R A 12 (382)

Joy Lee

Class Summary on the discussion on Mrs. Dalloway (pp2389-2437) on April 12th

As the clock struck eleven, Dr. Foss entered the classroom and told us, “Good morning,” signaling the beginning of the class. As everyone in the class looked at him, he told us that we were going to have a multiple-choice quiz on the second half of Mrs. Dalloway, because we didn’t have one last class. At the end of the quiz, Dr. Foss showed the class a YouTube video of a nyan cat flying and the class watched it in amusement. After the class had finished scribbling down the correct answers, he collected the quiz and went over the answers to the quiz questions, emphasizing on the name, “Kilman.”

After going over the quiz questions, Dr. Foss talked briefly about the themes present in Mrs. Dalloway. The thematic lenses for Mrs. Dalloway consisted of The Great War, Beyond the Pale, Burying Victoria, The Foundations of Modern Skepticism, Revolutions of Style, Modernism and the Modern city, Plotting the Self, and The Return of the Repressed. Dr. Foss told the class that he had gone through the perspective sections and that he wanted us to talk about some of the thematic lenses and how they connect to the 20th century in small groups. He wanted us to explore and talk about how we can make assertions about where the novel fits in relation to some of the ideas in the perspective section. In small and large groups, we examined the transcendental theory, Clarissa’s view on Septimus’s death, Sir William Bradshaw’s belief on proportion, and Lady’s Bruton’s character. This class session offered an insight into the transcendental theory and England’s social scene in Mrs. Dalloway.

The class split into small groups and my group consisted of Nia, Diana, Rita, Sarah, and Rachel. We decided to talk about Lady Bruton, Clarissa Dalloway, and Sir William Bradshaw, discussing their characters. We began with Nia’s questioning of Lady Bruton’s plan to send poor people to Canada. Sarah showed interest in Lady Bruton’s background and character, and talked about how she can’t even write a letter even though she is from a great family. She also talked about Lady Bruton’s belief that most wives get in the way of their husbands through their illnesses or petty concerns. As a group, we concluded that Lady Bruton represents the British tradition and the patriarchal society during the period.

We then discussed Clarissa Dalloway in depth, asserting that she is selfish and critical. It was interesting that she feels responsible for Septimus’s death, because she is the “perfect hostess” of society. At the same time, she is glad that he died because she views his death as a preservation of the soul. There is also an irony at the news of Septimus’s death in Clarissa’s party. Clarissa throws parties to promote life and human connection and death invades her party. Clarissa is angry that death is brought up at the party but contemplates on it and tries to make a connection with his death to herself. We thought it was interesting that Clarissa thinks about Septimus’s death, because they share similarities even though their lives are different. Clarissa does what people expect of her and thinks about how people will perceive her at the parties. However, Septimus does not care about what people think about him and knows what he wants in life.

Furthermore, we thought it was ironic that no one in the novel likes Sir William Bradshaw even though he has helped many people, which reminded us of the creature from Frankenstein. He is part of imperialism, because he constantly tries to take control of people and to make them as who he wants them to be through a religion conversion. To him, a conversion is a proportion, and if one is not converted, he or she suffers from a “lack of proportion.” Sir William Bradshaw represents the prosperous England at the time, because just as England believed that they had to define reality for others, Bradshaw believes that people have to convert to be in proportion.

Dr. Foss brought the class back and told us that he wanted to do a run-through of the second half of the novel. He said that there is a sense of connection in the novel, like a “spider-web.” Even if people live in a big, crowded city, there is a sense that everyone is mingled. For example, he talked about Sir William Bradshaw causing a lot of damage through conversion in the name of proportion, in the “web of life.” He went on, questioning why Richard cannot tell Clarissa his true feelings, referring to Matthew Arnold’s “Dover Beach.” He also mentioned various important points in the novel, such as hollowness and the lack of connection at Clarissa’s party. When Peter enters the party and has to interact with people, he feels that something important in missing. Dr. Foss related this hollowness to the tea party from “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” where universe is not disturbed and people do not ask overwhelming questions.

The large group discussion began when Eric referred to the transcendental theory in page 2416. He said that it is a big part of the novel, because many people are affected by other beings. For instance, while walking in the streets, Peter is constantly drawn back by Clarissa and other people. There is a sense of connection even though he is not with them, such as the relationship that Septimus feels he has with Evans. Objects in environments continue to trigger memories. Nia was the second person to participate. She said that Clarissa sees beauty in death, because Septimus is saving his soul by compromising with the society. However, she was taken aback at Clarissa’s view of his death as beautiful when Septimus had suffered from a shell shock. After Nia’s comments, Dr. Foss told the class that some have read Clarissa’s character as contemplating suicide as well. He questioned whether Clarissa is a failure because she walks back to the party, or whether she is heroically life affirming because she sees beauty in life and goes back to the people. Elizabeth agreed with Nia that it is sad to see Septimus commit suicide when he was finally solving his issues by making a hat for Mrs. Peters.

