Module A para 4 Flashcards
Purpose of suicide motif
Daldry interweaves a suicide motif amidst three different timelines to illustrate how individuals’ lives are intrinsically connected within the legacy of life and death.
How is Septimus seen through Richard
Daldry expands upon Woolf’s characterisation of Septimus as the ‘visionary’ poet through the character of Richard Brown, who seeks to obtain vitality through his writing, exemplified in his claim, “I wanted to write about it all. Everything that happens in a moment… who we were” Woolf reveals how the “repulsive brutes” of the apathetic medical system compel Septimus to “give {his life}, contrasting Daldry, who reconstructs Richard’s suicide as a disillusioned choice arising from his supposed failure in encapsulating life’s essence through his writing.
The use of the piano- purpose of vitality.
This existential despair is intensified by the jarring crescendo of the piano score as Richard plummets to the ground. Daldry makes this tune a leitmotif throughout the three storylines to signify a universal struggle to preserve vitality.
“I have changed my mind”
“kill her heroine”
The cut from Virginia Woolf stating “I have changed my mind” to Laura, who gasps for air after her surrealistic dream sequence of drowning, metaphorically establishes Laura as a character whose choice of life over death is shaped by Virginia’s desire to not “kill [her] heroine.”
“It was death I chose life”
Close up shot. non-diegetic background music .
Whereas the heightened consciousness of death provokes Clarissa Dalloway to find a deeper sense of vitality through social connections, Daldry dismantles this by establishing disconnection as a form of empowerment, which can similarly strengthen one’s vitality. The soothing non-diegetic background music in the close-up shot of Laura divulging to Clarissa, “It was death, I chose life”, positions audiences to recognise how Laura’s detachment from her family restores her vitality.
