woolf emphasises a perceived continuity and stability in male identity despite the ageing process as women are willing to look past their physicality to their essence, whereas men disregard the inner life of women wishing for physical consistency
Woolf emphasises a perceived continuity and stability inmale identity despite the ageing proces!
This fascination with youth is notable for Peter- a man who denies his age, both literally insisting ‘no! no!’ ‘I am not old’ and performing a youthful role as an unattached
This attitude is echoed in the narrative if S+S, though Mari may initially view brandon as an ‘old bachelor’ and expresses disinterest, this attitude is corrected by the narrative, this reflects the convention in austen’s time
‘She was like a bird sheltering under the thin hollow of a leaf,[...]She was exposed… and why should she suffer? Why?’
(and contrasting Sept quote)
Rez
Bird symbolism is stripped of trad connotations of freedom- women frequently compared (MD has a touch of the bird about her, she is beaked) women capacity for freedom unacheavable
Woolf foregrounds her vulnerability with this simile as a result of the failure of both men in her life and the institutions that are intended to protect her
Mirrors the beginning of S+S where men abnegate their roles as protectors
Sept ‘She was a flowering tree; and through her branches looked out the face of a lawgiver’
He used her as a beautiful feature of nature, who is currently coming into Bloom.
This is a grounded image of strength, contrasting with a comparison of women to often immature parts of nature – here she is developed, and this does not undermine her beauty
He views her as a source of protection, recalling back to her desire for the same expressed in the image of her as a bird under a leaf
‘At her time of life, anything of an illness destroys the bloom forever!'
John Dashwood’s concern reveals his/society’s confinement of women’s identity within rigid expectations of physical perfection, youth and innocence.
John’s insensitive comments + callous objectification of Mari reveal his self-interest
He treats her beauty as a commodity, displaying no authentic concern for her traumatic experience of heartbreak and illness.
‘bloom’ reveals a fascination with underdeveloped, immature women, supporting a paternalistic relationship between the sexes- image is used by Austen to indicate male fear that a woman’s commercial value is threatened by illness
We may also interpret illness in Austen as a metaphor for life’s scarring (educational experiences - through which we learn and develop) > John (dominant social view) wishes to preserve a young woman’s unspoilt perfection, since illness, and neg experience, can age a young woman prematurely (spoil her market value).
Austen makes it clear that it is through experiences that her heroines are able to grow and progress. > Marianne views her illness as an opportunity: ‘My illness has made me think- it has given me leisure and calmness for serious recollection’
Behind John Dashwood’s financially-motivated desire to keep Marianne unspoilt, we infer a desire to freeze the female in a state of “perfect” immaturity, innocence and inexperience; there is no interest, here, in the concept of a woman’s fluid, evolving personality.
LINKS TO Woolf’s use of nature imagery for Liz Both texts use imagery of young or even partly-developed natural forms to define a woman’s state of physical and psychological perfection.
Her beauty survives, though the sickness does change her. (Contrast with Mrs Dalloway’s illness)
“she becomes not only “a wife “and the mistress of a family But also “the patron of a village“
Critic
this more public role for her would appear to be a token of her great immaturity
Nazaar marriage is “represented by Austen is compatible with a widening of the sphere of influence be on the home”
In her illness she declared “I shall now live solely for my family““- her future is one far beyond that which is only facilitated by the support she received in the domestic sphere
Magee acknowledges that some modern readers are disappointed in the way the older, stable (and some feel, dull) Colonel Brandon is given the young, beautiful Marianne in marriage as a ‘reward for all’ - a gift to repay all ‘his sorrows and their obligations’ ΒUT Austen presents the marriage of Marianne to Brandon in a predominantly positive light.
“I question whether Marianne NOW, will marry a man worth more than five or six hundred a-year, at the utmost, and I am very much deceived if YOU do not do better.”
John Dashwood
His obsession with money and overlooking of his sister’s complexities is presented satirically
Austen foreground this perspective on Marianne’s beauty, in his speech to Elinor to expose it through savage irony
‘Do better’ he defines female success by the financial position of husbands who they acquire as a result of beauty (they dont have the agency to be successful of their own fruition > MD obsession with motherhood)
William Magee marriage was ‘virtually the only career open to women’ in Austen’s day > encouraged competition
John reduces Marianne’s whole identity as a woman to the question of how the family will recover from a potential financial loss, should her sickness scar her and make her less marriageable.
His shallowness is clear in his attempt to transfer Marianne’s marriage prospect - Colonel Brandon - onto Elinor (he doesn’t recognise the intricacies of compatibility)
The physical degeneration of the injured heroine is profoundly wished (not regretted) as by dying, ‘the heroine does not defy social codes governing the conduct of good girls, as conservative moralists of that time would have it; rather, those codes themselves insist upon and anxiously collude in an enfeeblement that leads to her decease.’ (Argued by Johnson)
Behind John Dashwood’s financially-motivated desire to keep Marianne unspoilt, we may infer a desire to freeze the female in a state of “perfect”
BUT at this point in the narrative, John & family don’t actually fear Marianne is dyingwould
"Happy had it been if she had not lived to overcome those regrets which the remembrance of me occasioned”
To Brandon, Eliza's troubles begin with her failure to die in a timely manner.
