The Character of Clarissa Dalloway Created by Virginia Woolf

Virginia Woolf creates interesting contrast within the character of Clarissa Dalloway using stream of consciousness narration in her novel Mrs. Dalloway. Clarissa’s inner thoughts reveal a contrast between her lack of attraction to her husband due to her lesbian feelings and her fear of loosing him as a social stepping stone. These contrasts and many others can be seen throughout the novel using the literary device of stream of consciousness narration. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Clarissa’s character reveals to us early in the book her lack of attraction to her husband. This revelation can be seen in the passage that states: â€Å"...through some contraction of this cold spirit, she had failed him...she could see what she lacked...it was†¦show more content†¦This is the main reason for her lack of attraction. She feels that she has let him down because she cannot complete her duties as his wife. Clarissa had lost both a sexual relationship and sexual attraction w ith her husband since the birth of her teenage daughter Elizabeth: â€Å"...she could not dispel a virginity preserved through childbirth which clung to her like a sheet.† nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Clarissa tells us of her true sexuality as she remembers her girlhood friend Sally Seton. Sally is the only person that Clarissa has ever had any real passionate feelings for. â€Å"But this question of love, this falling in love with women. Take Sally Seton; her relation in the old days with Sally Seton. Had not that, after all, been love?† Although Sally held her heart, her homosexual feelings were not socially acceptable. Clarissa is therefore obliged to enter into a marriage to Richard Dalloway for social purposes. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;A contrast to Clarissa’s lack of attraction to her husband is seen in her fear of loosing him. Richard provides for her a stepping stone for her to be the socialite that she strives to be. When Richard is invited to a lunch with Lady Bruton, a twinge of fear is evident in Clarissa that she is loosing her husband: â€Å"Fear no more the heat o’ the sun; for the shock of Lady Bruton asking Richard to lunch without her made the moment which she had stood shiver....† Without him, she would be nothing in society, so ClarissaShow MoreRelatedParallels Between Mrs Dalloway and The Hours1059 Words   |  5 Pagesthe intertextual relationships between Stephen Daldry’s â€Å"The Hours† and Virginia Woolf’s â€Å"Mrs Dalloway†. These relationships communicate the inadequacy of previous writings to convey trauma, cultural crisis and the deep fragmentation within their respective societies. 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