mod a dalloway Flashcards
PARA 1 TOPIC SENTENCE
In Mrs Dalloway, Virginia Woolf explores how the imposition of imperialistic groupthink in the 1920s assures the perpetuation of empire, in which individuals’ acquiescence to social norms feed into similar restrictive cycles
Through the duality of Clarissa and Ms Kilman, Woolf exposes how individual values are forced to be hidden in the fear of social alienation, further challenging how the narrative of English moral rectitude and ensuing social conformity reinforce and perpetuate imperial values.
PARA 1 CONTEXT
In response to her post-world war one context, Woolf highlights the presence of an indoctrinating empire, where despite the ending of war – citizens’ expected subordination to empire is primary over individual satisfaction, ensuing the impingement of subsequent repression.
- Woolf’s 1920s context further explores how the oppressive social expectations led to the suppression of radical ideas and sexuality – in which Woolf’s paralleling of Miss Kilman and Clarissa Dalloway exposes imperial institutions’ punishment of intransigence, where threats of alienation and social exile forces social conformity.
- Clarissa’s rejection of dissident thoughts however is shown in her later acquiescence to marriage and the status quo
- Woolf reinforces how the two’s homosexual desires are dissonant to empire as heterosexual relationships were seen as a basis of imperial thought as males showed control over females prior to the control of colonised peoples, thus robbing individuals of fulfilment
‘Twere now to die, twere now to be most happy’
- Shakespearean reference reinforces how her time was Sally was the ‘most exquisite moment of her life’
reiterates Kilman’s complementary same-sex desires
‘if she could make her hers absolutely and forever and then die; that was all she wanted’ – Kilman
- Hyperbole
- Form shift in focalisation
- Kilman being fired from her job due to seemingly ‘extremist’ ideas
- However, while Clarissa surrenders to the adherence of social norms, Kilman’s contrasting unwillingness in following similar imperial groupthink pushes her to the social margins
- echoes the earlier Clarissa and Sally who (WHO WHAT)
‘… Miss Dolby thought she would be happier with people who shared her views about the Germans. She had had to go’ - headmistress
echoes the earlier Clarissa and Sally who ‘… meant to found a society to abolish private property, and actually had a letter written’
- Clarissa’s later docility to social expectations shows her understanding of what happens to free thinkers, where Clarissa celebrates her conformity in its social triumph over Kilman’s marginalisation
‘the Prime Minister go down the stairs… [which] brought back Kilman with a rush; Kilman her enemy. That was satisfying’
PARA 2 TOPIC SENTENCE
Stephen Daldry’s 2002 film The Hours affirms Woolf’s exploration of groupthink, where despite changing societal structures through time, the continuous perpetuation of rigid social norms assure cyclical overt and subtle oppression through external and internalised forces.
Daldry explores this through the character of Clarissa Vaughn, who although seemingly stepped out of traditional domestic roles, underlying patriarchal values and cultural groupthink witnesses the manifestation and lingering of social expectations.
Daldry affirms Woolf’s insight of oppressive groupthink, in which his 2000s examination of the topic highlights the veneer of progress despite shifting contextual thought.
PARA 2 CONTEXT
Daldry’s examination of Clarissa Vaughn’s 2000s context explores the effects of second wave feminism, in which although women may superficially have access to the same career opportunities as male counterparts, societal pressures invariably lead women to take on unpaid domestic work.
- while Clarissa’s openly same-sex relationship and career-oriented lifestyle differs from the domestic and heteronormative oppressions of Daldry’s preceding characters, her internalisation of patriarchal values compels her to take on expected nurturing behaviour despite her freedom from overt patriarchal expectations.
Scene in Clarissa’s kitchen, , where Clarissa’s constant movement and Louis’ contrasting passivity reflects their symbolic roles in Richard’s life, in which Louis left for ‘San Francisco’ while Clarissa had been ‘…nursing Richard for years’ in her double burden
- highlights how Clarissa is mentally trapped in the same position as Woof’s character, where she is ‘stuck’ in traditional feminine roles by virtue and conditioning.
Scene with the slow zoom into Clarissa as she recalls the past when Richard calls her ‘Mrs Dalloway’
- In this, Clarissa’s wild gestures during ‘schedules and parties’ communicates her frustration at having to manage additional heavy responsibilities, in which affective labour sees her confinement in traditional notions of femininity despite shifting contextual thoughts and values
Slow zooming midshot during Clarissa and Julia’s conversation, , in which Clarissa says Richard gave her ‘… that look… to say, your life is trivial, you are so trivial.. daily stuff, you know, schedule and parties, that is what he means’
PARA 3 TOPIC SENTENCE
- In Mrs Dalloway, Virginia Woolf critiques the marginalising treatment of individuals who are mentally atypical, where institutional branches of patriarchal values – such as the medical profession – punishes returning veterans as they no longer display societal ideals of masculinity and strength.
- Through her characterisation of Septimus Smith, Woolf critiques the structure of acceptable male gender performance composed of patriarchal values designed to instil within the British man a sense of duty and superiority; in this, Woolf illustrates the ubiquity of manliness in British culture, where returning veterans’ shattered mental health disturbs societal structures through their display of weakness
- Woolf critiques the imperial institutions which continually oppresses mentally inept individuals, where their incapability to serve imperial expectations catalyses their marginalisation.
PARA 3 CONTEXT
- In response to her post-world war one context, Woolf is concerned with the orthodox representation of returning shell-shocked soldiers as erratic and weak.
- Woolf highlights how British values had prompted Septimus to enlist in the war, being the ‘first to volunteer’ as his previous abnormality was noticed by people he encountered – such as Mr Brewer – and his employer had argued that his engagement in more ‘masculine’ pursuits such as (SUCH AS WHAT)’ and erase his effeminate and sensitive nature.
‘first to volunteer’
MASCULINE PURSUITS SUCH AS ‘football’ would ‘develop… manliness
- As the novel progresses, despite the promise for war to fix Septimus through displays of masculinity and physical prowess, his long-term adherence of masculinity and stoicism results in emotional scarcest and mental atypicality.
- in which Woolf encapsulates the deep sense of isolation felt by veterans shown in the imageries pertaining to religious purgation, in which her appropriation of Dante’s Inferno recalling the layers of hell captures Septimus’ emotional turmoil
‘miracles, revelations, agonies… falling through the sea…. Into the flames..’
-Reference to Dante’s
Inferno encaptulates Septimus’ emotional turmoil
- Imageries pertaining to religious purgation