Her resilience to her romantic attachment and her refusal to die prevent her from being a traditional heroine- instead forming adulterous attachments and is finally left to degenerate into a poverty, sin and putrescence so
Brandon would have preferred death had placed her far outside of the reach of all men
The Eliza’s stories are taken over by men post relationship destruction BY MEN , completely stripped of agency
she looked pale, mysterious, like a lily, drowned, under water
Sept uses floral imagery to romanticise Rez’s signs of suffering
‘Drowned’ suggests a latent awareness of her pains
The pleasing aesthetic impression of Rez is foregrounded
Later Sally will compare Liz to a lily and it will continue to be used to overlook the depths of women in favour of their beauty
Fallen woman
‘Lady Bruton replied. "He helped me to write a letter.”
(Lady Bruton detested illness in the wives of politicians.)
[...] she could never think of anything to say to Clarissa [...] It might have been better if Richard had married a woman with less charm’
Lady Bruton throws herself into a male sphere attempting to do it on their terms – Clarissa, by contrast includes herself in the male social realm on her own terms, organising events where she dominates.
Her view on illness linked to her comments traditional femininity as a weakness – her comment suggests her aversion to marriage as a risk of inhibiting their husband – reflecting a view of women, not as individuals nearly as burdens, suggesting some internalised misogyny that she possesses not being able to recognise women’s individuality and prioritising the husband above them.
Like sir Bradshaw‘s wife was meant to help by being subdued into her husband as there was an expectation for wives to be extensions of their partners and only exist to assist them as opposed to having independent endeavours.
The mode of artistic expression is presented the detrimental to this and Richard‘s career, as not expected to have their own duties and devices
"What I felt [...]and dying too, believing me the greatest villain upon earth, scorning, hating me in her latest moments" when leaving "I had seen Marianne's sweet face as white as death [...] it was a kind of comfort to me to imagine that I knew exactly how she would appear"
Willoughby
He envisions himself as being integral to her thoughts on her death bed- an excuse for him centring her illness around him
Willoughby seems to fantasize about her death caused by his absence
The death of Marianne would have preserved her as Willoughby’s ‘sentimental dominion’ Claudia Johnson
Willoughby and Branden witness female suffering as spectators, and frequently widen this out to a larger communal audience through their constant retelling of these women’s sad stores, but certainly in Willoughby’s case, no moral lesson is learned (misusing Eliza and Mari)
Both women used by Willoughby survive- though we never see Eliza second
‘Clarissa used to think, to end in some awful tragedy; her death; her martyrdom; instead of which she had married!’
+DQ
Clarissa‘s view links to the idea of the fallen woman, expecting Sally should be a cautionary tale With death as the expected natural response to her nature and individualism – links to Marianne.
She has changed ‘It was Sally Seton! Sally Seton! after all these years! She loomed through a mist.’ mist suggests her to be insubstantial and progressed from the ‘warmth’ she once was noted mainly for
(CD) “for in marriage, a little license, a little independence that must be between people living together day in day out…(where was he this morning? Some committee, she never asked what.) but with Peter everything has to be shared; everything is gone into“.
She uses subdued language when referring to her husband.
She views marriage as an amenable alliance, rather than a state of deep, emotional connection, she first mentioned her husband only as a comparison for Peter to suggest the lack of intimacy in their relationship.
This ambivalence to their relationship contrasts with Richard’s desire for intimacy and the passion and closeness that defined her relationship with Peter
Μari “go to him, Eleanor[...]And force him to come to me. Tell him I must see him again-must speak to him instantly” Eli “this is not the place for explanations” “Good God!” “ Have you not received my letters? Will you not shake hands with me?”
The modal verbs of necessity, and the imperatives create an aggressive sense of her attempt to impose her vision of life upon reality- narcissistic subjectivim
The broken syntax highlights her distress and unravelling mind – has sensibility resulting from her internal instability clashes with the rigid, societal expectations, and results in public humiliation and miscommunication – Tony Tanner.
Eli, uses her awareness of societal norms to protect her sister from them and the judgement of others- it is clear here though they are stifling they do have a function
Marianne doesn’t allow him to answer as she wants to impose her romantic sense of reality on to the situation, as opposed to adjusting to the true reality ‘narcisstic subjectivism
She utilises revelatory dialogue, requesting inappropriately to clarify their relationship, and using many exclamatory, questions, and demands to emphasise her lack of control and desperation.
She questions him directly > inappropriate, lacks social decorem
Again, we see a kind of odd disconnect between modes of conversation, even when two people are standing face to face.
