Well, that's one heck of an ending.
The article I read for my panel presentation made a big deal over the fact that the title of the novel is Mrs. Dalloway rather than Clarissa, which supposedly signifies that Clarissa has thoroughly pigeonholed herself into the role of perfect hostess. Assuming that is true, what can we get out of the rather understated ending?
The last time Clarissa is referred to as Mrs. Dalloway is on page 179. From there until the end, she is Clarissa. Consider the last two sentences of the novel:
It is Clarissa, he said.
For there she was.
"For there she was.", with "she" being Clarissa. Has Clarissa, by the end of the novel, broken free from the restraints of her Mrs. Dalloway occupation? Did something momentous occur while we were slogging through Peter and Sally's conversation?
No.
Sorry for getting your hopes up like that.
As far as I can tell, Clarissa is actually a fairly stagnant character. She defies the typical definition of a "2D" character, since her personality is developed in depth and she does question the way she acts; there's just no net change in her mindset. She contemplates death and other such serious matters for a moment, but turns back to her hostess job soon afterwards. She still thinks she was right to marry Richard. She presumably still hates Miss Kilman. She's still alive and appreciating city life.
The only possible change is that she is now more sure of herself than before: she cites her marriage to Richard as the source of her happiness and appreciation for life, which would seem to validate her role as Mrs. Dalloway.
So why is it that Clarissa shows up at the end? Has Clarissa supplanted Mrs. Dalloway?
No.
Sorry for getting your hopes up like that.
I have to finally conclude that calling her "Clarissa" is actually a minor point of style necessitated by the fact that Sally and Peter are the "brain characters" for the end of the book, and they are both on a first-name basis with Clarissa. "For there she was" indicates that Clarissa is there as far as Peter is concerned--and we know how accurate other characters are with their interpretations of Clarissa. The Clarissa on the last page is not a person or identity. Instead, it is a feeling Peter gets.
It's how other people see Clarissa, not how she sees herself, that gets the last word
And why would we expect Clarissa to "transcend" or overcome her "Mrs. Dalloway" role by the end of the novel (except that this is the kind of "development" we've been trained to expect in novels)? It's only one day of her life, and a not especially consequential one. It's more like Woolf is interested in plumbing the depths of her characters rather than depicting them on some linear trajectory of "growth." Clarissa *is* her "charming, perfect hostess" self at the party. But she's *also* a private and sensitive woman who has a strong and profound reaction to the news about Septimus, and this brings out a depth that isn't evident on the surface. It doesn't *negate* that surface, however. She takes the blow, and then she gathers herself and returns to the party (to "social life" more generally). She chooses, once again, to *live*, even though in many ways it's a great effort to do so, and she has deep nagging doubts about the meaning of it all. The novel doesn't depict her moving in a linear way; it's more of a portrait that keeps filling in detail as we read.
ReplyDeleteAnd in the end, "There she is." And you're right: that last line is *Peter's* point of view, in contrast to the opening line, which is "Mrs. Dalloway's."
What I have read is that the ending reflects much more on Peter than on Clarissa. It's meaning lies in that single word-- "Again." Even though Peter has seen Clarissa on countless occasions, this time is different because Peter is different. Originally, Peter couldn't help but want Clarissa to be the loving, kind, perfect woman. This is seen in how he chases after that random lady in the streets, always running after a fleeting and impossible ideal. But somehow, he got over that, and this ending symbolizes his forgiveness. He's forgiving Clarissa for not being what he always wanted and envisioned her to be.
ReplyDeleteMaybe I'm just regurgitating someone else's thoughts, but whatever. I just think it shines a much more interesting light on this scene.
I also thought it was interesting that Woolf ends the novel from Peter's point of view instead of Clarissa's. As we saw in "The Hours", Woolf was originally planning to kill Clarissa. I think her decision not to and Clarissa's subsequent stagnation is actually more meaningful than deep character development. I feel like Clarissa's refusal to change makes the rest of the book so much more important. We expect Clarissa to commit suicide as well, but her choosing to live seems to make life like a habit she can't kick. Not all books have a happy ending or a sad ending. I like how the ending is ambiguous. You make of it what you will, but however you feel about the end, it makes you think about life and death and happiness.
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