“She must go back and tell him, go back to him sitting there on the green chair under the tree, talking to himself, or to that dead man Evans, whom she had only seen once for a moment in the shop. He had seemed a nice quiet man; a great friend of Septimus’s, and he had been killed in the war. But such things happen to every one. Every one has friends who were killed in the War. Every one gives up something when they marry. She had given up her home. She had come to live here, in this awful city. But Septimus let himself think about horrible things, as she could too, if she tried.” (Virginia Woolf, 2192) The era after World War I was difficult period for the people of Europe whom were trying to find a sort of normality after facing much destruction. …show more content…
Lucrezia mentions Septimus talking to a man named Evans who, “seemed a nice quiet man; a great friend of Septimus’s, and he had been killed in the war” (Woolf 2192). Septimus, it seems, has yet to come to terms of the death of Evans by still talking to him as he was alive. Septimus suffers from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and one of the symptoms is guilt, he states how he feels guilty for not reacting to the death of his friend appropriately (Woolf 2206). After five years, the death of Evans still haunts him, with him having hallucinations of Evans wherever he goes, a constant reminder of how he was unable to save him. The loss of friends was not secluded to just the deaths of friends but also the falling out with old friends. This is best shown with Peter and Clarissa; both had not seen each other or had contact in thirty years but they had never forgotten about the other. And when they do meet again a wave of old emotions hits them both, “[Peter] perfectly enchanting! Now I remember how impossible it was ever to make up my mind - and why did I make up my mind-not to marry him? she wondered” (Woolf 2178). They are not the only friends to reconnect, Sally Seaton, whom also was friends with them, sees them for the first time in …show more content…
In the passage Lucrezia states, “Septimus let himself think about horrible things, as she could too, if she tried” (Woolf 2192). Septimus feels alone and no one can help him or understand what he is going through. Just as Clarissa Dalloway, who is rich, loved, and popular but she still feels empty inside. As shown, “Many a time had she gone, at Bourton when they were all talking, to look at the sky, or seen it between people’s shoulders at dinner; seen it in London when she could not sleep” (Woolf 2259). In this moment Clarissa has a sense of isolation, another symptom of PTSD, she isolates herself to her happy place which was her childhood home in Bourton. Clarissa and Septimus are tied together, they are each other doppelgangers, both have lived two distinct lives but both suffered a type of depression similar to the author, Virginia Woolf, whom also killed herself. Although Clarissa handled it in a much different way than Septimus, even though both had been seen by Sir William Bradshaw to be ‘cured’. For example, “quite often if Richard had not been there reading the Times, so that she could crouch like a bird and gradually revive…she must have perished. But that young man had killed himself” (Woolf 2259). Clarissa states that without Richard, her husband, she would have ended up like Septimus, they are each other’s what if.
WW1 also known as “The Great War” was a brutal war that wreaked havoc upon europe.
Chapter 28 Descent into the Abyss: World War I and the Crisis of the European Global Order
This was a very dark time because of the mass death of Europe's population. Almost 50% of the population was wiped out, and like it says in document 11, “it was a cruel and horrible
After the deaths of 37,508,686 soldiers by the end of World War I, Europe was a mess. Countries had been dissolved and rearranged, governments had fallen and been replaced, and economies were thriving then crashing, all as a result from World War I. One of the main goals at the end of World War I was to prevent another tragedy like World War I from happening again. Clearly that did not happen, as World War II still happened, causing over 50 million deaths. The repercussions of World War I caused World War II due to radical ideology, bad economic conditions, and nationalism to the point of extremity.
During the Interwar Period (1919-1939), many countries around the world underwent many ideological changes. Prior to World War I, imperial competition amongst the European countries led to patterns of constitutional and ethnolinguistic nationalism and patterns of industrialization. Members of a Bosnian Serb nationalist group assassinated Austrian heir Franz Ferdinand, which became the catalyst for the first World War that would last until 1919. With 20 million soldiers and civilians dead and another 21 million wounded, the countries looked for ways to recover from the results of the war. Three new patterns of modernity emerged after World War I; Capitalist democracy, Communism, and Supremist Nationalism.
