"Fear no more the heat o' the sun
Nor the furious winter's rages.":
These two lines allude to Shakespeare's 24 line poem from Cymbeline. King Cymbeline’s daughter marries a peasant in secret. When their secret is found out, the peasant is exiled to Italy where he makes a bet with a man who says that he can seduce the peasant’s wife. The man travels to Brittan to seduce to princess. When she refuses, he sneaks into her bedchambers and steals a bracelet. After hearing the description of his wife's chambers and seeing the bracelet, the peasant believes his wife betrayed him and orders another man to go kill his wife. Woolf uses allusion to Cymbeline to develop a sad tone. The poem Woolf is quoting is about how death will come at the end of struggling through life. This allusion also serves to show the theme of loneliness in the book. Mrs. Dalloway lives in a busy, populated city, but she feels lonely or seems alone in her thoughts. After Mrs. Dalloway struggles through life, she will die. Woolf struggled with depression and eventually committed suicide; death preoccupied her and she felt isolated in her depressed state. Woolf shared the poem view of death as being welcome, and she alludes to these feelings in Mrs. Dalloway. Clarissa thinks these lines again later in the story (pg. 29) and even Septimus thinks “fear no more” to himself (pg. 136).
Caleb Murdock. The Poem Tree. An Online Poetry Anthology. 9 October 2006. 25 September 2009. http://www.poemtree.com/poems/FearNoMoreTheHeat.htm
“Cymbeline.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. 25 September 2009. 25 September 2009. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cymbeline
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
6. Mrs. Dalloway: (pg. 8)
6. Mrs. Dalloway: (pg. 8) “She had a perpetual sense…had the feeling that it was very, very dangerous to live even one day.”:
In the preface to Mrs. Dalloway, Mark Hussey writes about Virginia Woolf's life, death, and work. Thinking about Woolf's life when reading Mrs. Dalloway gives a perspective of character development based on events in Woolf's own life. Clarissa accepted who she was. She questioned herself and life on some level, but she also felt safe in the strength of her capabilities. She might appear to be simple on the outside, but she is a reflective person. Using the word, “perpetual” Woolf brings us back to a sense of the time, and time in motion moving constantly forward. By reflecting that it was dangerous to live even one day in a book that takes place in a one day period, Woolf foreshadows a tragic event that may take place in this day and continues to emphasize the impending tone of time marching on.
Hussey, Mark. Preface. Virginia Woolf. Mrs. Dalloway. By Virginia Woolf. 2005 by Harcourt Incorporated. 27 September 2009.
Scott, Bonnie Kime. Introduction. Mrs. Dalloway. By Virginia Woolf. 2005 by Harcourt Incorporated. 27 September 2009.
“Virginia Woolf.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. 27 September 2009. 27 September 2009. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_Woolf
In the preface to Mrs. Dalloway, Mark Hussey writes about Virginia Woolf's life, death, and work. Thinking about Woolf's life when reading Mrs. Dalloway gives a perspective of character development based on events in Woolf's own life. Clarissa accepted who she was. She questioned herself and life on some level, but she also felt safe in the strength of her capabilities. She might appear to be simple on the outside, but she is a reflective person. Using the word, “perpetual” Woolf brings us back to a sense of the time, and time in motion moving constantly forward. By reflecting that it was dangerous to live even one day in a book that takes place in a one day period, Woolf foreshadows a tragic event that may take place in this day and continues to emphasize the impending tone of time marching on.
Hussey, Mark. Preface. Virginia Woolf. Mrs. Dalloway. By Virginia Woolf. 2005 by Harcourt Incorporated. 27 September 2009.
Scott, Bonnie Kime. Introduction. Mrs. Dalloway. By Virginia Woolf. 2005 by Harcourt Incorporated. 27 September 2009.
“Virginia Woolf.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. 27 September 2009. 27 September 2009. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_Woolf
5. Mrs. Dalloway: (pg. 8)
5. Mrs. Dalloway: (pg. 8) “She would not say…was outside, looking on.”:
Woolf wrote her personal feelings into the character of Clarissa. Woolf recognized that she had things to be happy about: she had a good marriage, she was physically okay, and she had survived the war and the tragedies of her early life. However, she felt empty. She felt isolated and nervous. She tried to learn about things by reflection and by learning about things she hoped to feel as if she belonged. But when she dissected things, she still felt on the outside and alone. Mrs. Dalloway was a typical wealthy female character of the time. She was not educated in schools but was trained on responsibilities of maintaining a household. She reflected about things but because of her lack of education or the way people viewed women in this time, she discredited herself. Her husband was a traditional character. If she had married Walsh perhaps the reflective side of her nature would have been developed. By writing about these internal conflicts in Clarissa, Woolf calls attention to the dilemma for most women of the time who were by nature intellectual but were not encouraged to develop these aspects.
