Hours/Dalloway #10

“‘No,’ says Angelica. ‘There’s still the roses.’... [Virginia] almost protests that the bird should be laid down first, the roses arranged around its body. That is clearly how it should be done. You would, she thinks, argue with a five-year-old girl about such things. You would, if Vanessa and the boys weren’t watching. 

Angelica takes one of the yellow roses they’ve picked and places it, carefully, along the edge of the grass mound. She adds another and another until she has created a rough circle of rosebuds, thorny stems, and leaves...Virginia looks with unanticipated pleasure at this modest circlet of thorns and flowers; this wild deathbed. She would like to lie down on it herself” (119).  

Cunningham uses this passage to show that Virginia Woolf and Laura Brown have very similar personalities. Just as Laura is very picky about how her cake is made and is set on the fact that the yellow roses should be placed on the cake after the lettering is written, Virginia feels the same way about the bird’s death bed. Cunningham uses the parallel situation between the two women to show this similarity. Both women are perfectionists. Throughout the whole novel, Cunningham frequently uses the symbol of the yellow rose. Yellow roses are interesting because their meaning has changed over time and their meaning varies depending on the location. In Eastern cultures, the rose holds a positive meaning but in European cultures, the yellow rose is a symbol of jealousy and of dying love. Today, the yellow rose is more commonly used to represent friendship but this negative connotation is still in its history. Cunningham uses yellow roses to represent the idea of dying love. At first glance, a yellow rose appears to be a positive symbol but after looking deeper, it actually represents a negative idea. This represents how many of the characters feel in the book. On the surface Mrs. Brown acts like her life is fine but deep down she is actually severely depressed. Similarly, Virginia Woolf may act as though she is feeling better so she can move back to London but she is actually not healed. Clarissa tries to create a life for herself with Sally but that is impossible with Richard’s illness. The frequent appearance of the yellow rose connects these women’s lives and reminds the reader that seemingly perfect lives actually have more layers.

Work Cited:

“History and Meaning of the Yellow Rose.” ProFlowers. 2010. 4 Oct. 2010 <http://www.proflowers.com/flowerguide/rosemeanings/yellowrose-meanings.aspx>. 

Photo Credit:

"To from Flowers2world.com." Sending Flowers Online - Flower Shops, Florist, Flowers, Send Flowers, Red Rose Bouquet, Flower Delivery. Web. 25 Oct. 2010 <http://www.flowers2world.com/send_flowers_online/viewdetails.asp?product_id=36&productid=68863>.

Hours/Dalloway #9

“Some distance above her is the bright, rippled surface. The sky reflects unsteadily there, white and heavy with clouds, traversed by the black cutout shapes of rocks. Cars and trucks rumble over the bridge. A small boy, no older than three, crossing the bridge with his mother, stops at the rail, crouches, and pushes the stick he’s been carrying between the slats of the railing so it will fall into the water. His mother urges him along but he insists on staying awhile, watching the stick as the current takes it” (8).

Cunningham uses this simple moment to explore the idea that each person has his or her own individual life and is unaware of most other people’s lives. He suggests that life continues for those who are left behind after someone dies. Cunningham uses a small boy here to symbolize innocence. The young boy juxtaposed with the terrible suicide aggrandizes the theme. Cunningham uses this interaction between a mother and a son very early on in the book to introduce the theme of family relations, particularly those involving a child and a parent. Woolf lacked a close relationship with her parents since her mother died when she was only thirteen. When she was twenty-two, her father died. Similarly, Richard did not have a close relationship with his mother. In both cases, these weak relationships led to the child’s suicide. In this way, this scene is quite ironic since the interaction occurs over Virginia’s dead body and her suicide was a result of her lacking that bond. 

“Virginia Woolf.” Introduction to Comparative Literature. 2004. Colorado College. 3 Oct. 2010 <http://ats.coloradocollege.edu/co100-04-b1/author/page.php?autPage=3>.

Hours/Dalloway #8

“The earth thrilled beneath him. Red flowers grew through his flesh; their stiff leaves rustled by his head” (68).

Woolf uses imagery to foreshadow Septimus’ death. Just as a corpse would be buried in the earth, Septimus is becoming part of the earth as flowers grow around him. Woolf is referring to roses, as roses are mentioned just sentences later when Septimus says “...the thick red roses which grow on my bedroom wall.” This statement also furthers the idea that Septimus will die and become part of the earth since the terms “sleeping” and “death” are often interchangeable. Woolf uses the symbol of red roses to give death a more pleasant view since red roses are often the symbol of love and warmth. Woolf intertwines these two seemingly different ideas (death and love) to present an unconventional view of death. This corresponds with her own choice of death over life. The references to death throughout Mrs. Dalloway add to the theme of passing time. Whether humans control the amount of time they spend on earth or not, there is only so much time available to humans. This limit is the principle reason time is such a precious thing. 

