In her novel, Mrs. Dalloway, Virginia Woolf never really comes right out and says what she means. It seems to me that when composing a pastiche imitating her style, one of the main components would have to be complete subtlety. It's like her ideas are hiding in the bushes, always ready to be exposed and plucked out by the reader, but nevertheless hidden away, never smacking you in the face like those of some other novelists we have read in which a common theme and plot can be easily determined. For instance, when speaking of Clarissa's friendship and encounters with one Sally Seton, she never really states what Clarissa's feelings for Sally really are. Romantic, or otherwise. This is pretty much left to the determination of the reader. A similar situation evolves when Lady Bruton, a local aristocrat, fails to invite Clarissa along with her husband to a lunch party. Is the tone there outraged? confused? or merely disappointed? The reader seems to be privy to Clarissa's innermost thoughts, some of which she might not even be aware of herself and yet is often left to decide for themselves what her emotions towards a particular situation or person might be.
Really this is one of my favorite parts about this book. It leaves you thinking. It is very difficult to just put this book down and go about your normal life without trying at all to imagine yourself as Clarissa, or alter your thinking somehow, or just trying to figure out what the heck she is trying to say, if anything at all. Sometimes I find myself wondering (now this may be a bit paranoid) if anyone is listening to my random thoughts and judging me over my subconscious, and then writing a book about it for everyone to read. Poor Clarissa. However, not only does Woolf's subtlety make the book much more interesting to read, but also it makes for some great discussions with people who are reading along with you. Almost every aspect of the book down to each individual sentence is up for interpretation, and everyone's interpretation comes out just a little bit different.
1 comment:
Nicely put. You've hit on an idea that's central to Woolf's general take on human character: it's not just that the reader (or author) has trouble "pinning down" a particular feeling (or cluster of feelings) with a specific label, it's that the character herself doesn't feel one way consistently--there *is* no simple label to apply. In Woolf's view, we're all bundles of internal contradictions, desires not acted upon, and buried feelings--compounded by the awareness of ourselves as public personae (or, how we think other people see *us*, which only complicates this picture futher) and our awareness of ourselves within time (our past is always alive in our present). I agree with you that this makes for compelling, thought-provoking reading--one relatively uneventful day in Clarissa's life can continue to be so fascinating for so many readers.
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