Hussey, Mark. Preface. Virginia Woolf. Mrs. Dalloway. By Virginia Woolf. 2005 by Harcourt Incorporated. 27 September 2009.
Scott, Bonnie Kime. Introduction. Mrs. Dalloway. By Virginia Woolf. 2005 by Harcourt Incorporated. 27 September 2009.
“Virginia Woolf.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. 27 September 2009. 27 September 2009. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_Woolf
Woolf wrote her personal feelings into the character of Clarissa. Woolf recognized that she had things to be happy about: she had a good marriage, she was physically okay, and she had survived the war and the tragedies of her early life. However, she felt empty. She felt isolated and nervous. She tried to learn about things by reflection and by learning about things she hoped to feel as if she belonged. But when she dissected things, she still felt on the outside and alone. Mrs. Dalloway was a typical wealthy female character of the time. She was not educated in schools but was trained on responsibilities of maintaining a household. She reflected about things but because of her lack of education or the way people viewed women in this time, she discredited herself. Her husband was a traditional character. If she had married Walsh perhaps the reflective side of her nature would have been developed. By writing about these internal conflicts in Clarissa, Woolf calls attention to the dilemma for most women of the time who were by nature intellectual but were not encouraged to develop these aspects.
Hussey, Mark. Preface. Virginia Woolf. Mrs. Dalloway. By Virginia Woolf. 2005 by Harcourt Incorporated. 27 September 2009.
Scott, Bonnie Kime. Introduction. Mrs. Dalloway. By Virginia Woolf. 2005 by Harcourt Incorporated. 27 September 2009.
“Virginia Woolf.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. 27 September 2009. 27 September 2009. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_Woolf
4. Mrs. Dalloway: (pg 7)
4. Mrs. Dalloway: (pg 7) "It was the state of the world that interested him; Wagner, Pope’s poetry, people’s characters eternally, and the defects of her own soul.”:
Richard Wagner was a German known for his 13 operas and numerous other compositions. His political viewpoints were varied and controversial but he was a very influential person during his life and even after his death. Alexander Pope is a famous poet who began writing his first versus at age 12. He was born in London. Woolf references these men and their work for character development; Wolf depicts Peter as reflective and hard to please person. He can be demanding and particular.
Hannu Salmi. Richard Wagner Archive.2009. 25 September 2009. http://users.utu.fi/hansalmi/wagner.html.
Petri Liukkonen & Ari Pesonen. Kuusankosken kaupunginkirjasto. 2008. 25 September 2009. http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/apope.htm.
Richard Wagner was a German known for his 13 operas and numerous other compositions. His political viewpoints were varied and controversial but he was a very influential person during his life and even after his death. Alexander Pope is a famous poet who began writing his first versus at age 12. He was born in London. Woolf references these men and their work for character development; Wolf depicts Peter as reflective and hard to please person. He can be demanding and particular.
Hannu Salmi. Richard Wagner Archive.2009. 25 September 2009. http://users.utu.fi/hansalmi/wagner.html.
Petri Liukkonen & Ari Pesonen. Kuusankosken kaupunginkirjasto. 2008. 25 September 2009. http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/apope.htm.
3. Mrs. Dalloway: (pg 5)
3. Mrs. Dalloway: (pg 5)"It was June. The King and Queen were at the palace….to give her party":
The castle that is being referred to is Buckingham Palace. Buckingham Palace is the King and Queen's official London residence. Woolf describes London following the war. The King and Queen are home and all is right with the world. People are hopeful. On this day in June anything is possible. Through Clarissa’s random stream of consciousness, Woolf shows the highly expectant emotional tone and the energetic setting of post war London.
The Official Website of the British Monarchy. The Royal Household. 2008-2009. 25 September 2009. http://www.royal.gov.uk/TheRoyalResidences/BuckinghamPalace/BuckinghamPalace.aspx.
