Septimus and Clarissa
Hello and welcome back to my blog.
Today I would like to talk about how Septimus and Clarissa have somewhat of a connection.
As of just surface-level observations, Septimus and Clarissa both have their significant others, Rezia and Richard, but it doesn't seem like Septimus and Rezia or Clarissa and Richard have a strong connection within their relationships. We've discussed before in class that Richard and Clarissa in some ways seem disconnected from one another and we don't see a lot going on in between them. Septimus and Rezia can't seem to understand one another fully either, possibly because of Septimus' illness. Therefore these two relationships seem to be pretty parallel in Clarissa's life and Septimus' life. One might say that Septimus and Clarissa are clearly different in that Clarissa is able to tell the readers her story through the thoughts going on in her head, Septimus isn't really capable of doing that as he doesn't as many thoughts and opinions like Clarissa does. However, there is sort of a connection between Septimus and Clarissa. They are both in a way misunderstood by some people around them and can't seem to achieve that understanding from others.
Clarissa mentioned on page 182 that "She felt somehow very like [Septimus]--the young man who had killed himself. She felt glad that he had done it, thrown it away...", which shows how she somehow relates and understands this man who she has never even met before. Although Septimus' situation was a lot different and to an extent much more serious than Clarissa's, they both struggled to find ardor for life. Fortunately for Clarissa, she had people like Richard and states that "...if Richard had not been there reading the Times, ...she must have perished" (Woolf 180), and for Septimus, he had people who arguably made his condition worse.
And even on page 180, Clarissa says "She had once thrown a shilling into the Serpentine, never anything more. But [Septimus] had flung it away. They went on living...They...would grow old. A thing there was that mattered; a thing, wreathed about with chatter, defaced, obscured her own life, let drop every day in corruption, lies, chatter....Death was defiance". She understands what Septimus did because she probably has felt the same type of feelings before, even if they might not have been as severe as Septimus'. We also discussed before how Septimus was happy in his last moments, and later on page 180: "'If it were now to die, 'twere now to be most happy,' [Clarissa] had said to herself once, coming down in white." It definitely seems not just a coincidence that Clarissa has felt the same exact way Septimus was feeling in his last moments. The fact that she immediately understands this man she has never even met before shows how much of a strong connection these two characters have.
I think it makes sense that Clarissa and Septimus would have a connection, otherwise how else would Septimus' story fit in to the overall novel. I would say that in the small glimpse of life we got with Rezia and Septimus there did seem to be a connection but I think that Septimus' illness and mood swings made that connection volatile.
ReplyDeleteYou are the second person I've seen to write a blog post about the connection between Septimus and Clarissa, although I do think you did it first, and I do love seeing how people draw those connections. Because for most of the book it is hard to draw a connection between the two characters, the best example being at the very end in the party scene, but I think the character say a lot about Woolf and each other.
ReplyDeleteI had the same thought that of everyone, Clarissa and Septimus were the one's who understood each other best. It's really strange to think about, since they led such drastically different lives. I also agree with you that you could see a lot of Septimus' behavior and thought patterns in Clarissa, just on a much less extreme level. One scene that comes to mind is at the beginning of the party, when Clarissa seemed to be almost disassociating and spiraling, everything around her becoming too much.
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