Nicole Kidman as Virginia Woolf in The Hours
“To
be, or not to be: that is the question:
Whether
'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings
and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take
arms against a sea of troubles,
And by
opposing end them? To die: to sleep;
No more;
and by a sleep to say we end
The
heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks
That
flesh is heir to, 'tis a consummation
Devoutly
to be wish'd.”
Hamlet –
William Shakespeare
“To be, or not to be: that is the question” is
quite an overused expression, isn’t it?
However, I believe that we can all agree that Shakespeare’s words are
extremely relevant. Shakespeare, even way back
in 1599, was definitely asking the real questions, which is why Hamlet’s
soliloquy is still important today. “To be, or not to be”
is universal. It’s ageless. It’s a critical question to our existence. The
answer is equally as critical. But, what is the answer? Virginia Woolf explores
the question of suicide in Mrs. Dalloway through the characters of Clarissa
Dalloway and Septimus Warren Smith.
What is Virginia Woolf
trying to say about suicide? Each reader may have his or her own understanding,
but here are a few facts. In the introduction to the 1928 Modern Library
edition, Virginia Woolf writes that in the first version of Mrs. Dalloway,
“Septimus, who is later intended to be her double, had no existence; and…Mrs.
Dalloway was originally to kill herself, or merely to die at the end of the
party.” (Berman 92) In addition,
Virginia Woolf unfortunately suffered from mental illness throughout her life
and committed suicide at the age of 59. Because of her bout with mental
illness, she was able to implement her own experiences through the characters
of Clarissa and Septimus. One aspect that Woolf incorporated into Mrs. Dalloway
in particular is her dislike for doctors. Like Septimus, Woolf was rather wary
of doctors and their methods. In Woolf’s letters, she admits that Septimus’
suicide is “[a] subject that I have kept cooling in my mind until I felt that I
could touch it without bursting into flame all over. You can’t think what a
raging furnace it is still to me – madness and doctors and being forced." (Berman 92)
As we’ve seen, Dr. Holmes
is described rather negatively by Septimus as representing “human nature.”
Bradshaw, on the other hand, stresses “proportion”, which relates to one of
Woolf’s experiences with a doctor. Upon meeting a doctor, he said to Woolf, “Equanimity -
equanimity - practice equanimity, Mrs. Woolf.” (Berman 92) Woolf criticizes the concept of
“proportion.” How is it possible to achieve proportion, or equanimity when one
is mad, or contemplating suicide? What is proportion when one is constantly
thinking about life? Throughout Mrs. Dalloway, Woolf demonstrates that we are always asking
ourselves existential questions and questioning the state of our existence in
relation to the world. In fact, right before Septimus commits suicide, he
thinks, “Life is good.” (Woolf 146) But, Septimus had to get away from doctors and "human nature." In contemplating his decision, Septimus questions the world when he wonders, “Only human beings
– what did they want?” (146)
What do humans want? In
Mrs. Dalloway, Woolf is communicating that
we are all connected through our desires and in the way that we think. Septimus' lack of “proportion” means that he is not
concerned with things outside of himself. Bradshaw spoke of conversion, meaning he planned
to “fix” Septimus and make his mind just like everyone else’s. But Clarissa, and other sane characters, also contemplate death. Is it not the natural state of the mind? Are we not all victims of our thoughts? Bradshaw didn’t really plan help Septimus get better. Bradshaw planned to convert Septimus into what he considered normal.
Despite one’s
love for life and beauty, death is a relief. As a matter of fact, Clarissa
somewhat romanticizes the idea of death while pondering Septimus’ suicide.
Death is a way of “preserv[ing]” life and preserving oneself. “Death is
defiance.” (Woolf 180) Defiance of what? Perhaps it is a defiance of
letting anyone change you. It may be a defiance of letting the splendour of life
fade away as you become more and more unhappy with life. Despite Septimus’
crazy view of the world and his dark opinion of human nature, Septimus
recognized beauty. He did not want to let go of that recognition. In committing
suicide, perhaps he has preserved the world as he saw it, regardless of how
ludicrous his view was. And perhaps, if Clarissa had committed suicide, she’d
be preserving her perfect view of the world and it's beauty would remain intact.
Understanding suicide means
understanding that life is difficult. Through Shakespeare’s quote, “Fear no more the heat ’o
the sun / Nor the furious winter’s rages,” we understand that
death is surely an escape. It is an escape from one’s crazy thoughts and of
the constant daily struggles of simply existing. However, perhaps Woolf is not
suggesting that suicide is the way out. Instead, she may be communicating that it is important to never lose sight of who you are. Death is stopping
time. Death is capturing the self as it is at that moment. Maybe Woolf did not
want to change Septimus, just as Septimus did not want to change. When Clarissa
thinks that if she were to die during her party, she would be happiest,
Clarissa is trying to preserve her feelings in that exact moment. Why convert? Being
who you are is always better.
