Clarissa in Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf

¶ … Clarissa in "Mrs. Dalloway" by Virginia Woolf Mrs. Dalloway" by Virginia Woolf is a novel that chronicles the life of Clarissa Dalloway, a woman torn between preserving her own identity and maintaining the image that she wants to present to the public. Through different characters in the novel, particularly Peter Walsh's character, Clarissa's character is given depth, and as the novel progresses, the readers' perception of Clarissa changes, from being an irresolute woman to being a determined one as the novel ends.

The following texts discuss Clarissa Dalloway's transition from her dual self-perception and concept of herself as a woman and the woman and individual she has become upon learning of Septimus Smith. In the initial phase of Clarissa Dalloway's character presentation in the novel, she is characterized as a woman confused of what she really is, what she stands for in the midst of a high-class English society. At the start of the novel, Clarissa shows to the readers her perception of herself as she plies by the streets of England.

Clarissa is aware that her personality is split into two: the one wanting to keep her own identity, doing things "for their own value" and the other self wanting to please others, wanting to give a part of her to other people. In effect, Clarissa is a caring and humane person inhibited by the arrogance that her society (i.e., high-class society) she belongs to.

The following passage illustrates Clarissa's own perception of herself as she ponders her problem of character 'duality': "She would not say of any one in the world now that they were this or were that. She felt very young; at the same time unspeakably aged. She sliced like a knife through everything; at the same time was outside, looking on.. did it matter that she must inevitably cease completely..

being laid out like a mist between the people she knew best, who lifted her on their branches as she had seen the trees lift the mist, but it spread ever so far, her life, herself." This passage shows how Clarissa craves for attention and approval, and is tired of being considered a "mist," or an insignificant person of the people she cares for the most. In fact, Peter Walsh, Clarissa's former boyfriend before she got married to Richard Dalloway, also perceives Clarissa's internal struggle about her dual personality.

For Peter, being with Clarissa is like being drained out of emotion; partially because Peter also feels the confusion within Clarissa's psyche. Like Clarissa's perception of herself, Peter views Clarissa both as a "young" and "aging" woman, a woman who was confused and did not know what she wants in life. This perception is expressed as Peter reminisces and feels once again the hurt and confusion that he felt when Clarissa broke up with him and married Richard later on.

However, Clarissa's dual character has emerged into a powerful one as the novel is brought to an end. One of the most significant events in Clarissa's life was when she witnesses Septimus Smith's death when he committed suicide. As she witnessed Septimus' death, Woolf goes deeper into.