Willoughby is playing the stiff upper lip society guy, while Marianne, unable to pretend, speaks directly – a rare occurrence in any of the conversations we've seen.
Claudia L Johnson “‘Romanticism was a widespread movement [...] which valued the concepts of emotion, individualism and freedom
(CD) ‘Sally stopped; picked a flower; kissed her on the lips. The whole world might have turned upside down! … ‘The religious feeling! – When old Joseph and Peter faced them […] It was like running one’s face against a granite wall in the darkness… She made old Joseph tell her the names of the stars’
There is a suggestion in the reference to the flower that something has been taken from her
The reference to the present reflects the unfulfilled and unfulfillable nature of this experience.
The tricolon reflects the casualness, with which Sally did this, contrasted with the intensely religious language that follows
The biblical names of Joseph and Peter represents the patriarchy interacting such a pagan religious experience.
Move surrounds this climactic moment with bathetic relief with the intruding male presence.
The recitation of star names shows a contrast between a male and feminine view of nature, the masculine need to label and categorise after a moment of such profound connection – the dull nature of this is emphasised by the anaphoric tricolon
Does Sally represent her desired possibilities outside of being the perfect hostess, I desire for the unconventional? Is it a desire for knowledge and experience? She is outspoken, impulsive and uncouth, she’s lived intensely.
Suzan Harrison ‘this attraction calls forth an opening up, blossoming of the imagination and sparks a new creativity’ ‘Sally’s kiss destabilises the triangular romantic plot between Clarissa, RD, and Peter Walsh’
There is a contrast between the security and stability of Richard and the excitement for open and emotional expression
Lesbianism disrupts the tradition archetype of the heterosexual love triangle
“but you – you above all, above mother, had been wronged by me”
+ CD quote
Mari
After her transformative illness, Marianne recognises that she is in debt to her sister more than her mother
This strength of feeling contrasts with the apathy+distance that persists throughout CD’s familial attachments
[Liz x MK] it proves she has a heart.’
There is an emotional distance between her and her mother – this contrasts with the Dashwood, who are united by their similarities and experiences – however, Elizabeth is able to leave “the drawing room“ so these bonds are less necessary
‘(But he could not tell her he loved her. He held her hand. Happiness is this, he thought.)’ ‘She understood; she understood without his speaking; his Clarissa’’
Richard
The short phrases reflect a simple bliss within him
His happiness is rather domestic and achievable whereas PW is never satisfied due to his specific expectations
For him understanding superseeds communication
There is a lack of intensity in her response juxtaposing the sincerity he is displaying, reflecting an incompatible understanding
‘ It was not like ones feelings for a man. It was completely disinterested… They spoke of marriage, always as a catastrophe… “She is beneath this roof… She is beneath this roof!”’
Clarissa Her interest is intense and uncorrupted, as there is no possibility for a future and as it is unprecedented, it is not contained within the practicalities of societal expectations
The tone of wonder and excitement at proximity to Sally is ironic, the way that they will inevitably be separated by marriage.
Suzan Harrison “'While Clarissa's attraction to Sally is indeed sacrificed for Clarissa's entry into the world of heterosexual marriage, Mrs. Dalloway works to questions the values of the courtship plot”
Woolfs novel does not end with Clarissa's marriage as would be traditional, but opens with it to explore the doubts and questions Clarissa has, at fifty-two, about the wisdom and motives behind her choice
Mrs Jennings “I never saw a young woman so desperately in love” “Marianne, she is quite an altered creature”
Here love is given the power of transformation
Links to the great chain of being (man uses reason to aspire away from animals and towards angels) to suggest Marianne has allowed herself to be led by instinct and has abandoned reason
Rez ’How it rejoiced her that! Not for weeks had they laughed like this together, poking fun privately like married people.!’ ‘ Never had she felt so happy! Never in her life!.’
Her great excitement as a small exchange clearly reflects her desperation
The simple sentences reflect the simplicity and domesticity of their interaction – we see that she truly did only desire domestic bliss, or something close to that
Woolf rewards, Rezia and Septimus with a final moment of domestic bliss and proper marriage – this is given a bit of sweet feel
A central means that they might was only one in appearance through the comparison that they are like married people.
She desires this intimacy, which is characterised by being joyful together – not for the view of anyone else, purely privately.
She depends on him for joy, and he inspires the intensity in her that she didn’t cause in him – this is reflected in the anaphoric categorical repeat of never
(Rez) ‘She had a right to his arm, that was without feeling[…] Only 24, without friends in England, who had left Italy for his sake, a piece of bone’
All she can have, and all he is able to give, is an empty gesture– one which once presented intimacy, but here is merely functional.
