Upon viewing ?Mrs. Dalloway? I was not impressed. The movie seemed to jump from the present to the past. The character Septimus didn’t appear to have any purpose in the storyline. Clarrisa also seemed to be tightly bound by the Victorian lifestyle of the day to make her interesting to me. The plot just seemed too hard to follow. This movie must have been for people that look for meaning deeper than I.
I believe that Mrs. Dalloway was fixed on the past. For one thing, the audience never saw Clarissa Dalloway think about the future; she always went back to the past. Every time she stopped to think about something it was of the past, for example; the flashback of the night of boating, and Septimus’ delusional thoughts of World War I.I think her one true love was Peter. I think she married Mr. Dalloway because she was scared to admit that she loved Peter in more than a “brotherly way.” When she was older and seeing Peter at the party, I think she regretted not marrying Peter. Perhaps the movie would have been more interesting if Clarissa would have been more free spirited like Peter or Sally.
Septimus did not have a well defined role in the film. He was constantly reliving his days in the war, and appearing to everyone that insanity has become him. His purpose was unclear, the story just jumped from Clarissa to Septimus. Whether he parallels or is an opposite of Clarissa, I don’t know. If Septimus was a parallel of Clarissa, then his character was played well, being that he, like Clarissa, constantly thought of the past, and never the future. Making the two most similar, yet they seem different in that Clarissa recollects on happier thoughts, while Septimus dwells on depressing thoughts of the first world war.
Clarissa was obligated to the Victorian lifestyle, seen in her flashbacks to the past. At Bourton she was too set in her ways to be free spirited. Unlike Sally or Peter, Clarissa was unable to speak her mind, or do as she pleases. She appeared as the model Victorian woman, yet that held her back from following her love of Peter. The concern that her party would be inferior to other parties prevented her from enjoying herself on a day that she should be rejoicful. Clarissa also seemed to be a dreamer. Her life apparently revolved around dreams that appear perfect. For example, the fact that everyone has fun at her party is not as important as the fact that she has fun.
The film ?Mrs. Dalloway? was hard to follow, and generally not interesting. This is just my opinion and opinions vary from person to person. Yet if Clarissa had been a free spirit, and not a traditionalist she would have captured my attention as having a purpose. Septimus’ purpose is unclear, and the plot is made for those who don’t take things for what they are and leave them at that.
