How gender is presented in "Mrs. Dalloway" by Virginia Woolf

In her novels, Virginia Woolf desired the acknowledgement of men and women as equal individuals, having the same but differentiated value (Childers, 1992). Therefore, her novels, in essence, develop the innate quality of the female and its difference with that of the male counterparts. Therefore, glimpses of womanliness in her novels are shown in favor of women and the differing points with the male (Hussey & Neverow, 1994). For example, Mrs. Dalloway was not aware whether her husband was concerned for Albanians or Armenians. Instead, women are viewed as profound creatures whose honesty is derived from an innate knowledge of self as well as their power to differentiate the accidental and the essential parts of life (Rosenman, 1989).

Clarissa has some depths that her friends are yet to imagine. Indeed, her novels are profound and present women in a grand and heroic manner than their male counterparts. Whereas men are occupied with trivial things such as money and power, women are occupied with the creation of order, life and love at all levels of society (Bowlby, 1996). The work of women, though seemingly trivial, is in fact at the heart of the society through the fabric of love. Women’s aim, therefore, is presented as that of fostering love and people connections between individuals in society and as promoters of love and friendship rather than endless waste in making monuments of self (Berman, 2004). On the other hand, men are always struggling with each other, while women are given pride as people struggling against the greater forces such as death and chaos. As a result, this aspect completely changes the views of women in the author’s novels. This paper establishes the roles of gender and feminism in the works of Woolf, especially in Mrs. Dalloway.

Clarissa’s creative nature helps her fight the battle in a man’s world against the enemies such as wars, politics and self-elevation (Low, 2001). This is the daily application of female creativity, which is evident in feminine life. The goal of such feminine battles is for the creation of long-standing relationships as opposed to establishing monuments of oneself. This is evidenced in the novel through the imagery of sewing. This is the vehicle through which invisible ties are created between people through Clarissa’s social activities. This goes further to show the place of women in making ties between individuals which would not otherwise exist.

Among the novels written by Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway is among the most passionate and personal writings which express her feelings straight from the heart. Some of the central themes in the novel include creativity as well as madness, which are representative of two major impulses operating in Woolf’s life (Squier, 1981). Mrs. Dalloway, also known as Clarissa, is the wife of conservative politician and Member of Parliament Richard Dalloway and the mother of a seventeen-year-old girl Elizabeth. She is also the heroine in the novel. Clarissa loves giving parties at her fifties. The novel surrounds one of the days of her parties where she goes on to buy flowers, leaving her servants with final instructions regarding the details of the party and does many other things. Some of them include a meeting with her former suitor who is back from India, Peter Walsh, gives her dress a few stitches, reminisces on her past, and thinks about her present.

The novel celebrates the life of a woman. The author is not a feminist in that she was interested in more rights and economic opportunities. Instead, she was of the idea that women’s roles should be respected, especially due to their input in society (Goldman, 2001). Psychological acceptance was a necessary part in her concept of feminism such that an appreciation for the different perspective of women on the world should be respected, rather than shunned. According to the author, women’s outlook, though different, was equally critical for balance in the world. It was vital and worthy of consideration, just as is the case with the male outlook.

Therefore, the important aspects of Clarissa are not considered neither by virtue of the income she earns, nor her status in society ideology, but the simple fact that she is a woman. From her womanhood springs the creativity that is so much valued and enjoyed. From her rapport, daily life for both herself and her family precede. Like most of the author’s novels, there is a celebration of the virtue of women and a criticism on the absurd phenomena present in a male world through pointing out the graces of femininity. Clarissa is in love with life and has an active perception on her environment. According to Clarissa, life is enshrined in the ability to create an individual world where people from all walks of life can meet. This world was created from her inception as a way of further enjoying the gift of life through giving out the life itself for others to enjoy.

In other considerations, the novel bears characters that seem to have no apparent connection to the current world Clarissa lives in, including Warren Smith and his wife Lucrezia. The former was a victim in the First World War, while his wife was a hat maker by profession. Warren is not receiving the most caring treatment from Dr. Holmes. The doctor intends to transport him to Dr. Bradshaw's sanitarium Nonetheless, the journey is not completed as Warren throws himself off a window and commits suicide when he sees Dr. Holmes come to take him. Close to the novel’s conclusion, the doctor approaches Clarissa to apologize for being late to the party owing it to the suicide. This is the only apparent connection between the two individuals (Clarissa and Warren). Notwithstanding, it could be seen that there was a deeper connection between the two; they were two side of one coin.