Marriage is viewed so highly significantly, but she was willing to abandon her entire support system, which are now required, as she is in a relationship with a man already dead, more connected with the dead than the living
She suffers when Sept does due to her dependence on him only exacerbated from her separation from the family unit
In a reversed position Sept would have other outlets and greater support, but his is thought of as a failure of masculinity
‘Fifteen years she had gone under’ [product of Bradshaw’s love of conversion] ‘only the slow sinking, water-logged of her will into his. Sweet was her smile, swift her submission’
Lady Bradshaw
The image of her drowning and being consumed by Bradshaws zeal for proportion is made sinister (unlike romanticised image of Rez as a drowning lily)
The sibilance and balanced syntax aligns the events with each other, suggesting her sweetness facilitated his total domination (femme couvert, historically normal for women to be taken advantage of and conversion to husband is expected)
Women’s youth aligned with nature!
We see the damage caused by Bradshaws masculine obsession with conversion
‘Love and religion! thought Clarissa, going back into the drawing-room, tingling all over. How detestable, how detestable they are! [...] love and religion would destroy that, whatever it was, the privacy of the soul. The odious Kilman would destroy it’
She rejects traditional methods of control (emphasised by epanalepsis)
She believes the self is eroded when overcome by anything whether that be methods of control or traditionally pleasant abstractions- such as love and closeness- an extreme product of the domination of men in marriage, explaining her distance from RD
She believes love reduces you and your autonomy- hence the distance she maintains between her and RD, she doesnt feel the passion that would render one vulnerable
Her perspective contrasts with Rez who retains the privacy of the soul as she is kept at a distance, leading to her feeling incredible pain
Her middle aged perspective as a married woman reveals the reality of love and how built up romance is
‘to carry off Clarissa, to save her from the Hughs and the Dalloways’ as they would ‘stifle her soul’.
Sally claims it was Peters job
She suggests that, due to the intellectual and emotionally profound relationship Peter and Clarissa have, that he will help her grow into a less conventional figure
Shows the remanence of the ‘femme covert’ ideology as even Sally is convinced that Clarissa will be shaped by whoever she marries.
The pluralisation of the names conveys a collective force of “perfect gentlemen”- as though these men are symptoms of a larger outbreak of dull conservative men.
In the 1920s, the sole aim of women like Clarissa was to find a suitable husband that was successful and In line with the standards of British Society. This Is how Clarissa knows she could not have ended up with a man like Peter Walsh who Is not as reputable as her husband has not accomplished much.
Could she not read Shakespeare too?
Rez attempts to relate to her her husband and British values (she equates britishness with Shakespeare)
Women were expected to move towards the man’s interest in order to satiate the marriage though no responsibility falls upon the man (women being subsumed by husbands AN)
CD ‘And there is a dignity in people; a solitude; even between husband and wife a gulf; and that one must respect[...] for one would not part with it oneself [...] without losing one's independence, one's self-respect—something, after all, priceless. He returned with a pillow and a quilt.’
This links to the philosophy she expressed earlier, as well as the rose imagery, a belief in the necessity of separate spheres to maintain their own sense of self.
Richard does not share in this belief, clearly searching for greater connection and understanding between the two, this is partially a product of his capacity to retain his identity and marriage, due to his male, and lack of awareness of the negative impacts of marriage
There is a contrast between her belief in the house, dominance in identity with the reality of Richard, taking on a service role, again showing that this belief is partially irrational and partially based abstractly
“She had only two daughters, both of whom she had lived to see respectably married, and she had now therefore nothing to do but marry all the rest of the world. “
marriage is such a public thing here, that it's seemingly a fairly ordinary pastime.
Mrs. Jennings may be a busybody, but due to the significance marriage holds her involvement is not viewed as extraordinary
marriage isn't just an issue of love or companionship instead, it was more akin to a political, social, and economic alliance between families. When two people decide to get married here, it's not just between the two lovers – it's between them, their parents, their siblings, and their hundred closest friends.
This differs in MD were woolf critiques this mindset- though CD married advantageously she is doubtful in her decision and fairly unfulfilled
He wanted to open the drawing-room door and come in holding out something?a present for Clarissa. Only what?
Richard
He desires to fulfil the traditional role, bringing in something for her as a provider would, but it holds no specific meaning as to what
The gift stands in place of communication – this is something he practices throughout their relationship, early, and he showed his affection for her during an active service, taking a thorn out of her dogs poor
‘“Are you happy, Clarissa? Does Richard-“ The door opened. “Here’s my Elizabeth”’
Peters intense question is cut short but E’s entrance
Reflects how his relationship with her is interrupted
CD may have answered her material reality end this line of enquiry
Possessive pronoun later irritates PW
Suggests that CD views Liz as a marker of her success
We realise CD may feel just as insecure as PW
CD ‘This woman had taken her daughter from her! She in touch with invisible presences! Heavy, ugly, commonplace, without kindness or grace, she know the meaning of life!’
Kilman’s intensity of feeling for God does not align with her physical appearance, and lack of feminine charm – something Clarissa judges harshly.
The social competition is clearly shown to stem from their desire to control Elizabeth – Clarissa fears her daughter is being taken from her, linking to fears around homosexuality and perversion
There is some irony to clear both believe that the other possesses a sense of moral superiority, mainly in opposing spheres
AN
CD ‘"I have five enormous boys," said Sally.