In the aftermath of World War I, Europe faced financial, economic, and physical devastation. Although figures are still exactly unknown, according to Encyclopedia Britannica (2011), it is believed that nearly 8.5 million soldiers died, while approximately 21 million were wounded. Vast areas of north-eastern Europe had been reduced to rubble and ruined. Furthermore, the infrastructure of the region was so severely damaged that such loss greatly hindered the area's ability to function normally. Consequently, someone needed to make amends for the fiscal instability in the region, and according to the United States, Great Britain, and France; Germany was the lone scapegoat. This angered the German citizens and through the use
Clarissa Dalloway, the central character in Virginia Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway, is a complex figure whose relations with other women reveal as much about her personality as do her own musings. By focusing at length on several characters, all of whom are in some way connected to Clarissa, Woolf expertly portrays the ways females interact: sometimes drawing upon one another for things which they cannot get from men; other times, turning on each other out of jealousy and insecurity.
Throughout her life, novelist Virginia Woolf suffered with mental illness, and she ultimately ended her life at age 59. As art often imitates life, it is not surprising that characters in Woolf’s works also struggle with mental illness. One of her novels, Mrs. Dalloway, recounts a day in the life of Clarissa Dalloway, a high society woman living in London, and those who run in her circle. As the novel progresses the reader sees one of the characters, Septimus, struggle with post-traumatic stress disorder brought on by serving in war. At the end of the story, he commits suicide. While there is no explicit articulation of any other character suffering from mental illness in the novel, Septimus is not alone. Through her thoughts and actions, we can deduce that Clarissa also endures mental and emotional suffering. Though Clarissa does not actually attempt to end her life in the novel, her mental and emotional suffering lead her to exhibit suicidal tendencies. To prove this, I will examine Clarissa’s thoughts and actions from a psychological perspective.
The Economic, Social, and Political Impact of the First World War on Europe At the end of the First World War in 1918, the economic, social and political state of Europe was such that the potential rebuilding of the continent seemed a distant and unrealistic vision. The war had affected much of Western Europe, in particular France and Germany, not to mention Belgium, Italy and Austria. In addition vast regions of Eastern Europe also suffered dearly as Russia’s bloody involvement in the war took its toll.
In "A Sorrowful Woman" the wife is depressed with her life, so much so, "The sight of them made her so sad and sick she did not want to see them ever again"(p.1). This wife and mother has come to detest her life, the sight of her family,
From the very beginning of the novel, the reader is confronted with thoughts of death from the main character, Clarissa Dalloway. When running her errand, she plummets into deep thought about her death and what would follow it,
At the end of WWI Europe was economically impoverished and politically divided. It faced the
‘Mrs. Dalloway’, by Virginia Woolf is a derivative text of ‘The Hours’, written by Michael Cunningham. The novels both share an important theme of mental health. The circumstances of mental health are commonly sympathetic, and empathetic. The characters Septimus and Clarissa in ‘Mrs. Dalloway’ and Richard, Laura Brown, and Virginia Woolf in ‘The Hours’ show the strongest symbols for this theme. Most of the problems and treatments these characters face are in direct result of the age they live in. Both novels express a relationship between era, illnesses and treatments.
From the beginning of Mrs. Dalloway, Woolf establishes that Clarissa’s bright and hopeful spirit has become dulled and burdened when subjected to the oppressive nature of marriage. During a glimpse into her younger years, the reader is able to see Clarissa. With each flashback into Clarissa’s youth, the reader is provided another image of Clarissa before marriage, one that highlights her passion and curiosity for life. While Clarissa felt a passion and connection with Peter, she could not bear to live in a marriage where her freedom was something she had to sacrifice. The decision she makes is logical in some ways, but her choice also brings into question the fault of her marriage in the first place. In Clarissa’s world, the option for passion and the security of her freedom was not available nor would it ever be; therefore, she was forced to choose between the two. Men, however, were not forced to make such decisions and were given the liberty to wait well into their later years to find a spouse suitable to their liking. By choosing to marry Richard over Peter, Clarissa forsook the option of passion in
Clarissa and Septimus both feel trapped in their lives and oppressed by the people around them, which leads to them find ways in which they can escape the negative world around them. Clarissa is described to the reader as having “a perpetual sense, as she watched the taxi cabs, of being out, out, far out to sea and alone; she always had the feeling that it was very dangerous to live even one day” (Woolf, 17). Even as Clarissa walks down a crowded street the sense of loneliness controls her mind. Societal oppression of loneliness makes her feel distant from the rest of society. She describes herself as, “no longer being Clarissa, but simply Mrs. Dalloway” (Woolf, 11). Clarissa has lost a sense of herself and feels as though she no longer fits in. However, her parties serve as an escape from the outside world, which helps to explain why she loves