An Exploration Of Clarissa s Gift Through Different...

Camilla Anderson Prof. Laura O’Connor English 102D: Modernist Women Writers November 25 2015 An Exploration of Clarissa’s gift through different points of view in Virginia Woolf’s â€Å"Mrs. Dalloway† Multiple points of view are represented and shifted through various characters in Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway through indirect discourse, which helps to describe the innermost thoughts of Woolf’s central characters using singular pronouns in the third-person. It is these multiple points of view that establish interconnectedness among the characters, mirroring the interconnectedness that comes with Clarissa’s gift: her parties; it is these parties in which she brings people together and creates a human dialogue. We first see a shifting†¦show more content†¦terrified him.† (15) We see the transition when we learn that Septimus is also looking out from the very same motorcar, which is precisely when the point of view switches to Septimus’, whereby his consciousness is shrouded in trauma and shell shock - a definite dichotomy between the opposing worlds of himself and Clarissa’s. Despite coming from seemingly opposing worlds, the subtle transition establishes the interconnectedness between the two characters– almost as if though they are one person or entity. A second significant transition occurs when Peter Walsh, a former love of Clarissa’s, pays an unexpected visit to Clarissa the same morning. Here we get a sense of their feelings and thoughts towards each other, and learn that the togetherness they once had, has been lost: â€Å"He’s very well dressed, thought Clarissa; yet he always criticises me†¦Here she is mending her dress; mending her dress as usual, he thought; here she’s been sitting all the time I’ve been in India; mending her dress; playing about; going to parties; running to the House and back and all that, he thought, growing more and more irritated, more and more agitated.† (41) The shift in point of view from Clarissa’s to Peter’s emphasizes how separate and disconnected their lives have become, which perfectly contrasts with the way in which both the characters’ inner thoughts are smoothly intertwined. Clarissa is usually