[…] Clarissa loved her for being still like that.’
‘She had done things too’
The abruptness of the statement reflects her excitement, and almost surpasses her person head – this is as motherhood is a pinnacle of women’s achievement, so she grounds it to suggest she has had a successful and productive life.
She differs from the demure archetype, despite conforming to its aims and expectations
Clarissa is not, however, irritated at Sally‘s slight shift towards the conventional, recognising the traits, which possessed in her friend
There’s a sense of defensiveness in the addition – she feels the need to justify her lifestyle and existence
This abruptness of the information reflects the strikingness of the statement – it goes against Peter‘s image of her, and she appears to be parading it very openly and directly in order to show off what she uses as an achievement.
Rezia said, she must have children. They had been married five years’
‘Five years’ suggestion that he has violated the traditional role of the husband and the normative timeline of procreation
Modal verb, desire to fulfill her role despite or because of her current depression
your father “could not have thought of such a thing, as begging you to give away half your fortune from your own child“
Fanny Dashwards characterisation plays on the stereotype of nurturing, self-sacrificing mother
When moving into the house, she colonises the sphere of Mrs Dashwood’s potential independence
She uses her role as co-parent to manipulate and whittle down £1000 to nothing
The ironic exploitation the stereotype of a devoted mother,“our dear little boy,” reveals her casual callousness
Austen’s scheming, competitive women, Fanny and Lucy[EV9] , highlight the challenge of maintaining comradeship with other women when marriages treated as “the most basic form of gift exchange” between men and simultaneously was “virtually the only career open to women“ (William Magee) encouraging female
"Grandeur has but little," said Elinor, "but wealth has much to do with it."
Marianne; "money can only give happiness where there is nothing else to give it. Beyond a competence, it can afford no real satisfaction, as far as mere self is concerned."
+Mrs Dashwood quote
Wealth, we see here, means different things to different people. To Elinor (and Edward), it's simply a certain level of comfort – but to Marianne, there's a base level of luxury that she can't imagine herself living without. Of course, this idea is attuned to what her life with Willoughby would be like
Influenced by an impractical sentimental view that love is all that is necessary
"I should be puzzled to spend a large fortune myself," said Mrs. Dashwood, "if my children were all to be rich without my help." (17.6)
Mrs. Dashwood's vision of wealth, unlike those of Marianne, aren't self-centered – rather, she sees wealth as an asset to the family, and can't imagine what she would spend money on if not her kids.
“the excessive affection and endurance of the Miss Steeles towards her offspring, were viewed therefore by Lady Middleton without the smallest surprise or distrust”
excessive motherly devotion, without common-sense or good judgement can be blinding in the same way, as excessive indulgence of romantic love.
Lady Middleton exposes the dangers of indulgent mothering, she is blinded by her, love, her children, and does not interpret Lucy’s motives accurately
‘Her feelings were strong but she knew how to govern them’
+contrasting mari quote
Elinor’s arc focuses on her capacity to express emotions more openly
She initially embodies self-control, responsibility, and rationality, often suppressing her own feelings for the sake of others in order to maintain dignity and propriety, even in the face of personal turmoil.
However she does possess the same emotional intensity as Mari she just is less expressive (pushing her into a maternal role and contributing to her suffering as she prioritises the emotions of others and selfcontrol)
We see her emotional suppression is a product of her upbringing, being surrounded by unchecked emotions, she slotted into the role of caregiver, and as such is hyperaware of societal rules and the judgments of others- ‘screen’- Eddleman “identity is first formed in the home […] how a child sees themself in relation to their siblings”
Tony Tanner “The fact that Marianne has plenty of sense and Elinor is by no means devoid of sensibility” reflects “nothing comes unmixed, that qualities which may exist in pure isolation as abstractions only occur in people in combination”
She reconciles her private feelings with her public persona, first by admitting her inner pain to Marianne, and then by joyously agreeing to marry Edward
Mary Wollstencraft (1792) believed that men have enslaved women to the aesthetic gratifications of the weak and trembling sensibility and that freedom can only be obtained by the wholesale reflection of sensibility (balanced+logical)
'her sorrows, her joys could have no moderation'
'to say what she did not believe was impossible'- she is driven to physical sickness by her emotions
"Nor I," answered Marianne with energy, "our situations then are alike. We have neither of us anything to tell; you, because you do not communicate, and I, because I conceal nothing."
The difference in Elinor and Marianne couldn't be made more plain – their different tactics on communication are clearly both flawed.
Tanner “Indeed, the drama precipitated by the tensions between the potential stability of the individual and the required stabilities of society is in some ways as much the subject of this novel”- Argues the central conceit isn’t Sense v Sensibility but the stability society desires v the erraticism of the individual (they are more constrained by social etiquette/moves than we)
‘It had been for some time my intention to re-establish my circumstances by marrying a woman of fortune. To attach myself to your sister, therefore, was not a thing to be thought of.’
