Comparing the Storylines of Septimus and Clarissa

Throughout our class discussions of Clarissa and Septimus, we frequently touched on the parallels between the two story lines. We did mention small similarities such as unwanted visitors barging into both of their houses: Peter at Clarissa’s and Dr. Holmes at Septimus’. However, in terms of their back story and their mental states, I would like to entertain the possibility of parallel story lines eventually diverging with Septimus’ suicide.

            In terms of similarities of the two story lines, it’s quite evident that both Septimus and Clarissa are on the verge of crumbling beneath the societal pressures that they respectively face. For Septimus, his PTSD and the doctors’ “help” are quite stressful for him. On top of that, his fear of admitting to Rezia that he doesn’t love her adds to the pressures that he experiences in his everyday life. For Clarissa, her pressures are more a product of her aristocratic status. As a reader, we see that Clarissa is quite an emotional and thoughtful character that often loses herself in the past. However, because of her Mrs. Dalloway facade, she continually conceals her emotions. Clarissa also doesn’t feel passionate in her marriage with Richard and finds herself wondering about a life with Peter and Sally.

            Both in Septimus’ and Clarissa’s story line, we see a fear in admitting to their “significant other” that they feel indifferent towards their marriage. These secrets add to the solitary emotions that they face. If anything, their wife/husband should be the person they trust and openly tell everything to, but the guilty feelings both of them have distances them from their partner. Both have people that are devoted to supporting them and are doing their best to create a stable life. Despite this, Clarissa and Septimus feel alone and isolated.

Also, their emotions are either permanently distorted (Septimus) or concealed (Clarissa). Thus, they both suffer from an inability to express themselves freely. Septimus is always paranoid of everything happening around him because of his experiences in the war. Woolf effectively conveys Septimus’ abnormal state of mind through his hallucinations and his perspective of the meaning of life. For Clarissa, we are allowed into her mind and can experience her thoughts and memories. We find that she ponders of profound things such as aging and death. However, we see Mrs. Dalloway make no other mention of her thoughts to other people in the novel. She largely holds onto these thoughts for herself. Through Woolf depictions of Clarissa’s internal thoughts and her relationships with other people in the novel, we see that even though Clarissa has a lot of people around her, no one knows the true Clarissa.

I think that Clarissa and Septimus represent alternative story lines. Where both individuals feel indifferent to their marital partner, lack the ability to convey their emotions, and feel solitary even thought they are supported by others. In the midst of these pressures, Septimus commits suicide and Clarissa persists. To a contemporary reader, it might seem as though Clarissa is mentally stronger. However, at the party, when Clarissa hears about the death of Septimus, she views Septimus as stronger for accepting and standing up to the fact that he was broken and was unable to deal with the pressure of society and life. I think Woolf is trying to explain that neither story line is "better" or person is “stronger” than the other, simply they coped with their respective situations in different ways.