Freshman
year when we read The Great Gatsby, we
discussed how Nick Carroway’s name was a metaphor for his carefree lifestyle
when he was with Gatsby. I think the idea of using a name as a metaphor can be applied to
characters in Mrs. Dalloway, namely
Clarissa Dalloway and Miss Kilman.
Might "Dalloway" be a metaphor for how Miss Kilman
thinks Clarissa is dallying her life
away? Miss Kilman disapproves of Mrs. Dalloway’s partying lifestyle and feels that her life is
void and that she is letting it “trifle away" (p.122). Similarly, the name Kilman can be taken as a
metaphor for how Clarissa feels Miss Kilman is killing the relationship she has with her daughter Elizabeth by spending an enormous amount of time
with her and encouraging her to be religious.
Miss Kilman and Mrs. Dalloway are complete
opposites of each other in terms of their values. For example, Clarissa is an
atheist and Miss Kilman is very religious. These two contradictory characters’
names reflect their unflattering views of each other. Perhaps Virginia Woolf
was trying to make the point that we judge those who are different or don’t
agree with our values.
I think that Clarissa's name means much more than that. People are given status through their name. As people arrive at her party, their names are announced. Once Clarissa married Richard, she was no longer Clarissa; she was Mrs. Richard Dalloway. We see the same thing happen to Sally Seton, who at the end of the novel we learn is now Lady Rosseter. Mrs. Dalloway is Clarissa's married name, and she is identified with Richard. The title is "Mrs. Dalloway" for a reason. The title of "Miss" is also very important for Miss Kilman, because it's important to her that she's not married and has kept her own name. People are often defined by their names, and these women's titles play a large role in that.
ReplyDeleteI think you make a really good point. Once Clarissa takes on Richard's name, she becomes an extension of Richard's image and loses a part of her individuality in the process. Similarly, we see Sally Seton, who was once a high spirited girl with a lot of passion for life, become a mother of five and live a pretty tame life. Also, I agree with your point that Miss Kilman's name puts emphasis on the "Miss" and demonstrates a more feminist aspect of the novel. Overall, the role of the character's names in Mrs. Dalloway deserves a further explication but for now understanding the significance of their name will have to do.
DeleteThis is a very interesting and surprisingly fitting idea of names in this book. But I feel like it really only works in this situation for those two characters. It also seems that those only reflect their opinions of each other. As we know, every character has a lot more to them than just one person sees. These names could only potentially describe their rivalry, but they don't reflect everything about either character.
ReplyDeleteClarissa's first name also implies "clarity" or clearness of vision--not a bad trait in a primary focal character in a novel. For all her ambivalence about her past and present, she is able to think with remarkable clarity and reconstruct these scenes vividly. (I wish I had Virginia Woolf writing my often muddled internal monologue!)
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