+Mrs Dash quote
Willoughby confesses to Elinor the extent to which he has been led by mercenary motives:
While modern readers might find this shocking, Austen isn’t suggesting that the hunt for ‘a woman of fortune’ is unusual. In the eyes of many of her male characters (and their financially savvy female relatives) wealth is perceived as equal to, or even more attractive than, aesthetic beauty.
Novelist criticises Willoughby’s values (while the Dashwood sisters are in need of prosperous marriages because they have been made homeless and poor through no fault of their own- primogeniture)
Austen makes it clear that Miss Grey’s money ‘was necessary’ to Willoughby only because he had lived above his means, incurring debt.
Willoughby chooses to reject Marianne, despite his authentic feelings, because her poverty prevents her from being socially attractive / marriageable.
"I should be puzzled to spend a large fortune myself," said Mrs. Dashwood, "if my children were all to be rich without my help." (17.6)
Mrs. Dashwood's vision of wealth, unlike those of Will, aren't self-centered – rather, she sees wealth as an asset to the family, and can't imagine what she would spend money on if not her children.
‘secret standard of perfection in women’.
Willoughby
By marrying Miss Grey, he chooses to publicly (through marriage) “value” the wealthy and beautiful heiress, Miss Grey. Yet he secretly/internally “values” Marianne more highly, for what both he and the reader can clearly see are her superior qualities (inner+aesthetic beauty)
This disjunction between his external/public evaluation of women and his internal/private evaluation of Marianne is the source of Willoughby’s unhappiness > he lacks integrity.
(Mari ultimately ‘found her own happiness’ and is whole with Brandon)
SW ‘Far away he heard her sobbing; he heard her accurately, he noticed it distinctly; he compared it to a piston thumping. But he felt nothing’ ‘mechanically and with complete consciousness of its insincerity, he dropped his head on his hands’
The emotional distance between them is hear made physical
We see the plight of women, distanced frim aid and sympathy
Woolf reminds us that peoples external actions /gestures/signals do not necessarily correlate with their inner experience (post modernist question on sign v signified
possessed a strength of understanding, and coolness of judgement, which qualified her, though only 19, to be the counsellor of her mother
Mrs Dashwood’s maternal shortcomings facilitate Eleanor to develop strong characteristics to compensate (resilient, self-sacrificing, find judgement = good heroine) Eddleman “identity is fist formed in the home'“
Hina Nazaar says Eli’s “independent judgement” is developed in the absence of a patriarchal and matriarchal figure and society [EV8] “Austen’s central concern, with independent judgement is implicit in the opening pages… Which present us with the rapidly changing social order in which the young women of the gentry, acquire, unprecedented responsibilities… Austen makes it clear that the old patriarchy cannot be replaced by matriarchy”
Many psychologists say the successful transition from adolescence to adulthood requires separating intellectual and ideological viewpoints from your parents, Nazaar says this is Eli’s independent judgement is so significant
Professor Mullan says the first section of the novel praises both siblings, but in the middle section, Eli emerges as a primary heroine, and we are increasingly aligned with her perspective, Marianne becomes an alternative heroine who needs to feel socially before she can fulfil her true potential as she lacks Eli’s maturity.
CD ‘these triumphs’ (eg Peter respecting her) ‘had a hollowness’ ‘but they satisfied her no longer as they used’ ‘Kilman her enemy. That was satisfying; that was real.[...] She hated her: she loved her. It was enemies one wanted, not friends’
The differences between wolf and Austin‘s values are clear – Austin being further from women’s emancipation and presenting marriage as a clear reward, unlike wolf who has a more radical structure, beginning with marriage and being cynical of that which is traditionally viewed as bringing fullfullment
There is greater truth and authenticity in negative emotions as opposed to the socialised that she is pressured to perform – the social world is fairly meaningless and is only helpful in terms of requiring social currency.
Kilman performs a crucial role for Clarissa, soliciting intensity in the world, when nothing else really does
‘she waited[...]ichild well-fair; the aftercare of the epileptic and photography[...] she bribed the sexton, got the key and took photographs, which were scarcely to be distinguished from the work of professionals, while she waited’
Lady Bradshaw
In between her waiting, a facet of her role as wife we gain a sense of ehr internal life which, due to her wealth, she can perform semioutwardly
BUT it is all between waiting for her husband, there is a sense of unfulfilled potential
The framing of her activities by ‘waiting’ reflects how her time is spent as an adjunct fir her husband
Photography stands out as her own personal hobby, disconnected from Bradshaw and inspiring great passion, even practising it illicitly
Mayfair […] with a wave of a hand, […] profound illusion in the first place about the food – how it is not paid for; and then the table spreads itself voluntarily.’