Her former suitor, although old now, also conceded that Clarissa had the ability to enjoy her life immensely. He also says that Clarissa always did well for the sake of goodness. “It was her nature to enjoy. There was no bitterness in her; none of that sense of moral virtue which is so repulsive in good women. She enjoyed practically everything … She had a sense of comedy that was really exquisite, but she needed people, always people to bring it out (p. 70, 71)”. As a result, Clarissa would spend her lifetime giving and receiving through parties and engaging people in much chit chat. Clarissa’s attitude towards the parties however, was that of bringing a kindle and illumination to the people who were brought together, above all else. It was considered more of a social gift as opposed to a benefit of her social status. Therefore, feminine creativity and perceptions are at the center of the novel, with Clarisse displaying an extraordinary gift of making the world her own wherever she was found to be.

At the same time, Clarissa shows strong independence. Peter Walsh was a prized companion ever since she was a child and she is more attracted to him than she could ever be with her husband. Notwithstanding, she rejected peter and chose Richard due to her personal philosophy that “in marriage little license, a little independence there must be between people living together day in day out in the same house; which Richard gave her and she him”. This would never have been the case with Peter as she observes that with him, everything had to be shared and delved into, which she personally found quite intolerable. Clarissa was able to sacrifice love if she kept her independence because of her assertive nature. She regrets the fact that she chose independence over love at times, yet she is a trendsetter in English novels where the independence of a woman in marriage has not been surrendered yet there remain no clashes between the couple. Indeed, this is the first instance of a queer relationship where such an arrangement existed. Normally, this was not the case. Therefore, Clarissa has effectively maintained the privacy of her soul being married. The image of the mysterious old lady who does her domestic duties lonely outside of Clarissa’s window is a representative of the loss of one’s soul’s privacy at the hands of love or deep religion. This would have been the case should Mrs. Dalloway have decided to follow either Peter Walsh or Miss Kilman. Therefore, a fully experienced life requires a threshold level of singleness and being left alone. This is seen in the novel as both a vice and virtue for Clarissa.

Clarissa can also remain alone and feel lonely despite being in the middle of bustling crowds and parties, owing to her strong emotional checks. The loneliness expressed in this novel is similar to those expressed in other novels written by the author. They aim to convey the isolation of self. The author tries to explain that being in an experience does not necessarily mean that one cannot be outside of it: “She (Clarissa) sliced like a knife through everything; at the same time was outside, looking. She had a perpetual sense of being out, far out to sea alone, she always had the feeling that it was very dangerous to live even one day (9).” Clarissa almost always felt like she was out of place; constantly living life and going through it, yet unable to feel and be a part of it. The fact that Clarissa was not fully in touch with her emotions and treasured the privacy of the soul also kept her aloof from experiencing all the things that came with intimate interaction with social beings. The feeling that she was also out at sea therefore came to her during the times of her loneliness.

Another strong aspect of her femininity is her ability to respect her emotions. Clarissa has a natural and in-born cool nature, which is a big advantage for her since it is an asset when it comes to maintaining her autonomy. Notably, female autonomy is one of the outstanding concerns for the novel. Peter presents a threat to this autonomy as he constantly plays with the pocketknife in her presence, thereby threatening Clarissa’s mental autonomy. Clarissa finds herself unable to endure this undermining act. On the contrary, Richard who is more passive and willing to let people enjoy their space is more endearing to Clarissa. The fact that Clarissa and Richard sleep in separate rooms and nothing is required of them by the passions of life is, according to Clarissa, living peaceably. Very often, Clarissa’s bed sheets are described as clean tight and stretched because of the apparent undisturbed nature of her chambers.

If feelings are deeply explored, it could be said that Clarissa was only deeply in love once – with Sally Saton. Again, this is something new in English writing, where a woman fell for another woman. In fact, this was so much crisply explained that the depth of Clarissa’s feelings were evident in the novel when talking about Sally. Clarissa is clearly fascinated with her friend, who she finds irresistible because of her ability to smoke the cigar, ride her bicycle on the terrace and run naked down the hall. Clarissa remembers her friend as one whose beauty was only found among growing young women: “The strange thing, on looking back was the purity, the integrity of her feelings for Sally. It was not like one's feeling for a man. It was completely disinterested, and besides, it had a quality, which could exist only between women, between women just grown up (32)”. Clarissa also cannot forget the kiss that was given by her friend Sally – an expression of her true feelings, which again were kept under wraps and was protected against disrespect. This, aside from being the theme of femininity, also brings out the queer aspect within the story. The fact that a woman would fall for another woman, especially in this time, was an especially queer idea.

