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Fiction

Notes made one feel small because she was privately starving and depriving herself for the Russians.
The hate that welled up inside of Clarissa scared her. She felt that, since her illness, there was
perpetually a monster of hate inside of her waiting to claw or gnaw away at something. She
entered Mulberry’s florist and was greeted by eager Miss Pym. Miss Pym was happy to help
because Clarissa had been very kind. This year, however, she looked older. Clarissa was
enraptured by the various smells and colors of the many flowers. She knew Miss Pym liked
her and tried to surmount the hatred she had felt when suddenly a pistol shot in the street.
Miss Pym looked apologetic, as if the loud motor cars were her fault.

Part One Section One Analysis
Woolf begins the novel in her typical fashion, symbolically and methodically. We meet Clarissa
in the first sentence, in a proclamation of independence. She will get the flowers because Lucy
has work to do. The proclamation is thus tinged with a sense of irony because though Clarissa
has chosen to handle the burden of work herself, the work only consists of buying flowers.
The irony inherent in the entire text will be fleshed out as we continue but, the very first
sentences hint at the underlying theme of social commentary which Woolf instilled in order
to illustrate the superficiality of the members of Mrs. Dalloway’s social circle.
However, Clarissa’s character is not meant solely to represent the vainness of a certain social
group. Much deeper and more intense symbolism exists in the novel and in this central character.
The novel is one of moments. Moments of time and life are highlighted and intensely analyzed.
The narrative, though in third person, focuses on Clarissa but moves from character to character,
and often provides insight into the persona of Clarissa. Clarissa, unlike her double whom we
will meet shortly, loves life and embraces the present.
The two exclamations which begin the third paragraph are symbolic of Clarissa’s attitude
toward life and the moment to moment structure of the book. The ejaculations are short, stark,
and positive. They give the language a bursting feeling which will tie into the overarching
theme of the sea in the novel. Note how the second exclamatory sentence ends with the word
“plunge.” Other imagery at the beginning of this section adds to the feeling of jumping into
a pool of water. Clarissa thinks of opening French doors and bursting into the fresh, morning
air. She is plunging into life, into memory, and into self-evaluation. She is opening the windows
of life and plunging into it. The language has a light airy feel supported by the name of
Clarissa herself. The name originates from the word clarity and alludes to the “luminous Saint
Clara,” as described by Nadia Fusini.
The sea imagery arises again when Clarissa nears Big Ben. The bells which Big Ben ring break
the hush that Clarissa feels before the bells are to ring. The effect of the bells is described as,
“The leaden circles dissolve in the air.” This image reminds one of water after a body has
plunged into it. Once water is disturbed, a ring of circular ripples emanates outward from the
central point. This idea provides an insight into the very writing of Woolf. Mrs. Dalloway’s
character, as well as the character of Septimus and a few outside occurrences, sends ripples
outward into time and life, affecting the being of those around her. Scrope Purvis notices and
thinks about Clarissa, and we enter those thoughts. We also enter the thoughts of Miss Pym,
allowing the reader the knowledge that Clarissa had been very kind, in the past tense. We
wonder what is meant but are told no more. The reader receives glimpses into the ripples
which are effected by day to day living.
The writing reflects the sea and rippling wave imagery broadcast through the character’s
intuitions. Woolf refused to follow the conventional format for writing a novel. A member of
the Bloomsbury group and a peer of James Joyce, she did not feel a need to prescribe to
traditional organization, thus allowing for a much more loose form in terms of syntax, plot,

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