‘ripple in the grey tide of service which washed round Lady Bruton day in, day out’
Bruton
Woolf provides a class comentary- the efforts of the lower class must be invisible AN
Hostessing must appear organic- there can be no evidence of effort or cost to allow the hostess to remain powerful, though through Brush it is mad to seem like a strategic feat requiring great expertise
TThe movement of everything around her signals, Bruton domination, and the comparison to organic phenomena enhances this sense of almost divine power.
Bruton ‘she had got them there on false pretences’ ‘better wait until they have had their coffee’
It is necessary for her to lie in order to get cooperation as to be so direct and masculine wouldn’t be socially acceptable
Women must discretely approach these topics and perform certain roles and rituals beforehand
Her influence will often be oblique and undocumented, for example when she advised a man who pushed ‘the British troops to advance upon an historical occasion. (She kept the pen and told the story.)’ she must maintain this physical reminder of her influence
‘ but the door was ajar, and outside the door was Miss Kilman[..] in her mackintosh, listening to whatever they said.’
Clarissa
There is a clear element of threat,
MK looming physically reflects her ominous influence over Elizabeth, as well as her position as outside her class.
Clarissa feels her intensity.
There is a tone of distain in relation to the Macintosh (which became an emblem for MK to CD) – a symbol of lower class, reflecting a lack of interest in fashion, and her difficulty in life, and the Macintosh being used in war, as well as a resistance to frivolity – Mrs Dalloway views, the clothing as a reflection of MK – partially as she uses clothing as a form of expression herself
’ ‘First, it was cheap; second, she was over forty; and did not, after all, dress to please. She was poor, moreover; degradingly poor.[...CD] came from the most worthless of all classes—the rich, with a smattering of culture’
‘However, she was Doris Kilman. She had her degree.’
She lacks the stability, which marriage provides, leading to both financial weakness and bitterness.
She despises those “with a smattering of culture” as they are just culturally aware enough to know better, to weaponise their culture against her, and to share in her education.
She is a reverse snob and the ultimate outsider, being a governor, she straddles to social classes – being educated, and amongst the Rich, but being in Service of them – says are typically from the upper class
She wears her own learning in a manner paralleling the way others were motherhood – women’s identities are so contingent on their achievements, as there is no expectation in anything deeper
‘What she liked was simply life [...] An offering for the sake of offering, perhaps. Anyhow, it was her gift. Nothing else had she of the slightest importance; could not think, write, even play the piano.’
Clarissa
She views her parties as possessing, an almost spiritual significance – “offering“ – reflecting the deep significance for her, and the important theme of creation, whether it go on acknowledged, throughout the novel.
She contrasts with Septimus here, he who has nothing, but his logic and ability to express, but Lacking joy and purpose
Her position as his foil is emphasised in her life, affirming energy versus his melancholy and misguided, volatile energy
She gains joy from interactions, even though they are without a grand of purpose, and she has internalised many judgements made against this, she clings to it, knowing it significance
‘She would think me a failure, which I am in a sense, he thought; in the Dalloway sense[…]the inlaid table, the mounted paper knife[…] Richard’s doing not Clarissa; save that she married him’
Failed to have a successful social role (failed to marry, have children, and have a successful career)
Peter focuses on the acquisition of material possessions as a marker of success
External displays of stability and wealth
Doesn’t blame CD (partially because of his affection for her or a sign of his view that Richard must be the dominant party- femme couvert)
(CD)‘like […] a hyacinth which has had no sun.’
(SS)‘She was like a lily'
‘It was so nice to be out of doors. [...] People were beginning to compare her to poplar trees, early dawn, hyacinths, fawns, running water, and garden lilies; and it made her life a burden to her [...] but they would compare her to lilies, and she had to go to parties, and London was so dreary compared with being alone in the country with her father and the dogs.’
Elizabeth takes after her parents in her interest for the outdoors – Clarissa on her walk, and Richard in his interest – though they may not share, superficial similarities.
There is a sense of freedom and emancipation, which she derives from exploring – an activity which is free from the judgement of her mother, and is inherently transgressive for women.
There is a contrast in her view of her connection to nature with that of men’s
She is connected to fresh, youthful, vulnerable elements of nature, none of which express depth or mutability – they all project their idealised view of women onto her.
She wishes to be active as opposed to merely a being to facilitate men’s fantasies
Both male and female characters describe Elizabeth’s youthful beauty in intrusive and even oppressive ways ('made her life a burden for her')
Classical imagery is indicative of Elizabeth’s traditional beauty and purity.
Her preference for experiencing nature directly, (rather than being compared to it, or, attending social events), suggests a wild disposition and desire for freedom, signalling a shift from the stereotypically material values associated with/ascribed to women and her naivety
Both texts use imagery of young or partly-developed natural forms to define a woman’s state of physical and psychological perfection (bloom)
‘ She introduced him to everybody as Wickham. At last he said "My name is Dalloway!"—[PW views him as]] rather awkward’
Wickham is the young officer who is in pride+predj
Comical for CD to mistaken the name, it parallels the bate and switch Woolf has established- she mistook RD for a dashing but morally compromised figure, which we may assume would be her husband due to her unhappiness, and that she likely anticipated in her era of transgression
Novelistic belief of romance (culture of sensibility) may lead women to believe they will become involved with Wickham’s but, subversively with Richards bathetic undercutting, the reality is revealed
‘ He had a sudden revelation. "She will marry that man," he said to himself.’
