During this time period, however, this feeling is quite common. In England after the first World War, women have gone from having more responsibilities at home and running businesses to returning to their "women duties," such as cooking dinner and cleaning the house. Although an end of the war usually brings peace, it brings this about the idea of being smothered as women have to go back to the home. It only seems socially acceptable to return to the way things are, but in this story, Mrs. Dalloway represents the facts that women are willing to progress with time and retain the privileges they had during the war. In this case, Mrs. Dalloway has the benefits of being in a higher class, but at the end of the road she is the one who wants to be in control of her life and who makes her own decisions.
Tuesday, September 23, 2014
Mrs. Dalloway- Clarissa Dalloway and Freedom
In Virginia Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway, the protagonist of the story, Mrs. Dalloway demonstrates a social dilemma of being in the life she has versus the life she wants to lead. Towards the beginning of the novel, the narrator says, "She (Clarissa Dalloway) had the oddest sense of being herself invisible, unseen; unknown; there being no more marrying, nor more having of children now, but only this astonishing and rather solemn progress with the rest of them, up bond Street, this being Mrs. Dalloway; not ever Clarissa any morel this being Mrs. Richard Dalloway," (Woolf 11.) She feels trapped between a sense of freedom and a sense of social pressure.
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I agree with this. The duties of women for pre and post war varied greatly. Women had a role and presence in society. I think it is important, like Elizabeth pointed out that Clarissa is a member of the higher class in London. This factor separates her from the workings and women in the lower classes. She did not have the same responsibilities that other women had. If she was not married to Richard, her life would have been very different and the outcome of the book would have most likely changed. Looking at women in each class the roles are different, but the overall similarity is that the women wanted to have a voice. They did not want decisions made for them. This is a very good point, and I think this dilemma is something that can be found in many books written in the same time period.
ReplyDeleteIt is great to see that you agree that women's role in society have changed over the course of time.
DeleteI think men's roles have also changed over the course of time. Back then, they were the sole provider for the family, and the family well being depended on him entirely. For example, in present day many men also contribute to the care of the children. They work from home, take days off, and even cook dinner. These were the tasks of women back then. I think overall the role of people in society have drastically changed, to the point no one in Clarissa's time would have ever expected.
DeleteYes, as times have changed, so have the mental natures of gender roles in society. In many households, both parents play a role in raising children and working, tasks that used to be the sole responsibility of one or the other.
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