The Theme Of Appearance In The Relationship Between Miss Kilman And Clarissa Dalloway In Mrs Dalloway
The theme of appearance in the relationship between Miss Kilman and Clarissa Dalloway in Mrs Dalloway
Virginia Woolf (1882-1941) was a middle-class well-educated woman who became one of the greatest writers of the 20th century. She was a member of the Bloomsbury Group, a gathering of Modern artists linked by friendship or love who lived near Bloomsbury in London.1 In 1925, she published Mrs Dalloway, a novel in stream of consciousness, which means that we follow the characters’ thoughts as they enter their minds. It relates one day in the life of Clarissa Dalloway, a middle-class woman of fifty who is throwing a party that night. In parallel, we also follow Septimus Warren Smith, a young shell-shocked soldier. The extract I have chosen to study takes place in the afternoon, when Elizabeth Dalloway, who is Clarissa’s daughter, is taken by Miss Kilman, her tutor, to go shopping. Clarissa meets them both and we are given a glimpse of the relationship between the two adults. We are going to study how important appearances are in this passage. According to the Oxford dictionary, appearance is “the way that someone or something looks.”2
First of all, in this passage we can witness two worlds colliding, each embodied by Clarissa Dalloway and Miss Kilman. Indeed, both women by their look, represent two different social classes. Miss Kilman with her old mackintosh embodies the poor working class. As for Clarissa, she represents “all the other fine ladies”3, that is the wealthy middle-class, which is “condescending”4. Their dislike for each other is a metaphor of the fight between their two classes. As a matter of fact, the post-war and post-Victorian era in which Mrs Dalloway is set is for the United Kingdom a moment of self-questioning. The British Empire is declining and people are questioning the social order’s legitimacy.5
However, their fight cannot be reduced to a mere class conflict. Clarissa and Miss Kilman also differ in their believes. Indeed, Miss Kilman is a
Virginia Woolf (1882-1941) was a middle-class well-educated woman who became one of the greatest writers of the 20th century. She was a member of the Bloomsbury Group, a gathering of Modern artists linked by friendship or love who lived near Bloomsbury in London.1 In 1925, she published Mrs Dalloway, a novel in stream of consciousness, which means that we follow the characters’ thoughts as they enter their minds. It relates one day in the life of Clarissa Dalloway, a middle-class woman of fifty who is throwing a party that night. In parallel, we also follow Septimus Warren Smith, a young shell-shocked soldier. The extract I have chosen to study takes place in the afternoon, when Elizabeth Dalloway, who is Clarissa’s daughter, is taken by Miss Kilman, her tutor, to go shopping. Clarissa meets them both and we are given a glimpse of the relationship between the two adults. We are going to study how important appearances are in this passage. According to the Oxford dictionary, appearance is “the way that someone or something looks.”2
First of all, in this passage we can witness two worlds colliding, each embodied by Clarissa Dalloway and Miss Kilman. Indeed, both women by their look, represent two different social classes. Miss Kilman with her old mackintosh embodies the poor working class. As for Clarissa, she represents “all the other fine ladies”3, that is the wealthy middle-class, which is “condescending”4. Their dislike for each other is a metaphor of the fight between their two classes. As a matter of fact, the post-war and post-Victorian era in which Mrs Dalloway is set is for the United Kingdom a moment of self-questioning. The British Empire is declining and people are questioning the social order’s legitimacy.5
However, their fight cannot be reduced to a mere class conflict. Clarissa and Miss Kilman also differ in their believes. Indeed, Miss Kilman is a
Bibliography: LEHMANN John, Virginia Woolf and Her World, [1975], London: Harvest Edition, 1977. TRANSUE Pamela J., Virginia Woolf and the Politics of Style [1986], New York: State University of New York Press, 1986. WOOLF Virginia, Mrs Dalloway [1925], London: Penguin Group, 2012. Webography BETTS Raymond F., Disorder: Europe in the 1920’s, [http://britannia.com/history/euro/3/1_2.html], last consultation: 14/12/2014 CAREY Gary, Cliffsnotes on Mrs Dalloway : Elizabeth and her tutor, [http://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/m/mrs-dalloway/summary-and-analysis/elizabeth-and-her-tutor] last consultation: 14/12/2014 Dictionaries Oxford Dictionary Online, [http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/appearance]