Clarissa's trauma and denial of death
In class as we discussed Clarissa's past trauma, Mr. Mitchell mentioned that when Clarissa was little, she witnessed the death of Sylvia, her sister. On page 76, Peter Walsh reflects on the impact Sylvia's death has had on her, saying, "her notion being that the Gods, who never lost a chance of hurting, thwarting, and spoiling human lives were seriously put out if, all the same, you behaved like a lady. That phase came directly after Sylvia's death -- that horrible affair. To see your own sister killed by a falling tree (All Justin Parry's fault -- all his carelessness) before your very eyes... was enough to turn one bitter." After Sylvia's death, Clarissa acted ladylike and behaved properly in the hopes of getting back at the Gods, although later she would come to believe there were no Gods and no one was to blame.
I wondered why I hadn't noticed this at all while I was reading, and while part of it may have been due to a lapse in concentration during the reading, but I realized it is also significant that Clarissa never mentions this herself. The death of her own sister, a very significant event, she never once thinks about throughout this whole important day. I believe the trauma from this event caused her to deny its existence, blocking out the memory, and her feelings about it. Later in the novel, on page 149, as Peter Walsh hears an ambulance pass, he remembers a theory of young Clarissa's that after death, our souls, which are widespread and lasting compared to our bodies, may survive by attachments to people or places. He attributes her ability to believe this theory with her horror of death, which must stem back to her trauma from Sylvia's death.
Clarissa retains a "proper" attitude especially during her party, when the Bradshaws bring up the death of young Septimus Smith. Instead of horror at this tragic event, she simply thinks, "Oh! In the middle of my party, here's death". She leaves the room and continues to express her distaste that the Bradshaws should bring up death at her party. However, as she thinks more on the death of this young man, she understands that Septimus had done something irrevocable, that he would not grow old. She thinks, "It was her punishment to see sink and disappear here a man, there a woman, in this profound darkness, and she forced to stand here in her evening dress". She realizes she relates to him very much, and feels "glad he did it; thrown it away". Him having died made her feel the beauty and fun of life. Without mourning, she returns to the party and behaves as normal.
It seems morbidly apathetic that Clarissa would feel glad that Septimus had killed himself. But I believe Clarissa thinks she needs to see the silver lining here, enabling her to continue denying her sister's death. She isn't capable of handling her trauma, and so she finds ways to avoid accepting death for what it is, like stoicism and theories about the everlasting soul.
But at this point I'm just rambling. What are your thoughts on the significance of Septimus' death to Clarissa? Do you agree with me or not? Let me know in the comments.
Clarissa's thoughts about Septimus' death definitely reveal a lot about her attitude towards death. I don't think she's glad that he died, per se. I think she's seeing where she could have ended up, and realizing that she's happy she hasn't taken her own life. (I do wonder how she would have reflected on his death, had she been on track to take her own life, as Woolf originally intended.)
ReplyDeleteI also agree that Clarissa's reaction to hearing of Septimius's death is very telling: it is almost like she is offended at death having intruded into her carefully arranged party, full of warmth and light and life. It almost seems that she needs to step away, into a cold and dark and empty room to deal directly with the death before she can step back into life and the party. That contrast reminds her of how much she loves it all.
ReplyDeleteClarissa's coping with her sisters death is very interesting to me. If it wasn't important in some way then Virginia Woolf wouldn't have bothered to include it or even so much as think it up. I agree the significance comes from being extremely telling of how Clarissa copes with stress and trauma in her life. She ignores it completely. Which makes Peter's confrontation of asking "Are you happy?" so much more impactful to Clarissa.
ReplyDeleteThese thoughts about Clarissa's thoughts on death are really interesting to me. You pointed out great that Clarissa is denying death, not accepting it. Her justifying Septimus death confirms this too. She almost has denied her sisters death so much that she has almost forgotten about it entirely, we only know about this significant part of Clarissas life through Peter Walsh, not through Clarissa.
ReplyDeleteI would point out that although Clarissa seems not to consciously think about her sister's death at any point on this day in 1923, it is revealing that she HAS spoken of it (apparently in some detail) to Peter, and he is aware of the event as an original trauma in her life. We get the impression that they would have talked about it many years ago, and it makes some sense that she isn't revisiting this tragedy in her stream of consciousness every day of her life. But she does think about death at a number of points throughout the novel, most significantly when Septimus is mentioned at her party and she goes into the dark room and confronts her soul--it is surprising that her sister doesn't come up at all in that section, although her deceased parents do.
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