Mrs. Dalloway |
The Hours |
CLARISSA DALLOWAY
The title character, Clarissa Dalloway is the portrait of a aristocratic housewife and hostess. She has a small view of the world, and worries about the small things, like who is going to come to her party. She can though, be incredibly sensitive to the world around her. She also loves to reminisce, thinking back on her life. "And she began to go with Miss Pym from jar to jar, choosing, nonsense, nonsense..." (13). 
SEPTIMUS WARREN SMITH
Septimus is the other protagonist in Mrs. Dalloway. The two main characters never actually meet face to face. Septimus is a young man, married to an Italian woman Lucrezia, and is fresh from World War I. He suffers from shell shock and paranoia, having seen his friends killed in action. He feels guilty for things he did in the war, and the things he didn't do. He has a hard time dealing with the transition back to civilian life, and despite his blatant insanity, he feels everything and cares for his wife. Septimus is a good person, who simply wants to get back to normality. "But they beckoned; leaves were alive; trees were alive. and the leaves being connected by millions of fibres with his own body, there on that seat, fanned it up and down; when the branch stretched, he too made that statement" (22). 
LUCREZIA WARREN SMITH
Lucrezia, or Rezia to her husband Septimus, is a loving wife. She feels terrible that her husband has come back from the war so in pain, and wants nothing more than to get back to being in a normal relationship with her husband, just as he wishes. She is a strong woman, whom Septimus comes to rely heavily on throughout the novel. Despite her torn heart, she still loves him and stands by his side while he struggles against his guilt and hallucinations. She helps him every moment he needs her, though at some points she needs a break to hide her sadness from him. "And he would not kill himself; and she could tell no one. 'Septimus has been working too hard' -that was all she could say to her own mother. To love makes one solitary, she thought. She could tell nobody, not even Septimus now" (23). |
CLARISSA VAUGHAN
Clarissa Vaughan, one of the three main women, she shares many traits with Clarissa Dalloway. She lives in 1990s New York City. She is a less shallow than Mrs. Dalloway, though she cares about certain sundries as well. She cares about others deeply, and though she does seem somewhat in a daze, she can't help but eventually delve deeper into her thoughts and acknowledge the tough world around her. "What a thrill, what a shock, to be alive on a morning in June, prosperous, almost scandalously privileged, with a simple errand to run" (10). 
RICHARD WORTHINGTON BROWN
Richard is one of Clarissa's oldest and most beloved friends. He is a bisexual writer who is unfortunate enough to be suffering from AIDS, and because of that, depression. Despite his condition, he still loves life, but hates his condition, and looks back fondly on his life. He has a deep mind and is often compared to Septimus. Unlike Septimus though, he doesn't feel guilty and he isn't as tortured, and certainly not as traumatized. He is depressed, but he tries to hide it from Clarissa, whose party in this novel is for him because he has won the Carrouther's Prize. "'When you asked if I remembered about the party and the ceremony, I thought you meant did I remember having gone to them. and I did remember. I seem to have fallen out of time" (62). 
LAURA BROWN
Laura Brown is a 1950s housewife, who is pregnant for most of the novel and is in the process of reading Mrs. Dalloway. She is unhappy with her role in society at this time, and sees herself as imperfect. She seeks justification for herself by looking for imperfection in others, like her friend Kitty, who, it can be inferred, has the early stages of ovarian cancer. She tries very hard to make everything perfect, like she feels she should be, for her husband Dan, who is the typical money-winner gentleman of the 1950s nuclear family archetype. She wants so much to be what she is supposed to be, but has a hard time being that ideal, though she knows what it is. Her mind doesn't allow her to do that to herself, so she has to convince herself to do these types of things. "Summoning resolve, as if she were about to dive into cold water, Laura closes the book and lays it on the nightstand. She does not dislike her child, does not dislike her husband. She will rise and be cheerful" (41). |
PETER WALSH
Peter Walsh is Clarissa's dejected lover. He had always loved her since they were children, but she decided he wanted too much from her and married Richard Dalloway. Peter is stuck in the past, even as he has aged. He chases after younger women, but never stopped loving Clarissa. He thinks too highly of himself, and is somewhat of a sad, pathetic man, who wants what he simply cannot have. He fiddles with a small Swiss army knife, a symbol of how small and insignificant he himself is and feels. "Striding, staring, he glared at the statue of the Duke of Cambridge. He had been sent down from Oxford-true. He had been a Socialist, in some sense a failure-true. Still the future of civilization lies, he thought, in the hands of young men like that; of young men such as he was thirty years ago" (50). |
VIRGINIA WOOLF
The analytic and insightful author of Mrs. Dalloway and many other classic novels, is embodied in The Hours. She is followed throughout the book while she struggles with the Clarissa character and writing her novel. She wants so much to understand her own creation, that she acts her out. She also struggles with depression, though not so much at this stage in her life. She is a hard-working woman, with a loving husband, Leonard. She is fiercely independent, intelligent and creative, and her writing is everything to her. It holds the most meaning in life for her. "He is still, at times, astonished by her. She may be the most intelligent woman in England, he thinks. Her books may be read for centuries. He believes this more ardently than does anyone else" (33). |
COMMONalities
In both of the books, characters share similar traits.
