What if you could relive your life? Would you make different decisions? How would those different decisions affect your life today? For Clarissa Parry, the commitment to marry Richard instead of Peter would forever change her into a new identity of Mrs. Dalloway. While the marriage seemed right at first, Mrs. Dalloway started to realize how dull her relationship with Richard was. Was she even in love? But at the same time, she respected the space and freedom she was allowed from Richard. On the other hand, Peter would be involved in her every move but their relationship was definitely more intimate. Combining the two might have been perfect for Clarissa but life—even with the overflowing free will—can't do that.
Virginia Woolf conveys the frustrating reality of never being able to know how it would've been if Clarissa had married Peter Walsh. Woolf wants to use the character of Clarissa to remind us that the question of "What if?" is prevalent in everyone's lives. The sad truth is that everyone has regrets and makes mistakes that they wish to fix. Or even worse, like Clarissa, you never even know what the outcome might've been if you had taken another path.
What's more, for Clarissa, there honestly isn't even a serious conflict in her and Richard's relationship. But their relationship is so plain that she assumes that she has failed him: "... suddenly there came a moment—for example on the river beneath the woods at Clieveden—when, through some contraction of this cold spirit, she had failed him" (Woolf, 31). Because of this emptiness in her heart for Richard, she is more inclined to remember the times with Peter.
You don't realize what you have until it's gone. Clarissa, now Mrs. Dalloway, to a certain extent implies that she misses when she was with Peter. What seemed annoying and pestering about Peter long ago, now brought her even closer to Peter. From his strange, judgmental comments to his pocket-knife habit, these unique characteristics induce the thought of "What would Peter do or say in this situation?" into Clarissa. It's a feeling of nostalgia almost rather than truly missing him out of love. I believe Carissa would have been in a similar situation if she had married Peter and not Richard. This all traces back to the question of "What if?"; at the end of the day, no matter what decisions Clarissa made, those decisions shaped her into the person she is right now—and if her past was different then she would be a distinct person shaped from that past. Thus, the question of "What if?" is one that is hard to answer and forever unsolvable. We will never know what would've happened if we took the other road but we know that if we did, we would be in a different place(be a different person) today.
Reading this made Clarissa's marriage to Richard seem almost like she's confining herself to this relationship. She was free to interact with various people beforehand - such as Sally and Peter - and she thinks fondly of those times. But now, she's married to Richard in a lukewarm relationship. Perhaps she feels trapped, but is okay with her situation because of her security with Richard.
ReplyDeleteI kind of disagree with your statement that Clarissa would've been in a similar situation had she married Peter and not Richard- I think that the two men represent unique paths. Peter represents the riskier, but more passionate route, while Richard is the safe, loveless relationship. I don't think Clarissa would've looked back with the same nostalgia had she married Peter, because she had less of an attachment to Richard. Then again, as you have stated, it's hard to answer this question of "what if".
ReplyDeleteI agree about what you said about the relationship being plain with Richard. The book basically tells us that Clarissa married Richard for stability and that upper class life and not purely because of passion. And so I don't think Clarissa thinks of Peter because of her lack of love for Richard, I think she thinks of him because she's bored and yearns for the stimulation Peter brings to her.
ReplyDeleteYou make good points about how Clarissa views Peter and Richard, and about how Clarissa is often shown thinking about her past. I really like how you said that Clarissa misses Peter out of nostalgia rather than true love, and that her fascination for Peter is out of a sense of "What if." I do think she loves Richard, as she never says that she regrets her marriage but only that she failed him. I agree with you in that Clarissa only looks to Peter because of the question that all of us like to ask, which is "What if?"
ReplyDeleteI agree, I think the "what if" question is being teased throughout the novel. While her relationship with Richard is very plain, it is by no means a disaster. Even though Clarissa and Peter think about each other throughout the book,I don't think Wolfe is trying to persuade us that Peter is the better option. He gives off a sense of creepiness throughout the book, especially with his pocketknife. And while Clarissa's marriage is plain, there are no problems with Richard, and from what we know Peter would most certainly not give her the same personal space that Richard does.
ReplyDeleteTo add to this discussion, I agree with some points and disagree with others. I do think that Clarissa and Richard's marriage is plain. However, I would add that Clarissa's and Peter's personalities are so dissimilar it would lead to an unstable marriage and ultimately divorce within a short period of time. I also believe Clarissa knows this, and although she daydreams about what life would be like with Peter, she never considered it a realistic possibility.
ReplyDeleteNice post. I like how you mention that the things that used to annoy Clarissa about Peter now maybe make her miss him more. Even if its still an annoying habit she reflects about it in a more nostalgic way. I think that even if Clarissa had married Peter instead of Richard she may have been still unhappy because we see several times throughout the novel that she felt she was only really able to connect in a relationship with women. Although she may have had more fun in life with Peter, I don't know if she would have been fulfilled.
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