Mrs. Dalloway

Communication enables individuals to relate to others on a deeper level, but it can also result in a loss of privacy. The reader is taken on a journey into the lives and thoughts of many people. The novel gives you the ability to hear and see what may seem like ordinary conversations and interactions between characters, but if looked at with a deeper scope of vision, the opportunity to take a glimpse into their lives is obtained. Communication comes in many forms. Things such as windows, curtains, and doors can act as tools, in which can enable people to control the amount of privacy and communication in their everyday lives. In the novel Mrs.Dalloway by Virginia Woolf, Clarissa Dalloway and Septimus Smith, two very different characters, are both struggling to achieve the balance between communication and privacy in their lives through their interactions with others.

In the novel, Septimus and Clarissa are seen to be very similar characters despite their many differences, but Septimus is a confused man who is unable to communicate. Before Septimus jumps out of his window and commits suicide he sees an old man descending the steps and leaving the privacy of his home. This sight sparked something inside of Septimus, the Old Man was leaving the privacy of his home as Septimus is going to be forced to by the Doctors. Septimus is a man who, because of the war and the death of his friend Evans, lost his ability to feel. With the inability to feel it is not possible for Septimus to be able to communicate normally. Due to his inability to communicate, Septimus bottles up all of his emotions inside of him until he finds himself at a precipice. Jumping out of the window enables us to see how the window acts as his form of communication. Since the doctors would not let him keep his privacy and dignity, he must do the one thing he can to preserve those two crucial aspects of life. This is evident when he shouts out "I'll give it you" (149). This is Septimus' last desperate attempt to still be in control of his own life. He will not let the doctors take what he has left, and those words are the only form of communication he can give. So he took the only option he feels he has and uses the window as his tool of communication, communicating about his internal struggles the only way he believes that people will understand. He lands on the fence, which represents the barriers of civilization he was incapable of overcoming. Septimus landing on the fence is extremely significant because he was "on the fence" in so many different ways. For example, he could not cross the fences that his inability to communicate created and was condemned by society's lack of knowledge about his mental illness.

The novel opens our eyes to how the ability to communicate could have saved Septimus' life. While Septimus and his wife Lucrezia are making the hat for the woman next door, the possibility of happiness in Septimus' life seems to be attainable. Lucrezia states, "They were perfectly happy now, she said, suddenly, putting the hat down. For she could say anything to him now" (146). The ability of the two of them to communicate normally made them both happy. Septimus and Lucrezia were not always an unhappy married couple, When Septimus met Lucrezia in Italy during the war they were madly in love and happy. If given the gift of communication, Septimus could live a wonderful and happy life with his wife. This gives us a notion of what could have happened if Septimus is able to communicate, his happiness would have been attainable and his suicide unnecessary.

Clarissa loves her parties, but what she is really yearning for inside is the chance to communicate with others. Mrs.Dalloway is set in one day in London, England, leading up to Clarissa's party. Clarissa Dalloway is an upper-class, fifty year old woman, looking back on her life. A person who is afraid of what others might think of her, Clarissa is scurrying about making preparation for the evening. She is known for her parties and adores throwing them. Her parties add a little bit of sparkle to her lack-luster life. She enjoys throwing these parties because it makes her the center of attention. She tries to achieve her desire of communication by throwing these parties. Clarissa feels some sort of fulfillment when everyone is together and conversing happily. As the hostess, Clarissa is nervous that the party will not go well. All of her worrying seems to disappear when Ralph Lyon hit the blowing curtain back so it would not interrupt his conversation with another party guest. "And Clarissa saw - she saw Ralph Lyon beat it back, and go on talking. So it wasn't a failure after all!" (170). It was as if the curtain, usually a symbol of privacy, was a wall that was torn down so that people can converse and be brought together. Immediately after, a swarm of people rush into the party. She greets her guests, and then once again reassures herself that since the wall had been torn down everything would now go smoothly. "She had six or seven words with each, and then they went on, they went into the rooms; into something now, not nothing, since Ralph Lyon had beat back the curtain." (170). Clarissa?s deep yearning to communicate with others is temporarily