Both Clarissas are older, and like to relive their past. Their appearance is somewhat ironic. Seeing as they are older women, one would be lead to believe they had some sort of wisdom, and they do, but both of them choose to ignore it and leave it in their thoughts. Neither of them speaks anything like their thinking aloud, always trying to make the best of any situation. They are older, important looking women with the way they dress and carry themselves. In order to preserve the essence of the original text, Cunningham did not change the character very much. He made Clarissa Vaughan much more aware of and capable of deeper emotions, to add to the character that Virginia Woolf tried so hard to understand in her own mind, but couldn't, because she was so shallow and Virginia Woolf was so insightful. Clarissa Dalloway finds comfort in simple things and the more complex things scare her, but when she hears about Septimus' suicide, she is first devastated but then happy because "he made her feel the fun" (186) and caused her to look deeper into herself and life. This allows her to see the other side of life, whereas Clarissa Vaughan already has this insight given to her by the author. She knows of death, and can infer that Laura Brown "has been worshiped and despised" (221). Cunningham successfully imitates Clarissa and also improves her as a person to make her less of an annoying protagonist for readers.
Septimus is reinvented in Richard Brown, but is reinvented in a less than successful way. Unable, perhaps, to capture Septimus' painfully empathetic mind, Cunningham makes Richard have a much more tangible disease in AIDS. This is also to possibly modernize the character as the nineties had no war to have one be shell shocked from, while instead AIDS, equally misunderstood at that time was a suitable substitute. Changing Septimus is this way was to bring the book into the modern age. Septimus represents Virginia Woolf, also, in some abstract way, as she suffered from depression, and eventually ended up killing herself. One image the two have deeply in common is their hallucinations. Septimus is plagued by hallucinations of his fallen comrade, Evans (66). Richard is visited by shadows and different types of visions (59). As she had originally wanted to make Clarissa end up killing herself, but found it just didn't fit with the character, she subconsciously incorporated herself into the text in the character of Septimus. Cunningham changes him to make him more relatable to modern audiences, but in making him less of an emotional sponge, he made Clarissa more of one to balance the characters out.
Rezia and Laura are similar, but this may a bit of a stretch. Rezia wants so much to be a good wife to Septimus that she keeps herself strong for him. She has moments of weakness where she is just overcome with grief and desire for the past that she has to leave Septimus alone at times, thinking he "wasn't Septimus any longer" (65), but she always comes back to him. She cannot abandon him because she loves him. Laura is much like this, but as readers learn, she does eventually abandon her family and move to Canada. She is devoted to her husband, but only because she feels she must be, because of societal expectations. She finds the world "stunned and stunted, far from everything" (111). Rezia and Laura love their husbands under different circumstances. Rezia loves Septimus and even though she goes through a couple rough patches, she doesn't stop loving him. Laura stops loving her husband. Cunningham changes the Rezia character in this way to show how sometimes things become too much. Because Laura is ridiculed by characters later, and her own son dislikes her for leaving him, he is applauding Rezia for her strength and dislikes Laura for her actions.
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Several minor characters also share several similar traits.
Peter Walsh and Louis, who visits Clarissa in The Hours, are both dejected lovers, who live in the past and cannot give up on their wish to make their fantasies reality.
Elizabeth and Julia, each of Clarissas' daughters, are rebels and their mothers are not particularly proud of them. This exemplified by their hard relationship.
Mrs. Killman and Mary Krull, the newly turned Christian and the lesbian rebel who is attracted to Julia, but Julia has no idea, are each disliked by the Clarissas and try to take up the daughters' time, but fail when they go back to their mothers.