Is your view/interpretation of Mrs. Dalloway different now knowing that Virginia Woolf suffered from mental illness and committed suicide? Do you think that, perhaps, some of the themes in the novel are reflective of her own thoughts?
Works Cited
Berman, Jeffrey. Surviving Literary Suicide. Amherst: University of Massachusetts, 1999. Print.
Woolf, Virginia, and Bonnie Kime Scott. Mrs. Dalloway. Orlando, FL: Harcourt, 2005. Print.
Image 1: "The Hours." 13 Nov.2013. Tumblr. Web. 12 April. 2014. <http://daysoffuturenow.tumblr.com/post/66923313688/the-hours-is-one-of-those-movies-that-make-you>
Images 2 and 3: "The Hours." 17 Nov.2013. Tumblr. Web. 12 April. 2014. <http://arizonagarbage.tumblr.com/post/67315040526/i-think-ive-seen-this-film-several-dozen-times>
After learning that Virginia Woolf suffered from mental illness and committed suicide, I can easily see how the things she experienced when she was ill affected the way she wrote this novel. By being able to write about her illness, Woolf managed to express a side of certain people that we, as readers, are not often exposed to. I feel that she managed to make one see that being ill doesn’t make you a problem that can simply be fixed with “proportion” and that despite what Bradshaw thought of Septimus, it is impossible to “fix” someone into being like everyone else because we are all different.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoy your theory on Woolf’s possible outlook on suicide. I think that she most likely was like her characters in some way and did try to find beauty in the things around her. Perhaps, like you said, she was trying to find a way to preserve Septimus’ happy moment before his death and to keep him unchanged. Maybe when Woolf decided to commit suicide she was trying to do the same with herself. Then again, this is only stuff we can speculate on since we can never truly know what a person is thinking. However, I do not think that Woolf was able to make Septimus’ illness such a reality without being influenced by her own experiences and personal thoughts. The same goes for Clarissa’s view on people and the nature around her. I am sure that many of the questions on death, illness, time and beauty were all things than ran through Woolf’s mind just as they run through ours and this is how we can speculate on what she may have thought of these themes that are present in her novel.
Virginia Woolf's novel becomes ever more valid and intriguing when you know her past. The story had so much life in it and meaning, that when looking at the writer's sentiments herself, I wonder if the characters are each a fragment of her personality. The novel was amazing on its own, but in learning more about the author I appreciated the book much more. Woolf managed to portray so many views in a unique fashion, that permits the readers to become connected, or at least understand.
ReplyDeleteSeptimus Smith is a very odd character, who struggles with life and the beauty versus the corruption. I think that was very well portrayed through your blog entry. It is true that Septimus, in his last moments, was happy. He committed suicide to avoid seeing Holmes, whom later on wonders what could have possessed him to commit such a horrific deed. I feel that with a character like Septimus there was the potential that he could live, but the series of events he went through made him only worse.
I was quite surprised to learn that Clarissa was meant to die. It made me an ever more avid reader, when going through your blog post. Clarissa and Septimus are both two faces of the same coin. They both struggle to view that which they find most beautiful despite the views of others. This quality is always pushed aside by those around Clarissa, deemed solely the wishes of a social lady, which creates a grand contrast between her and Septimus. Septimus's way of thinking is over analyzed, which halts his healing process, leading him to his self destructive nature. This was a fascinating idea to turn over, that wasn't comlpetely apparent to me in the beginning.
I feel as if "Mrs. Dalloway" could be read multiple times without fully grasping all the content it holds. Stream of consciousness was a style of writing I didn't full understand, but now I greatly enjoy it. Thank you so much for sharing your opinion!
After finding out that Virginia Woolf suffered from mental illness and ultimately committed suicide, I cannot say that my view or interpretation of Mrs. Dalloway has changed. To me it makes much more sense now why she would choose certain themes and notions to write about in her novel. I would definitely believe that some of the themes in Mrs. Dalloway are reflective of Virginia Woolf's thoughts. When writing a novel or a poem or anything really, there is always a certain amount of subjectivity, of yourself that can be found in your writing. She might have transcribed her feelings into words and perhaps different parts of her went into characterising and personifying the characters in Mrs. Dalloway. This unfortunate end to her life helps me understand a bit more the themes in the novel and why she chose to write it in the first place.
ReplyDeleteI do think knowing that Virginia Woolf suffered form mental illness and committed suicide does change the way I think about the book. I feel like it gives a sort of insight into the overall dissatisfied feeling many of the characters feel in the book. Of the things that have stuck with me the most are the unhappy and question filled parts of the book. And, for anyone who has ever had the misfortune of having to deal with depression knows, a great deal of your time is spent wondering what if life could be better, just like the characters in the book. What if I had done this or said that, would my life be different or even better. Just like Clarissa in the book, she fixates on a past that she has replayed thoughts a thousand and one times in her memory and in doing so she has reshaping the past to fit the present. So yes I think it is interesting to know about Virginia Woolf’s illness and untimely death.
ReplyDelete