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Fiction

Notes the same man she had married. The doctor, though, said nothing was wrong with him. Septimus
sat, hearing the sparrows sing in Greek and babbling aloud. When Rezia returned, he jumped
up, moving them away from people and ignoring her.
Maisie Johnson, a girl fresh from Edinburgh, asked the couple directions to the subway. Rezia
gestured abruptly, hoping Maisie would not notice Septimus’ madness. Maisie was unnerved
by both and would remember them for years. She was horrified by the look in Septimus’ eyes.
Mrs. Carrie Dempster, an older woman in the park, noticed Maisie and was reminded of her
younger days. She imagined Maisie getting married, asserting that she, Carrie, would have
done things differently if she had a second chance. She looked to Maisie for pity. Meanwhile,
Mr. Bentley, a man sweeping around his tree in Greenwich, thought the airplane’s effort
represented the concentration of a man’s soul. In front of St. Paul’s Cathedral, a seedy looking
man was awed by the thought of the members of society who were invited into its halls. The
plane continued aimlessly, letters pouring from its perpetually looping motion.

Part One Section Two Analysis

The explosive situation with the car allows us two specific insights into the text. One, it again
highlights the emphasis of the British culture on figure heads and symbols. No one is sure
which great figure resides within the important looking car, but each onlooker feels touched
“by magic,” as Clarissa notes. Traffic slows and onlookers halt and then rush to Buckingham
Palace. The car, as with many of the objects with which Clarissa surrounds herself, is an empty
symbol. What is inside does not matter. The shell of the car, in a postmodern sense, represents
the empty significance that is often placed on social status within the world of Mrs. Dalloway’s
London.
It is at this moment that we also meet Septimus Smith. At the same time when Clarissa is
frozen in delight, imagining the Queen and Prince and parties, Septimus is frozen by apprehension
and fear. Many critics describe Septimus as Clarissa’s doppelganger, the alternate persona, the
darker, more internal personality compared to Clarissa’s very social and singular outlook.
However, a few critics hint that to characterize Septimus as Clarissa’s double is too limiting
for both of their characters. Perhaps the best way to describe their relationship is to think of
it as a means to flesh out the intensity of the human mind. The novel takes the reader through
only one day in Clarissa and Septimus’ lives, and yet we learn so much more about their
characters and about humanity in general. These two personas allow the reader to discern
how two seemingly opposite characters correspond and interrelate. Clarissa and Septimus
never meet and yet, their lives are intertwined from the moment in the street to the news of
Septimus’ death at Clarissa’s party.
We also meet Rezia, Septimus’ wife, in this section of the book, as she struggles through the
embarrassment of having a crazy husband. The way Septimus is told that nothing is wrong
with him alludes to circumstances in Woolf’s life. With her fragile mental state, she encountered
many psychologists, most of whom did not know how to treat mentally ill patients. Often,
they did more harm than good. Septimus is the victim of this psychosocial establishment in
post-War England. As a representative of the “lost generation,” a topic touched on by many
of Woolf’s contemporary’s—most noticeably T.S. Eliot in The Wasteland, Septimus suffers
from delusions and hallucinations. The husband and wife, as a result, can no longer communicate
as they once had.
Another confused symbol of communication exists in the form of the airplane that spreads
incomprehensible words across the sky, gaining much of London’s attention after the excitement
of the important car passes. Letters are strewn about but no character agrees on the message
delineated. Ironically, however, many people are connected through the inability to communicate

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