Lady Bruton of Clarissa Dalloway's world and Oliver St. Ives of Miss Vaughan's world are the eccentric rich people with big, silly ideas. Their purpose is make both Clarissas seem smarter and to contrast the two so readers see that each Clarissa is not so bad. They are somewhat shallow, but they aren't stupid.
And finally, each of the Sallys are the same. They love Clarissa and care deeply for each one.
Both Clarissas are older, and like to relive their past. Their appearance is somewhat ironic. Seeing as they are older women, one would be lead to believe they had some sort of wisdom, and they do, but both of them choose to ignore it and leave it in their thoughts. Neither of them speaks anything like their thinking aloud, always trying to make the best of any situation. They are older, important looking women with the way they dress and carry themselves. In order to preserve the essence of the original text, Cunningham did not change the character very much. He made Clarissa Vaughan much more aware of and capable of deeper emotions, to add to the character that Virginia Woolf tried so hard to understand in her own mind, but couldn't, because she was so shallow and Virginia Woolf was so insightful. Clarissa Dalloway finds comfort in simple things and the more complex things scare her, but when she hears about Septimus' suicide, she is first devastated but then happy because "he made her feel the fun" (186) and caused her to look deeper into herself and life. This allows her to see the other side of life, whereas Clarissa Vaughan already has this insight given to her by the author. She knows of death, and can infer that Laura Brown "has been worshiped and despised" (221). Cunningham successfully imitates Clarissa and also improves her as a person to make her less of an annoying protagonist for readers.
Septimus is reinvented in Richard Brown, but is reinvented in a less than successful way. Unable, perhaps, to capture Septimus' painfully empathetic mind, Cunningham makes Richard have a much more tangible disease in AIDS. This is also to possibly modernize the character as the nineties had no war to have one be shell shocked from, while instead AIDS, equally misunderstood at that time was a suitable substitute. Changing Septimus is this way was to bring the book into the modern age. Septimus represents Virginia Woolf, also, in some abstract way, as she suffered from depression, and eventually ended up killing herself. One image the two have deeply in common is their hallucinations. Septimus is plagued by hallucinations of his fallen comrade, Evans (66). Richard is visited by shadows and different types of visions (59). As she had originally wanted to make Clarissa end up killing herself, but found it just didn't fit with the character, she subconsciously incorporated herself into the text in the character of Septimus. Cunningham changes him to make him more relatable to modern audiences, but in making him less of an emotional sponge, he made Clarissa more of one to balance the characters out.
Rezia and Laura are similar, but this may a bit of a stretch. Rezia wants so much to be a good wife to Septimus that she keeps herself strong for him. She has moments of weakness where she is just overcome with grief and desire for the past that she has to leave Septimus alone at times, thinking he "wasn't Septimus any longer" (65), but she always comes back to him. She cannot abandon him because she loves him. Laura is much like this, but as readers learn, she does eventually abandon her family and move to Canada. She is devoted to her husband, but only because she feels she must be, because of societal expectations. She finds the world "stunned and stunted, far from everything" (111). Rezia and Laura love their husbands under different circumstances. Rezia loves Septimus and even though she goes through a couple rough patches, she doesn't stop loving him. Laura stops loving her husband. Cunningham changes the Rezia character in this way to show how sometimes things become too much. Because Laura is ridiculed by characters later, and her own son dislikes her for leaving him, he is applauding Rezia for her strength and dislikes Laura for her actions.
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Several minor characters also share several similar traits.
Peter Walsh and Louis, who visits Clarissa in The Hours, are both dejected lovers, who live in the past and cannot give up on their wish to make their fantasies reality.
Elizabeth and Julia, each of Clarissas' daughters, are rebels and their mothers are not particularly proud of them. This exemplified by their hard relationship.
Mrs. Killman and Mary Krull, the newly turned Christian and the lesbian rebel who is attracted to Julia, but Julia has no idea, are each disliked by the Clarissas and try to take up the daughters' time, but fail when they go back to their mothers.
Lady Bruton of Clarissa Dalloway's world and Oliver St. Ives of Miss Vaughan's world are the eccentric rich people with big, silly ideas. Their purpose is make both Clarissas seem smarter and to contrast the two so readers see that each Clarissa is not so bad. They are somewhat shallow, but they aren't stupid.
And finally, each of the Sallys are the same. They love Clarissa and care deeply for each one.
