When reading Mrs. Dalloway, I found myself waiting around for the appearance of a ghost. Having read The Turn of the Screw previously, I expected one of the characters to either see or become a ghost. However, neither of those things happened, which led me to ask “What makes this a haunted text?” The characters are not haunted by a physical ghost, but are haunted by their past as well as the things they either can’t or won’t say to those they care about. Clarissa is haunted by the way she treated Peter and her relationship with Sally. Clarissa and Peter are both haunted by their lack of communication over her refusal to marry him and his inability to get over her. Sally is haunted by the deterioration of her friendships with both Clarissa and Peter over the years. Septimus is haunted by his experiences of the war as well as what he wants to tell his wife and his doctor, but he fails to remember what that is. Even Mr. Dalloway is haunted by the fact that he can’t profess his love for Clarissa. This kind of haunting. the kind we can’t see and often struggle to confront, is more terrifying and true to life because every person is haunted by their past or something they wanted to say but didn’t.

I think I may have taken a more psychological perspective, but I feel like this novel is mainly the inner struggles between the character. It shows the struggle of the soul. For Clarissa, the struggle of being alone and being a social lite, for Septimus the struggle of being in the war and the preserving his soul, and for Peter it is the struggle of getting over Clarissa. All the characters are experiencing their own battles simultaneously, but they aren’t communicating. Here they are in the same place or connected somehow, but no one knows what is going on inside each other’s head. I think it is a reminder that we all have our inner battles and maybe if we just talked to each other about how we are not 100% normal, we would begin to see the beauty in everyone else. Maybe that’s what the imagery of flowers in the story actually means, beauty. 

One of the themes that was present in Mrs Dalloway was mental illness. This is illustrated by the delusions of Septimus, a WWI veteran who is clearly suffering from post traumatic stress disorder and depression. Septimus’s  PTSD causes great anxiety not only for him but his wife Lucrezia who is tired of the questioning glances she  and her husband receive. Septimus feels isolated from the rest of English society because he believes that no one can truly understand his traumatic experiences in the war which is why he fails to communicate his feelings throughout the novel. This ultimately leads to tragedy as he commits suicide which could be taken as a desperate plea for help. Virginia Woolf was attempting to make a point about how war psychologically damages human beings. In real life, many Vietnam vets struggled to reintegrate themselves into society like Septimus. This theme can tie into the theme of a haunting because Septimus’s mental breakdowns and PTSD are a great source of anxiety for him and his environment. They cause great distress because he has no control of the reoccurring “visions” he gets from his harrowing experiences as a soldier; they cause his wife great distress because she has no idea how to comfort her husband since she can never truly empathize with him;  it raises questions from and strikes fear in the rest of the society since people naturally fear what they do not understand. They do not understand why Septimus seems so disconnected from reality.

Quote

“Off they went together, Miss Kilman and Elizabeth, downstairs. With a sudden impulse, with a violent anguish, for this woman was taking her daughter from her, Clarissa leant over the banisters and cried out, ‘Remember the party! Remember our party tonight!’”

Elizabeth’s role is intriguing, as she is growing up and finding herself uninterested in the world of the upper-class. Even more interesting is how her mother reacts. Clarissa seems to be unconcerned for her daughter, acknowledging that she will likely never become interested in throwing or attending parties. She seems to assume this is just a generational thing where young women are trying new things and interests. However, when Miss Kilman arrives to take Elizabeth with her Clarissa seems almost sorrowful at seeing her daughter leave with a woman so taken with love and religion. It’s not enough for her to reach out and try to connect with her daughter though. She doesn’t attempt to join them at the stores or get to know her daughter more. She simply reminds her of the party in the hopes that she will think to return.

In my last post I noted that an important theme and symbol in Mrs. Dalloway was the use of Flowers. Many of the settings in Mrs. Dalloway are places where the characters can be immersed in flowers. In the beginning it was Miss Pym’s flowers shop. There were also flashback scenes where she and Peter walked through gardens; another where Sally handed her a flower before kissing her on the cheek. Septimus, a character who finds himself disassociated with the world after his experiences with far finds himself when surrounded by the tress in the park. It’s believed by both that there’s a connection with trees, that it shows the very reaches of the human soul. Virginia is showcasing aspects of Clarissa and Septimus’ characters by making this connection with nature.  Nature is no stranger to Woolf novels. She’s always connecting humanity to nature in one form or another. 

Clarissa and Septimus might seem like two entirely different characters but they reflected one another. Their souls were the same. They fought the oppression of the class system, only Clarissa’s soul was more heavily tainted by the weight of her identity. Clarissa seemed the saner approach and Septimus the more insane and yet Septimus is the one who escaped. Clarissa believed that souls survived in trees and Septimus, who believed the trees were alive in a way, has been given the opportunity to merge with mother nature herself.

