Clarissa experiences an epiphany, after reflecting on Septimus’ death. What truth becomes clear to her, and why is it significant?

Clarissa experiences an epiphany, after reflecting on Septimus’ death. What truth becomes clear to her, and why is it significant?

The depiction of Clarissa and Septimus in the novel, Mrs Dalloway, is that it looks at the fragmented and fluid nature of time as well as perception and reality interconnectedness throughout people and social spheres. Clarissa is presented as a woman of high society and who concentrates on convening a good party. This attribute could be interpreted as a way that she uses to affirm life and forget about death.

When Septimus committed suicide by throwing himself through the window, it made the party that Clarissa had arranged to appear more indulgent that it initially was. When Clarissa goes to a small solitary room that allowed her to reflect on the suicide decision by Septimus, it is from there where she gets a robust revelation, bringing to the climax of the novel. She could see the impression of the body of the prime minister still in the room on a chair. This was an emphasis that the soul was not entirely alone, or it was not free from the impacts of the social pressures. The novel presents the fragile lifestyle of the upper class in society. The death of Septimus seemed to have affected Clarissa and was bombarded by a series of thoughts in the entire novel. Nevertheless, Clarissa was a woman characterized by the love of partying and where the practice was what she could offer to society.

When the Prime Minister walked around the party, the author describes the guests who had attended 5he party as not laughing or noticing the common character of the Prime Minister. Woolf wrote that “He tried to look, somebody. It was amusing to watch. Nobody looked at him”. Those who attended the party saw that the man attempted to look important, although they were still impressed. It was clear that how they perceived the Prime Minister symbol was contrary to the physical evidence. The actual appearance of the prime minister was foreshadowed by the prestigious car that was seen to slowly make its way through London. The onlookers of the event are presented to have felt very important just because they attended the party. The Prime Minister figure is a symbol of the English society’s hierarchy as well as the deeply encoded sense of status and civility that ruled across the society even following World War I devastation. The society is presented as continuing to look down upon the contribution of the young men of the society, including Septimus. These individuals suffered during the warfighting for the betterment of society. The novel presents that instead of valuing Septimus and other young men, they carried on glorifying other men inducing Hugh Whitbread who is described to have done very little, and who was only involved in writing pithy articles as well as attending meetings.

Woolf used the character peter to foreshadow Clarissa’s role in furthering the English snobbery where peter retorted to Clarissa that she was going to one day become the wife of the Prime Minister. Clarissa almost fulfilled the prophecy where she stood atop the stairs and greeted the partygoers and guests and also led around the Prime Minister. When Bradshaw arrived at the party, there was a break from the party’s mood.

Clarissa then earned the death of Septimus, although she was not worried concerning ensuring that all those who attended the party were happy or leading across the prestigious crowd members. Clarissa then decided to go to a small room that would allow her to deal with the death feeling that that came at the time of her party and also which invaded her being.  She barely knew the stranger who had committed suicide, although the doppelgangers of the imagination of the author were seen to connect during that moment. The connection was established, especially physically where Clarissa was seen to reflect on the feelings of death and pain that Septimus went through. She could reflect these feelings in her body. Clarissa was able to identify the fall that Septimus experienced as well as the rusty spikes that pierced his body.

During this time of reflection, Clarissa later understood and realized that the death of Septimus happened as a sacrifice for her.  It was also a revelation that the death of Septimus was not only for Clarissa but also for the population that attended the party arranged by Clarissa. Primary, Septimus went through a lot of suffering during his struggles for the war, which was aimed at establishing lasting happiness for society. He lived his entire life in support of human wellbeing and a society that enjoyed freedom and peace. Therefore, the death of Septimus was a revelation to Clarissa that it happened for all the people in society to continue living.

It was very apparent from the death of Septimus that he played the role of Christ.  Initially, the author had planned for Clarissa to commit suicide or simply encounter death as the novel ended. Instead, Woolf decided that a part of Clarissa that was constructed in the form of a man who experienced destruction by the society and war, later committed suicide so that the entire being of Clarissa to appreciate the life that she had. Clarissa held the belief, “A thing there was that mattered.. this he had preserved. Death was defiance. Death was an attempt to communicate.” According to Woolf, the term “this” was a purposely ambiguous reference. Life was obviously seen as being inserted in its place, although the importance of life, “the thing that mattered” was found as not possible to define. Nevertheless, the importance was also possible to preserve. This was accomplished through the decision that Septimus took to throw it away. Clarissa then experienced the words of Shakespeare as they came to her that linked her undeniably to the young Septimus who had died, according to the words, they stated to Clarissa, “Fear no more the heat of the sun.”  Septimus had gone for the war to ensure that he protected Shakespeare and immediately before he threw himself through the window that saw his death, he stood in the heat of the sun.

The use of Shakespeare’s work in the novel further shows the strength of Clarissa as she faced death as well as her disillusionment. The author writes, “Clarissa’s affinity for the refrain may be taken as a mark of her strong propensity for death…” Before Clarissa returned to the party, the author stated that “She felt somehow very like him- the young man who had killed himself. She felt glad that he had done it; thrown sit away.”  The sacrifice that Septimus took, the affirmation if the immediacy and inconstancy of life gave Clarissa an opportunity to encounter her own desires and fears. As a result of the death of Septimus, Clarissa was in a position to feel the beauty as well as feel the fun. From the death of Septimus where Clarissa comprehended that he plunged holding his treasure, she later discovered her identity and also became whole.

While Clarissa spends a short time in the small room, she experienced significant allusions and images.  Besides, there is the old lady who later appears in the neighbouring house during the time when Clarissa was in the little room. As a result of Septimus and the old lady, Clarissa was seen to step out of the social circle from the party that she had convened. Through this, she is witnessed to connect to the larger sense of life as well as death that would occur around her. The author writes, “It was fascinating, with people still laughing and shouting in the drawing-room, to watch that old woman, quite quietly, going to bed.” In a similar way, the woman was able to connect Clarissa to the life movements following the departure of Elizabeth and Miss Kilmann to the stores; she also manages to create a wonderment for being and life in Clarissa.

Following the revelation, Clarissa returned to the party charged with a sense of life. She also demonstrated a need for assembling with the individuals she perceived as being important to her. She was able to conquer the isolation in her life and later returned to social connection with other people.

Clarissa felt that the death of Septimus amounted to her own disgrace. Besides, the death of Septimus was a disgrace to her as she had compromised her passion as well as her soul when she agreed to marry Richard. On the contrary, Septimus had chosen to death to ensure that he preserved his soul. As results, Clarissa felt ashamed for belonging in the upper-class society wife who desired and schemed social success. she again recalls Shakespeare’s Othello line that stated, “If it were now to die, ‘twere now to be most happy.” Clarissa has since led a regretful life due to the decisions she made. It is from the revelation that she is in a position to see her life clearly. In addition, she ultimately comes in terms with her ageing as well as death which is found to ultimately enable her to endure.

In conclusion, Clarissa reflected on the death of Septimus, contributing to a robust revelation of her social as belong to the upper class in society. She understood that Septimus led his life in the war for the sake of the entire society and that his death was the preservation of his soul. The revelation helps in understanding how those who fought for freedom were abandoned by the upper class in society. The character of Clarissa who loved partying showed how she did not care for the issues of society. Generally, Clarissa saw the death of Septimus as her own disgrace for her choices. She ultimately sees her life clearly and also comes into terms with her ageing life and her death.