In both small and large group, the class reached several conclusions. The first was that there is a sense of connection in the novel that transcends the characters’ separation. Even though Peter and Clarissa are not together, their thoughts are connected by external events, such as the sound of the Big Ben clock striking the hour. Also, Virginia Woolf uses a continuous narrative to tell her story, which represents a unity among people. Secondly, we saw that though Clarissa sees beauty in both Septimus’s death and her life, her life is full of hollowness, such as in her parties. Also, we realized that the damage that Sir William Bradshaw creates through his conversion is representative of England’s imperialism. Lastly, Lady Bruton adhering to the traditions and her helplessness without men reveal patriarchal power of the society.

Word Count: 1,202

English 382 British Literature 1800-Beyond: Class Summary for April 12, 2012 Katherine Henion

Professor Foss is probably one of the oddest, but funniest instructors that English majors would ever have. Some would believe that the statement is brown-nosing and most would agree. However, that would not have been said if it was not true. Professor Foss teaches that class very well. In this particular occasion, he helped the students by giving thematic lenses for Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway and one of the thematic lenses that were strongly discussed was plotting the Self. Throughout the individual discussion and in the wider class discussion, the plotting of the self lens was widely discussed. At the start of the class on Thursday April 12, 2012, Professor Foss came in with “another fabulous Reward Quiz.” Parts of the class groaned as usual, but on the far left corner of the room, in the back, several students were confident in their abilities to pass this Reward Quiz. As Professor Foss reads all of the questions along with the multiple answers, he stops at one question to play a short video on a very funny cat. The class started to laugh at the randomness of the video and the class went back to the quiz. Once the quiz was finished, Professor Foss pulled up the multiple thematic lenses that appear in the story the class was discussing for two days. Each thematic lens was for Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway helps the students to understand the impact of British society on literature. The one thematic theme that made the most impact in the individual group discussion was plotting the self. The group observed was talking about the connection with the characters and the symbolism of the flowers within the story. Michaela Godfrey did most of the talking within the group, but most of what she was saying was about plotting the Self. The flowers and their symbolism was the greatest topic of discussion. The symbolism of the flowers was universal balance which for each character was different. The character Mrs. Dalloway, in the beginning of the book, was going out to get flowers herself. This means, from the symbolism, that Mrs. Dalloway needs balance from her troubles with Peter Walsh and her love for Sally Seton. She is trying to find balance, but never achieves that balance. The balance falls under the theme of plotting of the self. As the group discussed more on the connectivity between characters, Septimus and Mrs. Dalloway’s connection with Septimus’ suicide, Professor Foss calls the class into the larger group discussion. The large group discussion was short lived, but some of the major themes were discussed. The major theme was plotting the self. The connectivity of the characters, especially with Septimus and Mrs. Dalloway shows that connectivity within the group of characters in Virginia Woolf’s short story. One of the students had a comment on the connection with the characters and their past. Their past is never really resolved and that’s what makes most of the characters not able move forward and live a happier life. Essentially, the questions of the past never get answers and some characters don’t ask the ultimate question, whether there is anything better after their lives are already spent. This overwhelming question is connected from Mrs. Dalloway into T.S. Eliot’s The Love Song of Alfred J. Prufrock, where the speaker in the poem never asks the ultimate question either. As the class went on in discussion, the issue of Septimus’ suicide comes into the conversation. Septimus was talked about a little in the small group in relation to Mrs. Dalloway. Both characters see the darker side of human nature, but Septimus was probably more aware than Mrs. Dalloway. Septimus committed suicide because he didn’t want human nature, aka Dr. Holmes and Dr. Bradshaw, to control him and separate him from his wife. When Mrs. Dalloway hears about the suicide at her party she was mad at first that death was talked about, but when she goes into another room she finds the beauty in Septimus’ suicide. There was a slight indication that Mrs. Dalloway was connecting with Septimus by understanding why he did the act. The reader can go so far as to say that she even thought about killing herself as well, but then the call of the party comes back to her and the moment passed. The connectivity is there and the theme, plotting the self, falls under that train of thought. Professor Foss closes the class on the major note that Septimus was understood by a major character, Mrs. Dalloway. The class was cut short because of Professor Foss’ obligation to a mother with a plane ride back to her home. However, the theme plotting with the self made the better part of both discussions in small groups and in the larger class. The connection with all the characters shows that the plotting of the self makes it a major part of the book.