There are many characters in Mrs. Dalloway that we get up close and personal with… so here is my ranking of the top 3 characters (in my opinion)!
1. Elizabeth Dalloway. This may seem like a weird choice- we only started getting in-depth information about her character in section 120-47. For a while, we didn’t even know she existed as a character! Yet, when I was reading about her, I found myself enjoying her character and relating a lot. First of all, she puts up with Miss Kilman’s blunt—and slightly rude—company. Secondly, she is so different from her mother, Clarissa Dalloway. While her mom is so obsessed with the fine details of popularity and social circles, Elizabeth admits to “not much [liking] parties” (relatable) (128). However, the part that really struck me is the freedom she felt while riding the buses around the city. As someone who has travelled all over England, both by myself and with friends, this was a relatable and even nostalgic moment for me! She may not be a “main” character, but she’s my favorite either way!
2. Robert Dalloway. We discussed his big scene (shopping with Hugh and bringing flowers to Clarissa) in class, but I would like to re-discuss his character in this scene. One part that really stood out to me was him calling Hugh “unspeakably pompous” (111). I know we’ve all had those situations where someone is taking too long in a store, or your parents ask to talk to someone (even worse, the manager), and you just want to leave! His frustration and annoyance were so evident and relatable, which made him a hilarious character. I also liked when he brought the flowers to Clarissa, but got nervous and was unable to say, “I love you.” It was almost cute in an innocent—but awkward—way…
3. Rezia Smith. These may be sympathy points, but she seems really sweet. Despite not feeling happy with her marriage, Lucrezia still sticks around to help her husband with his struggles. She always tries her best to care for him. For example, she refuses to be separated from him. She also refuses to destroy Septimus’ papers when he asks, because she knows that he might want them in the future. I do feel extremely bad for her, but I also genuinely think that she is really brave and strong to be able to do what she does. Especially after losing Septimus to suicide, she manages to stay (mostly, at least from what we see) okay.
So anyways, those are my top three characters! Let me know if you agree or not!
Comments
I really liked your post and I agree with your choices! We don't really get that much time to get to know Elizabeth, but from what we do see of her, she seems like a really nice person! Both her mother and Ms. Kilman try to influence her but it seems like she's her own person and kind of gets the best of both worlds. She is inspired by Ms. Kilman and wants to be educated and get a job but also doesn't relate to the anger Ms. Kilman has. She was the one character that the other characters did not really understand so I thought it was really interesting to read her point of view.
ReplyDeleteYour ranking of Elizabeth was unexpected but made perfect sense when you described it. Her outlook on things seems to be the closest to that of the reader: Annoyed with how much Clarissa loves her party, but also annoyed at her fervent detractors like Miss Kilman. At least in my opinion, she is a synthesis of the many of the empathetic qualities of each of the different characters, which makes her very easy to root for. Nice, unique post!
ReplyDeleteI actually agree a lot. I feel like all these characters are also some of the least talked about characters, and maybe that is why they are so interesting to us. I think Elizabeth is a bit of a funny character because it seems she is surrounded by a lot of drama, and being fought over by her mother and best friend, yet she doesn't actually really care much about spending time with either of them. I also think Rezia is an interesting character, because even though we get a lot of her perspective, it mostly focuses on Septimus and so we never really got to dive into her character.
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