Work Cited:

Photo Credit:

"TLC Home "Caring for Roses"" TLC "Guides" Web. 25 Oct. 2010 <http://tlc.howstuffworks.com/home/how-to-care-for-roses.htm>.

Hours/Dalloway #7

“But Proportion has a sister, less smiling, more formidable, a Goddess even now engaged - in the heat and sands of India, the mud and swamp of Africa, the purlieus of London, wherever in short the climate or the devil tempts men to fall from the true belief which is her own - is even now engaged in dashing down shrines, smashing idols, and setting up in their place her own stern countenance. Conversion is her name and she feasts on the wills of the weakly, loving to impress, to impose, adoring her own features stamped on the face of the populace. At Hyde Park Corner on a tub she stands preaching; shrouds herself in white and walks penitentially disguised as brotherly love through factories and parliaments; offers help, but desires power; smites out of her way roughly the dissentient, or dissatisfied; bestows her blessing on those who, looking upward, catch submissively from her eyes the light of their own” (100).

Through this passage, Woolf expresses her anger at others attempting to change one’s views. She personifies “Proportion” and “Conversion” to elaborate on this view. By describing Conversion as Proportion’s sister, she relates the two. Proportion is Sir William’s term for a “normal” perspective on life which, in his opinion, Septimus lacks. This relates to Woolf’s own struggle with being declared as abnormal due to her mental condition. There is a connection between Proportion and Conversion because someone can attempt to convert another person to their own sense of Proportion. Hyde Park is where Woolf was born and raised. Woolf uses this reference to Hyde Park to tell her audience that she herself is guilty of attempting to convert others. Paradoxes such as this one are commonly found in Woolf. She is known for being an egotist even though she said that she did not like egotists. She may have hated people who attempted to convert others, but this is most likely because she had strong beliefs herself and thought others should believe the same thing as her. 

Works Cited:

“Virginia Woolf.” Introduction to Comparative Literature. 2004. Colorado College. 3 Oct. 2010 <http://ats.coloradocollege.edu/co100-04-b1/author/page.php?autPage=3>.

Lee, Hermione. “Virginia Woolf.” The New York Times. 1997. The New York Times Company. 3 Oct. 2010 <http://www.nytimes.com/books/first/l/lee-woolf.html>.

Hours/Dalloway #6

“Now for his writings; how the dead sing behind rhododendron bushes; odes to Time; conversations with Shakespeare; Evans, Evans, Evans - his messages from the dead; do not cut down trees; tell the Prime Minister. Universal love; the meaning of the world” (147-148).

Woolf emphasizes the importance of words - they sometimes tell more about a person than the actual person. Septimus especially had a connection with words since he felt that they would live on even after he killed himself. His writings represented many of the themes present in Mrs. Dalloway. The rhododendron bushes symbolize the death Septimus is speaking of since rhododendron bushes are poisonous. However, plants often symbolize life so Woolf uses this symbolical paradox to show how life and death can exist at once, just like how the past and present are intertwined throughout Mrs. Dalloway. Septimus’ “odes to Time” re-emphasize the theme of time. In this novel, which is structured by the tolling of Big Ben, Woolf shows how so much can happen in just one single day, demonstrating how precious time is. The capitalization of the word “Time” gives it even more importance as time then becomes a figure - instead of an idea -that can be worshipped similarly to a God. 

Just as Septimus included Shakespeare in his writings, Woolf was greatly influenced by Shakespeare as she used some of his exact lines in her writing, such as the line “Fear no more the heat o’ the sun” (9). Woolf even wrote the fictional story A Room of One’s Own in which Shakespeare had a sister.

 Septimus tells of Evans’ “message from the dead” in which Evans says “not to cut down the trees.” Trees are often a symbol of life. Through this symbol, Woolf puts an emphasis on the importance of life. Earlier in the novel on page 57, Woolf compared trees to women. Through this passage Woolf is again re-emphasizing women’s important positions in life. Lastly, the reference to “universal love” can be interpreted as Woolf’s connection to and interest about homosexuality. In Mrs. Dalloway, Woolf incorporates homosexuality through Clarissa and Sally’s relationship and through Septimus and Evans’ relationship. Woolf herself had what some consider to be relationships with other women, namely Madge Vaughn and Violet Dickinson. 