Therefore, she appears as one who is snobbish and disinterested in the content of her social relationships. Her interactions seem superficial because of her detachment with her feelings. An example of this isolation of the soul occurs when Warren is found to have committed suicide before the party that Clarissa intended to host. Warren remains all alone, yet he feels that his environment is alive. He resonates with his identity within nature. The trees around him are alive and the leaves on each tree are interconnected through millions of fibers that run down into his body. This kind of isolation is also present with Clarissa and is evident when she described her connection with the streets of London:

“Some how in the streets of London on the ebb and flow of thing here, lived in each other, she being part, she was positive, of the trees at home, of the house there, ugly, rambling all to bits and pieces as it was, part of people she had never met, being laid out like a mist between the people she knew best, who lifted her on their branches as she had seen trees lift the mist, but it spread ever so far her life: herself (10).”

At this point, Warren and Clarissa are easily comparable and might as well be two side of a coin. Clarissa has a deep understanding of Warren’s death and share near-same visions of life signifying the relationship between their two perspectives of life. Their souls are one. Clarissa and Warren both wish for suicide considering the fact that both thought of the line “fear no more the heat of the sun”. Clarissa also observes how empty life is and finds the idea of suicide equally compelling and tempting. Notwithstanding, her marriage to Richard provides her the necessary supportive protection that Warren could not get from his wife.

As a result, it becomes apparent that Warren acted out all the instincts that Clarissa also had but disregarded. The end of Warren was his death, whereas Clarissa survived. The male perspective is thus described as irrational despite the existence of an inner hero. Warren is a victim of circumstances. He was violated by the very civilization he is expected to live in. as a young man sent to war, he was destroyed from the inside after which Dr. Holmes and Bradshaw wanted to utterly destroy. The second destruction was that of the independence of his soul, for which he could not accept and committed suicide instead. Therefore, the picture painted is that of the doctors’ inadequacies sending them to hound Warren, but Warren would rather permanently escape their hands by dying.

Again, it becomes apparent that the role of men in the novel is presented as one of competitive prize winning as opposed to the role of women in fostering relationships. When the relationship between the doctors and Warren is considered, their inadequacy led to the maltreatment of Warren. Dr. Holmes and Dr. Bradshaw were not interested in making Warren better; they were interested in making a name for themselves. This is why they were looking to trap the independence of the man’s soul. The drive for their self-glorification outweighed their concern for human life, thereby forcing Warren to take his own life. This was not the case when Richard and Clarissa were together. The fact that Clarissa was wise enough to let her husband look for self-glorification in politics allowed her to maintain the independence of her soul. She traded love for independence. On their own, men trade the lives of their fellows to build legacies.

Again, women, faced with the same challenges as men, would normally find out their strengths and exploit them to overcome the challenges. This was self-evident as the comparison between Clarissa and Warren is done. While both of them face the same hazard – losing their soul’s independence – one ends up dead, while the other enjoys life. The difference between the two sexes in their ability to counter challenges to their innermost person gave them the results that they both got. The author consistently spoke of the need to have women respected based on their mental and internal ability to have diversified viewpoints on similar situations. This was the case here, as both faced the same temptation with suicide. The stronger mental faculties of the female enabled her efficient solution of the problem, whereas the male saw the only way out as a quick dash into the air outside his window. While committing suicide was a permanent fix to Warren’s problem, it was the coward’s way out. Clarissa found out what was worth living for (her passive husband) and held on. Interestingly, Warren also had a wife to live for, but would rather jump out of his window.

In the same vein, the novel strongly protests the atrocities so easily practiced by males in the society. The use of power in human interactions, for example, presents one of the protests against which the novel airs. The First World War was as a result of power struggles between males. Moreover, the effect of Dr. Bradshaw and Dr. Holmes on Warren’s life is also an example of the kind of power interactions that occur in an unrestrained male world. The author therefore presents Clarissa in a different light to criticize the male version of creativity. Whereas male creativity is found in the legislation of laws and building of large empires, feminine power is quite different. The role of women is chiefly seen in the preservation of society which runs the risk of utter destruction at the hands of men. Lady Bexborough, for example, is described as a woman “who opened a bazar . . . with telegram in her hand, John, her favourite killed (in the war)”. Despite her loss, she begins the rebuilding process of society in the face of death. The strong will against the arms of death and destruction is also expressed by Clarissa who proceeds with her party irrespective of Warren’s death. The fact that Clarissa would go on with the party means that she treasures the societal rebuilding far more than she gives regard to the death and destruction that lay waste at the hands of men. Again, Peter her first love, was also innately interested in the same thing that other men were. This can be evidenced when he just could not stop playing with the pocketknife and getting on Clarissa’s nerves.

