Study
Questions and Essay Topics
Study Questions
1. “Fear no more
the heat ’o the sun / Nor the furious winter’s rages” is a quote
from Shakespeare’s play Cymbeline. The words are
repeated or alluded to many times throughout Mrs. Dalloway,
by both Clarissa and Septimus. What do the words mean, and why do Clarissa
and Septimus repeat them?
Clarissa Dalloway first reads the words from Cymbeline in
a bookshop window when she sets out to buy flowers for her party,
and their meaning is particularly significant in light of World
War I. The lines are from a funeral dirge and suggest that death
is not a thing to be feared, but rather it should be seen as a relief
from the hard struggles of life. World War I has wrought devastation
throughout England, and tragedy or the possibility of it is never
far from people’s thoughts. Clarissa, a middle-aged woman who is
coming to terms with her own aging and eventual death, meditates
on these lines throughout the day. The words foreshadow the death
of Clarissa’s double, the veteran Septimus, who repeats them before
he commits suicide.
The lines from Cymbeline connect to the
strong use of nature imagery that appears throughout the novel.
The characters who are most connected to nature, such as Clarissa
and Septimus, are also the most responsive to poetry and reflect
about death and their place in the world most frequently. Both Clarissa
and Septimus feel the importance of fire. The “heat o’ the sun”
can appear as something wonderful, like passion. Clarissa describes
romantic love as “a match burning in a crocus.” The heat can also
consume, however, and Septimus, mentally wounded by the horrors
of war, feels that the world will erupt in flames, in a fire that
can no longer be contained. Whether wonderful or deadly, the heat
of the sun is constant, and something everyone must endure. The
quote suggests that death be embraced as a release from the burden
of endurance.
2. Woolf created
Septimus Warren Smith as a double for Clarissa. In what ways are
Clarissa and Septimus different? In what ways are they the same?
Woolf originally planned to have Clarissa
die at the end of Mrs. Dalloway, but she decided
instead to create a double for her, Septimus Warren Smith. Septimus
would die in Clarissa’s place, while Clarissa continued to endure.
Many obvious differences exist between the two characters. Septimus
is a man and twenty years younger who has fought and been damaged
in the war. Clarissa is of the upper class, while Septimus is a
working-class clerk. Clarissa still finds meaning in the symbols
of English society, such as the prime minister and expensive cars,
while Septimus sees them as meaningless. While Clarissa is able
to gather her face into a neat diamond shape so she can meet the
world with pursed lips and an unflappable demeanor, Septimus’s lips
are loose and he has lost the ability to focus or distinguish reality
from his own visions. Septimus’s inner world overflows into the
public sphere, whereas Clarissa's interior remains contained. Septimus
is considered insane, while Clarissa remains sane.
Clarissa and Septimus differ, but they also share many
physical and emotional qualities. Each has a beak-nose, enjoys being
at home in the domestic sphere, and quotes Shakespeare. Both have
doting spouses. The first time we encounter Septimus, he is observing
the car that backfires, just as Clarissa is. Their similarities
also go beyond these surface details. Both have an instinctive horror
of those who crave power, such as Sir William and Miss Kilman. Both Clarissa
and Septimus believe that people are connected to trees in a spiritual
way, and nature matters a great deal to both of them. At the end
of the novel, in a very direct link, Clarissa “felt somehow very like
him—the young man who had killed himself.” She realizes that Septimus's
death is, like her party, an attempt to communicate. This moment
is an epiphany, or moment of being, when Clarissa realizes that
Septimus is in some way a part of herself.
3. Conversion
is seen as a constant threat in the novel. Which characters wish
to convert others, and what are they trying to convert others to?
Are some characters more susceptible to conversion than others?
The two characters who try most actively
to convert others in the novel are the psychiatrist, Sir William
Bradshaw, and Elizabeth’s history teacher, Doris Kilman. Sir William
ostensibly attempts to convert people to his conception of health
and science, while Miss Kilman introduces people to her views on
religion and God. Both characters, however, seek dominion over others
and use the concept of conversion only to gain power. Miss Kilman
admits to herself that it is Clarissa’s soul she wishes to “subdue”
and “make feel her mastery.” Miss Kilman seeks power in the name
of Christianity, just as Sir William exiles people to mental institutions
in the name of science.
The very sight of Sir William makes Clarissa uncomfortable,
and she is highly sensitive to his desire to convert people to his
worldview. Her awareness and vulnerability to Sir William’s and
Miss Kilman’s greed for power comes from her ability to think deeply
and empathize with others’ emotions and motivations. Septimus also has
this acute awareness about the world around him, and he is even more
susceptible to conversion than Clarissa, due to his low social status.
English society is another force that tries to convert people, but
it also, to some extent, protects the upper class from the control of
someone like Sir William. While Lady Bradshaw succumbs to social—and
marital—pressure, Lady Bruton, in contrast, is safe from Sir William’s
clutches due to her close association with the empire. She may have
lost her sense of “proportion” with her Canada obsession, but other
members of her class will indulge and protect her. Characters who
are more individual, like Clarissa and Septimus, are more at risk
than those who view themselves purely as part of English society.
Suggested Essay Topics
1. Mrs. Dalloway is
constructed from many different points of view, and points of view
are sometimes linked by an emotion, a sound, a visual image, or
a memory. Describe three instances when the point of view changes
and explain how Woolf accomplishes the transitions. How do the transitions correspond
to the points of view being connected?
2. Flowers, gardens, and nature
are important motifs in the novel. Choose three characters and describe
their relationships to the natural world. What do these relationships
reveal about the characters or their functions in the novel?
3. Characters in the novel come
from a range of social classes. What does Peter mean when he feels
the “pyramidal accumulation” that weighed on his generation is shifting? How
did the old social order weigh particularly heavily on women?
4. What role does Sally Seton
play in Clarissa’s life, and what is the significance of her surprise
appearance at the party?
5. World War I affected all the
characters in the book to some degree. How did the war influence
at least three of the characters?
6. The multitude of minor characters
in the novel can be compared to the chorus in a classical Greek
drama. They are often observers in the street. Choose three or four
minor characters and describe their roles. What is their importance to
the novel as a whole?
7. When Clarissa reflects on
Septimus’s death at the end of the novel, she experiences a moment
of being, or an epiphany. What truth becomes clear to her, and why
is it significant?
Become a fan on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
