Module A para 2

Question 1

“I do not think you can call yourself a woman until you are a mother”.

Answer 1

Daldry highlights Kitty’s distorted perception of self, which is derived from conformity to the traditional maternal role, paralleling Clarissa Dalloway’s thoughts of being ‘Shrivelled, aged and breastless’, which denote her self-doubt arising from infertility after menopause.

Question 2

Flower motif purpose

Answer 2

By recycling Woolf’s flower motif, associated with youth and vitality, through the floral accessories on Kitty’s costume, Daldry positions the audience to recognise the underlying dissatisfaction beneath this veneer of happy domesticity.

Question 3

Domestic facades in post- ww2

Answer 3

. Laura’s inability to meet society’s preconceived ideal of domesticity within the Post-WW2 American Dream context accentuates her feelings of inadequacy and lack of self worth. Furthermore, the symmetrical facade of the suburb symbolises Laura’s role as a housewife, highlighting the pressure on women to present a picture-perfect image of a nuclear 1950s family. Daldry contrasts this image with her dimly lit domestic space reminiscent of Woolf’s ‘Mrs. Dalloway,’

Question 4

Kiss motif

Answer 4

Daldry extends the ‘exquisite’ kiss motif in Woolf’s novel, reconstructing it by embedding it across the three timelines to emphasise the increase in women’s self-determination over time. Daldry presents Laura and Kitty’s kiss, alongside Virginina’s kiss, as an outburst of repressed, confused sexuality and a desperate attempt at connection and empowerment, which is ultimately futile. In contrast, the accompaniment of uplifting non-diegetic music in the softly-lit medium shot of Clarissa Vaughan kissing her partner, Sally, conveys an ultimate reclamation of the relationship forsaken in the novel.