‘she would’ve accepted him still’ if he hadn’t pushed her away and believed that Richard ‘deserved to have her’
Peter views this as inevitable
Convention is a powerful force (even Sally succumbs)
He remarks that he was ‘prey to revelations at the time’,
Reflects his view of Clarissa as a conventional woman- her prudish behaviour attributing it to her upbringing and claims she is destined to be ‘the perfect hostess’-
Simple, generous Richard is a foil Peter’s passionate, needy, unreliable nature
His marriage prediction not only reflects his certainty Clarissa will maintain the norm but also a sense of self-sabotage and insecurity.
PW’s self sabotage as a product of his insecurity manifests in an aversion to commitment
‘Deserved to have’ he views marriage not as a fulfilment of love but as an exchange between men CN in which possession of the woman is possible (phrases it as though the competitiotion were between he and richard in which CD must follow a certain outcome)
He removes CD’s agency by placing the emphasis on a battle between men rather than her decision
"eyeing Elinor attentively"
Lucy went on. "I am rather of a jealous temper, too [...]I am sure I could not be deceived."
Lucy Steele clearly knows just what she's up to here, from the way she's "eyeing Elinor attentively" – knowing that Elinor's interested in Edward, her decision to tell her rival of her secret engagement is pointed and intentional.
PW on break up ‘She did not move […]he felt that he was grinding against something physically hard[…]like iron, like flint[…]it seemed, with the tears running down his cheeks-it was as if she had hit him in the face’
Parallels will x mari, but with a reversal of gender roles- the woman here holds the power
Lack of proper closure (unable/unwilling to articulate her reasoning, though we sense she has accepted Richard as a suitable match)
PW presents CD as a physical, unfeeling barrier, unlike the traditional feminine archetype of softness, pliability, and compliance (impact of stoicism), emphasising his value system placing his happiness above hers (she is merely an obstacle for him)
English upper lip in combat with femininity and genuine feeling
“The betrayed heroine also "interests" others as a good story, and the closure offered by her death permits listeners ritualistically to tap sensations of softening pity.
“Because her deterioration is involuntary, she need not fall by her own hand, and we need not worry about the problem of suicide”
Critic
Claudia L Johnson
In S+S The Eliza’s stories are taken over by men post relationship destruction BY MEN , completely stripped of agency
The prospect of Marianne's death elicits more genuine feeling from otherwise narrow or callous people than anything in her life ever did (eg John)
Johnson’s idea that the prospect of the heroine’s death creates a ‘good story’ for others reveals the circularity of the cultural process (from fiction in novel of sentiment to ‘life’ to fiction within the narrative).
Eg The novel of sentiment’s popular motif of the decay and subsequent death of a wronged or fallen woman inspires Marianne to live her life in accordance with this literary model; her ‘real’ life, in turn, becomes a dramatic story to entertain others
Their death being merely instrumental is clear in how, within the tale, they are not the principal character (the Eliza’s are secondary characters in Brandons story)
Eliza’s tale of woe as a fallen woman serves a function as a cautionary tale. Under Brandon’s control, it may be seen as a warning to Marianne, whose similarity to Eliza he emphasises
Willoughby and Branden witness female suffering as spectators, and frequently widen this out to a larger communal audience through their constant retelling of these women’s sad stores, but certainly in Willoughby’s case, no moral lesson is learned (misusing Eliza and Mari)
Jaqueline Green argues Brandon doesnt learn either: his experience with the first Eliza does not prevent him from being a careless gaurdian to the second interpretation (see your article on Fallen Women), Even Colonel Brandon should not
“Unlike Joyce’s characters, CD is not mythologised and the stakes of her day are not compared to a classical epic”
Critic
Elaine Showalter (on Ulysses v MD)
Doesn’t parallel their stories with epics
This is also the case for JA who is not focused on imitating the grandiose traditional forms which are associated mainly with a more masculine portrayal of heroism
Eschew overblown masculine narratives
The focus is on the interior as women are inhibited from acting externally
“Essential motif of the book is the energy between the hours of the day and the female life-cycle – what we would now called a biological clock. Woolf places Mrs Dalloway in the middle.”
“the stream of consciousness reflected her need to go beyond the clumsiness of the factual realism in the novels of her Edwardian precursors”
critic
Elaine Showalter
She views time as a construct
Considered having a Greek chorus speaker intervals to sum everything up but decided to have spaces to mark sections in a manner like chapters (in the Brit edition there are 12 spaces, like the hours of a clock)