Works Cited:

“Cause for Fear: Sexual Apprehension in the Writings of Virginia Woolf.” UPenn. 3 Oct. 2010 <http://www.stwing.upenn.edu/~lpottle/Thesis.html>.

“Characteristics.” Department of Horticultural Science. 3 Oct. 2010 <http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/consumer/poison/Rhodosp.htm>.

Photo Credit:

"Embassy of the United States, Sofia Bulgaria - Earth Day (April 22, 2009)." Embassy of the United States, Sofia Bulgaria - Home. Web. 25 Oct. 2010 <http://bulgaria.usembassy.gov/media_04222009a.html>.

Hours/Dalloway #5

“It might be possible, Septimus thought, looking at England from the train window, as they left New Haven; it might be possible that the world itself is without meaning” (88).

Throughout Mrs. Dalloway, Woolf portrays many of her feelings through Septimus. It is clear that “her” character is Septimus since he is the one who commits suicide in the end of the book. In this quote, Woolf demonstrates her belief that life itself may be meaningless. The “itself” suggests that there is a bigger picture that she is comparing this to, which is most likely that fact that she cannot feel things just as Septimus claims to be unable to feel things. The fact that life may be without meaning is her explanation as to why she is unable to feel things. The entire novel however refutes this argument. Woolf explores just how much can happen in one single day and therefore proves that life really does have a point behind it. Septimus’ thoughts about the meaning of life are Woolf’s way of clearly stating the very belief she is trying to contradict throughout the rest of the novel. Since she herself dealt with depression and suicide, Mrs. Dalloway may be her way of attempting to contradict her own beliefs and prove to herself that there is meaning behind life. 

Hours/Dalloway #4

“By conviction an atheist perhaps, he is taken by surprise with moments of extraordinary exaltation. Nothing exists outside us except a state of mind, he thinks; a desire for solace, for relief, for something outside these miserable pigmies, these feeble, these ugly these craven men and women. But if he can conceive of her, then in some sort she exists, he thinks, and advancing down the path with his eyes upon the sky and branches he rapidly endows them with womanhood; sees with amazement how grave they become; how majestically, as the breeze stirs them, they dispense with a dark flutter of the leaves charity, comprehension, absolution, and then, flinging themselves suddenly aloft, confound the piety of their aspect with a wild carouse” (57). 

Woolf uses this passage to take a step away from the individual characters in the novel and state a general truth about the world through an archetype: the “traveler.” Using a traveler to represent this general truth about discovery is appropriate because every person is in theory a traveler through life. Woolf herself grew up in an agnostic family and her religious beliefs are seen here. Although she grew up as an “atheist” it is possible that she “[was] taken by surprise with moments of extraordinary exaltation.” Woolf suggests that life is defined merely by how we see it, as nothing is really around us “except a state of mind.” Through the rest of the novel, Woolf displays this belief by showing the world from many different character’s points of view. All any person wants is an escape of sorts from the “pigmies” found in the world. Here, Woolf represents God, who is the escape, as a female which reveals her feminist views. Much of Woolf’s writing career was geared toward exposing women’s roles and displaying the fact that they too had important lives. One topic in particular that she dedicated her literature to was women’s lives. She herself states in 1927 that “very little is known about women” and she was concerned with the fact that “very few women yet have written truthful autobiographies.” By portraying God as a female - as opposed to the normal “He” - Woolf shows her desire for more sexual equality in the world. Woolf further develops this belief by representing females with a tree. Trees are one of the basic necessities of life. This represents women’s strong rooted positions in life. The leaves which are vessels of women’s strength are scattered around the world bringing “charity, comprehension, [and] absolution.” This symbolizes what women could bring to the world with greater influence. 

Works Cited:

Lee, Hermione. “Virginia Woolf.” The New York Times. 1997. The New York Times Company. 3 Oct. 2010 <http://www.nytimes.com/books/first/l/lee-woolf.html>.

Nicolson, Nigel. “Virginia Woolf.” The New York Times. 2000. The New York Times Company. 3 Oct. 2010 <http://www.nytimes.com/books/first/n/nicolson-woolf.html>.

Photo Credit:

Vaughan, Beth. "The Harper in Fairyland." Spirit of Trees. 24 Oct. 2010 <http://www.spiritoftrees.org/folktales/vaughan/harper_in_fairyland.html>.