The novel also sharply differentiates the power exercised by the Prime Minister, and that of female authority as showcased by Clarissa and other female figures in the novel. The Prime Minister is limited because of the extent to which he can assert his authority. He is only able to assert himself as far as the external of the people of the country due to his place as a politician. Nonetheless, Clarissa is able to influence the inner beings of the people she meets. The fact that she throws parties that are able to weave interpersonal relationships means she fosters a greater power at her disposal on people. This is arguably more than the Prime Minster could ever assert. Furthermore, the tools of the Prime Minister’s authority are also external, namely his car and clothes and the fact that he is in the position. However, the tools of female authority lie in the love, relationships and interactions that they have which influence the decision-making processes of those involved. The author makes a direct differentiation between the two forms of power during Clarissa’s party, where the Prime Minister and Clarissa and paraded together. Clarissa was:

“…prancing, sparkling, with the stateliness of her gray hair. She wore earrings and a silver green mermaid's dress. Lolloping on the waves and braiding her tresses, she seemed, having that gift still, to be, to exist, to sum it all up in the moment as she passed, turned, caught her scarf in some other woman's dress unhitched it, laughed, all with most perfect ease and air of creature floating in its elements" (154)” .

As concerning the Prime Minister: “One couldn't laugh at him. He looked so ordinary. You might have stood him behind a counter and bought biscuits - poor chap, all rugged up in gold lace. He tried to look somebody. It was amusing to watch. Nobody looked at him (152)”. Moreover, the male characters in the novel are also compared to the Prime Minister in their lack of demeanor. They all have a common thing – they lack any form of respect for the privacy of the soul. For them, a soul cannot simply be accepted without being fully possessed by them, converted to them or imposed upon through the rules applicable to either love or religion. Thus, they always attempt to change people so as to control them. Consider Peter, who would not have been tolerable as a husband to Clarissa, because everything just had to be shared or pried into. At their courting stage, he would give Clarissa no personal space which pointed to a stronger reality of the lack of independence should a marriage between the two have occurred. Clarissa seeks to protect her party dress the way a virgin would protect chastity because of Peter’s controlling nature. She would not be herself for the entire time of Peter’s visit.

In the same vein, the doctors are also interested in bloodshed and the perpetration of war through their conquest attitude when dealing with Warren. Bradshaw is in no business of curing the patients in his case. Instead, there is only a singular version of health presented to them that they must accept. Preaching health proportion and converting someone had very close relationships, according to the author. Where one was found to dictate, they were essentially converting those at their mercy to their personal views. This is expressed as “that Goddess whose lust is to override opposition, to stamp indelibly in the sanctuaries of others the image of herself, the naked defenseless the exhausted the friendless received the impress of Sir Williams's will” (p. 91). The novel describes this as the right arm of conversion. “He swooped, he devoured, he shut people up” (p. 91). Therefore, the simple fact that the two doctors would rather impose their standard of health as opposed to doing their rightful share of treating their patients show the continued trends of destructive masculine living in the absence of the female.

Septimus Warren, despite being a victim of circumstances at the hands of the doctors, finds himself leaving life despite his unwillingness. Notwithstanding, there is no other way in which he could avoid “human nature… the repulsive brute with blood red nostrils (i.e. Dr. Holmes)”. Warren expresses that everything was good about his life, except the human beings who were there. When Clarissa discovers Warren’s death, she respects him for it because he would not lose the independence of his soul although he had thrown away his life. Later, she imagines Dr. Bradshaw, “a great doctor, yet to her obscurely evil, without sex or lust, extremely polite to women, but capable of some indescribable outrage -forcing your soul - that was it” (p. 163), and how he drove the young man to death. Essentially, the doctor becomes another instrument of death and destruction.

Miss Kilman also is overcome by conversion. She is only outwardly grateful to Clarissa for the employment she got. Nonetheless, she is green with envy due to the lady’s wealth, leisure, easy living and beauty. Therefore, she desires to subjugate her boss for religion’s sake. Miss Kilman thinks simply because Clarissa is still interested in her beauty shows how trivial she is, but Clarissa is guarded like a fortress against Miss Kilman’s advances. Therefore, Miss Kilman takes occasion against Elizabeth, who is younger. Clarissa thus has to fight for her daughter’s affections, while Miss Kilman ends up luring Elizabeth to religious ways such as communion and prayer. Clarissa knows the effect that such spiritual engagement could do to the freedom of her daughter’s soul, yet allows it to happen.

In the novel’s conclusion, Clarissa is seen as an almost divine presence throughout the work. Mrs. Dalloway is at the center of the literary work because of her importance to the people around her. Her self-awareness and knowledge cause her servants to even desire kind words from her. Her husband counts it a blessing to be married to her, and Peter, comes back to concede that his feelings yet remain. She is a lovable character in the novel, and it springs from the fact that Clarissa has adequately embraced her femininity. Therefore, the novel is a reminder of the author’s unique definition of feminism – an ability to create endless possibilities in a world that is in full disintegration within itself. As a result, women become more respectable than men in this sense.

References

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