As we progress further into the novel, Woolf dives deeper into Septimus' thoughts, as well as providing a background story and further insight into his character. After reading these new sections, I think that quite a few parallels are emerging between Septimus and Clarissa.
The first hint of a connection between the two is when Woolf introduces the "beak-nosed" Septimus as a character. Clarissa was also described as beak-nosed, back in the first chapter. Because "beak-nosed" is quite a specific description, as opposed to just saying "pointed nose" or "large eyes" (features that number of people might share), it seems that Woolf is intentionally connecting the two in terms of physical description.
More important are the numerous parallels between their ways of thinking and attitudes towards the world and humanity itself. We know that Clarissa, for the most part, thoroughly enjoys life. She breathes in the bustling streets of London, and finds beauty in things such as the early morning sky and bunches of carnations and arum lilies. I would argue that Septimus is also able to find his own instances of beauty amidst his mental illness. Although strange to the reader, tears fill Septimus' eyes as he looks up at the plane, "this beauty, this exquisite beauty" (21).
In addition, both Clarissa and Septimus are readers, specifically readers of Shakespeare. In the first chapter, we see Clarissa reading a page from Cymbeline through a shop window. For Septimus, reading Anthony and Cleopatra before the war had a profound impact on him. Much like Clarissa describing Sally's kiss as "the most exquisite moment of her whole life", Septimus describes Shakespeare's work as lighting in him "such a fire as burns only one in a lifetime". I believe these details might be important in the broader narrative due to the reactions both characters received from others for reading Shakespeare. For example, Clarissa's husband, Richard, says Shakespeare's sonnets should never be read because it is similar to listening in on one's conversation through a keyhole. Sir William, who self-proclaims that he "never had time for reading", has some kind of "grudge" against Septimus and looks down upon his character. Perhaps both Richard and Sir William are stifling the true Clarissa and Septimus, respectively, and causing them to conform (intentional or not) to society instead.
I suspect that Woolf created Clarissa and Septimus to be reflections of each other. She puts them in the same city, London, but also in two very different worlds. Clarissa's biggest problems pale in comparison to Septimus' horrendous experiences. But they share other things, like their love of reading and their opinions on the stifling constraints of humanity, for example. I think Woolf might have done this to draw attention to the huge contrast between the different social classes in London at the time. Two people who are very similar at heart, but whose circumstances result in vastly different experiences.
I really enjoyed how your blog post touched on these specific similarities between Septimus and Clarissa, especially because I often found the two as very different, distant characters in this novel. I never realized the Shakespeare connection they shared, and I find that the fact that Richard scolds Clarissa for reading and Sir William scoffs at Septimus reading shows a similarity in which Clarissa and Septimus both are shown to mold to and follow the standards of the prim and proper society in which they live in, even though they would really rather spend time for the bettering of themselves.
ReplyDeleteIn class, we really haven't explored what connects Clarissa and Septimus beyond that they're both Londoners who view themselves and their world differently from the world around them. As such, I think that your post was a great start into the exploring the connections and meaning behind those connections between Clarissa and Septimus. I now wonder to what degree of similarity did Woolf want between the two. Did she want them to reflect each other? Social norms and conventions? Or maybe she wanted to tell a greater story of how damaging repression of sentiments is?
ReplyDeleteI agree completely with your interpretation that Clarissa and Septimus have many parallels. I didn't notice that they both see beauty in abstract ways until now. This is probably the most important link they have, because it points out the similarities in the way they interpret their worlds. Pointing out this link in their thinking helped me understand the connection between Septimus and Clarissa at their respective departures from the story.
ReplyDeleteWoah; the idea about Septimus and Clarissa being similarly-minded persons who met different ends due to their differing social classes within the same city of London is something I hadn't considered at all. It's funny, because Clarissa felt alive walking in London and being among the other pedestrians of (presumably) different social classes and positions.
ReplyDeleteI like the connection you point out between Clarissa's intense kiss with Sally and Septimus "falling in love" with poetry via his Shakespeare teacher at night school--these do seem like parallel formative moments in both of their lives. I'd also add Woolf's depiction of Septimus's affectionate relationship with Evans during the war, which is both emotionally intimate and tender, physically affectionate in a way that can't quite be accounted for in public conventional discourse. Neither of these intense and influential early relationships can be easily "labeled," and they remain as a kind of secret that the characters possess but which they're convinced no one else could understand.
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