The castle that is being referred to is Buckingham Palace. Buckingham Palace is the King and Queen's official London residence. Woolf describes London following the war. The King and Queen are home and all is right with the world. People are hopeful. On this day in June anything is possible. Through Clarissa’s random stream of consciousness, Woolf shows the highly expectant emotional tone and the energetic setting of post war London.
The Official Website of the British Monarchy. The Royal Household. 2008-2009. 25 September 2009. http://www.royal.gov.uk/TheRoyalResidences/BuckinghamPalace/BuckinghamPalace.aspx.
2. Mrs. Dalloway: (pg 4)
2. Mrs. Dalloway: (pg 4) “There! Out it boomed. First a warning…The leaden circles dissolved in the air.”:
Woolf draws attention to time using noisy imagery and dramatic details of Big Ben marking time. Big Ben issues a warning; time moves forward and what is in the past cannot be changed. Time becomes an important detail in the book as the events unfold in a one day period; the characters reflect about time in the past, moments in the present, and what the future will bring. The impact of time on the characters was an important part of the development of Mrs. Dalloway for Woolf. She wrote in her diary about a book she was developing called The Hours which had a character named Septimus Warren.
Hussey, Mark. Preface. Virginia Woolf. Mrs. Dalloway. By Virginia Woolf. 2005 by Harcourt Incorporated. 27 September 2009.
Woolf draws attention to time using noisy imagery and dramatic details of Big Ben marking time. Big Ben issues a warning; time moves forward and what is in the past cannot be changed. Time becomes an important detail in the book as the events unfold in a one day period; the characters reflect about time in the past, moments in the present, and what the future will bring. The impact of time on the characters was an important part of the development of Mrs. Dalloway for Woolf. She wrote in her diary about a book she was developing called The Hours which had a character named Septimus Warren.
Hussey, Mark. Preface. Virginia Woolf. Mrs. Dalloway. By Virginia Woolf. 2005 by Harcourt Incorporated. 27 September 2009.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
1. Mrs. Dalloway: (pg 4)
1. Mrs. Dalloway: (pg 4) "For having lived in Westminster-- how many years now? over twenty,--one feels even in the midst of the traffic, or waking at night, Clarissa was positive, a particular hush, or solemnity; an indescribable pause; a suspense (but that might be her heart, affected, they said, by influenza) before Big Ben strikes.":
Westminster is an area located in central London. It lies on the North bank of the Thames River. This area is home to many prestigious landmarks such as Buckingham Palace and Westminster Abbey. Most of London’s government buildings are located in this area. Clarissa Dalloway is the wife of a politician. It makes sense that they would reside in this part of London. In 1918- 1919, the Spanish Flu Pandemic struck the world. During this pandemic about 50 million to 100 million people worldwide were killed. Woolf develops Clarissa’s character and the hustle and bustle setting of London after the conclusion of World War I and the flu pandemic by describing London on a June day in a random stream of thought through the character of Mrs. Dalloway. Clarissa is aware that people are rejoicing over the end of tragic events but she is also tuned into a sensitivity that comes from living in challenging times.
“1918 Flu Pandemic.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. 29 September 2009. 29 September 2009. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1918_flu_pandemic
“World War I.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. 29 September 2009. 29 September 2009. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_I
"Westminster." Answers.com. 2009. 27 September 2009.
Westminster is an area located in central London. It lies on the North bank of the Thames River. This area is home to many prestigious landmarks such as Buckingham Palace and Westminster Abbey. Most of London’s government buildings are located in this area. Clarissa Dalloway is the wife of a politician. It makes sense that they would reside in this part of London. In 1918- 1919, the Spanish Flu Pandemic struck the world. During this pandemic about 50 million to 100 million people worldwide were killed. Woolf develops Clarissa’s character and the hustle and bustle setting of London after the conclusion of World War I and the flu pandemic by describing London on a June day in a random stream of thought through the character of Mrs. Dalloway. Clarissa is aware that people are rejoicing over the end of tragic events but she is also tuned into a sensitivity that comes from living in challenging times.
“1918 Flu Pandemic.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. 29 September 2009. 29 September 2009. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1918_flu_pandemic
“World War I.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. 29 September 2009. 29 September 2009. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_I
"Westminster." Answers.com. 2009. 27 September 2009.
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