Septimus found his courage to deny the class system and Clarissa simply accepted her place in it. 

“Then somebody said – Sally Seton it was – did it make any real difference to one’s feelings to know that before they’d married she had had a baby? (In those days, in mixed company, it was a bold thing to say.) He could see Clarissa now, turning bright pink; somehow contracting; and saying, “Oh, I shall never be able to speak to her again!” (166)”

I can’t really tell who’s speaking here. However, this quote is important to note because it goes along the theme of class as discussed in class. People of upper class usually have a standard/reputation they must uphold to still be apart of the “elite crowd”. Having a baby out of wedlock is one of those instances where it’s considered a blemish on the image. The importance of status, class, and reputation is so important that someone who breaks that mold gets shunned. It’s important to take note of this here because it shows what lengths one would to maintain their reputation for the sake of social status.

Mrs. Dalloway is a story about haunting. However, the characters in Mrs. Dalloway are not haunted by spirits but by their pasts and their regrets.

Peter Walsh is haunted by his past with Clarissa and the fact that she rejected his marriage proposal; he envies her life and her husband’s wealth and regrets that things had not been different. Septimus Smith is haunted by the death of his commanding officer, Evans, as well as the other horrors of the war that drive him to suicide. He regrets that everything that has happened to him has led to the moment in which the doctors would come and take away his freedom and takes his own life instead. Mrs. Dalloway is haunted by her past relationship with Sally Seton that went nowhere and envies Septimus for his suicide because, in her sheltered mind, he has done what she wished she had done years ago when her and Sally were still experimenting with each other. Had she died then, she would’ve died in a time when it felt like Sally loved her and wouldn’t have to live with the regret she knows now.

There is a sense of haunting that permeates this text.  It is generated by the regrets of the characters who long to return to a time when things were different, in the same way that post-WWI England wanted to return to a time before war and mustard gas destroyed its innocence and sense of reality. 

Hayley Gillespie

One of the major parts of the plot in this novel is mental illness. We follow the day of Septimus and learn the agonies he suffers every day since the war. He clearly has PTSD but back in the time the novel is based, this mental disorder was not yet known. The treatment of mental illnesses and disorders back in this time were traumatic in themselves, which is why Septimus killed himself when he believed the doctors were coming for him. It was not a good time to be diagnosed with any sort of mental instability. Now, thankfully, the treatment of the mentally ill is significantly better. It is not yet at the place it should be, but it is better than total isolation and shock therapy. 

Certain characterizations in Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway give real meaning to the word introvert. In current day, the term “Introvert” is fairly common to hear when discussing personality and social traits. But up until recently, introverted individuals were, for the most part, labeled simply as “Shy.” A couple of key characters that embody introverted behavior in this story, are Elizabeth Dalloway and Ellie Henderson. Examples of Elizabeth’s introversion include the lines, “She did not much like parties, Elizabeth said.” (pg. 199), “Oh how much nicer to be in the country and do what she liked! She could hear her poor dog howling, Elizabeth was certain.” (pg. 287), And “Richard and Elizabeth were rather glad it was over.” (pg. 296). Elizabeth’s disliking of parties, preferred time spent with her dog, and apparent relief at the guests finally leaving the party are all clear indicators of introversion. The more severe case though, is certainly Ellie Henderson. Examples include, “And yet for her own part, it was too much of an effort. She was not enjoying it.” (pg. 259), and “but who was that? that lady standing by the curtain all the evening, without speaking?” (pg. 291). Despite being someone who quite rarely attends parties, Ellie Henderson has trouble putting in much more effort than showing up, and almost immediately recognizing how unenjoyable it is. While Elizabeth is open enough to make conversation throughout the party, (Albeit without moving much from her fixed position downstairs) Ellie simply stands, and essentially waits for the party to end around her.

Memories and the action of recollection is a powerful theme utilized throughout the text. Each character is followed by thoughts from their past that affect their present day lives. Clarissa’s internal battle with her sexuality is tested regularly by her memories of Sally. She values these memories deeply which could be contributing to complications with her husband. Other than Clarissa, Septimus arguably has the most important and haunting memories turned hallucinations. Ultimately his suicide was a result of his haunting past, and it deeply affected Clarissa. When Sir and Lady Bradshaw arrive and mention a recent suicide during her extravagent party initially Clarissa was incredibly upset by it. Was this because of the fact that Lady Bradshaw mentioned death and tainted the positive energy of her function, or was it the memory of the recent suicide of Septimus. Overall, the memory of Septimus killing himself shifted Clarissa’s outlook on life to be surprisingly more positive.