Virginia Woolf- Mrs Dalloway "What a good mourning!"

Exercises pag 534-535:

Comprehension:

•·        Where is Mrs Dalloway going?

Mrs Dalloway is going to buy flowers for her evening party.

•·         What is her mood?

She feels anxious because Rumpelmayer' s men are coming.

•·         The passage mixes two different time dimensions. Which are they? What sound evokes the past in Clarissa's mind?

The first a the flashback to her childhood when she was 18 years old, the second is contemporary she is over 50 years old. She is going to buy flowers for the evening party . The sound which evokes the past in Clarissa's mind is the squeak of the hinges.

•·         Who do you think is Peter Walsh? What does Clarissa say of him?

Peter Walsh is an old friend of her. He still writes her boring letters, she remembers his eyes, his pocket-knife, his bad temper, his smile, but above all his sayings.

•·         What does Scrope Purvis think of Clarissa?

Scrope Purvis thinks that she is a charming woman.

•·         What are Clarissa's thoughts while walking through the streets in Westminster?

She is positive, she loves life in London in that moment of June.

Interpretation:

•·         Focus on point of view. What kind of narrator is used?

The reader can find the alternation between the first and the third person. The narrator is omniscient and reliable. He coincides with the main character, and he is not intrusive.

•·         Focus on style. Critics have often used the term "poetic prose" with reference to Wolf's style which features an abundance of repetitions, similes, imagery, lists and alliterations.

Repetitions: "the flap  of a wave, the kiss of a wave". Similes: "a touch of the birds about her". Imagery: "fresh as if issued to children on a beach"; "the kiss of a wave". Lists: "his eyes, his pocket-knife, his smile, his bad temper"; "carnages, motor cars, omnibuses, vans". Alliterations: "brass brands"; "shuffling and swinging".

•·         Focus on character. How is Clarissa's character created?

She is created through:

1.    Physical descriptions,

2.    Statements by the author,

3.    Clarissa's thoughts and feelings,

4.    Clarissa's behavior.

•·         The painting below is by Virginia Woolf's sister, Vanessa Bell, an artist who was at the centre of the avant-garde Bloomsbury Group. Can you see any similarity in the way the two sisters portray characters?

Both portray the characters without focusing on their physical aspects. The main theme is their attitude, the moment they are living and the deep contrast with the background.