Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Septimus' Death
Septimus is a major character in Mrs. Dalloway. He is a troubled man who's experiences have completely changed him, but for the better or for the worse? At first glance, Septimus' gawky behaviors and the way he thinks are too bizarre to be considered potentially sane. But when you take a step back and look at what Septimus is attempting to bestow upon the reader, his insanity becomes legitimate. Extrapolating from many different interpretations of Mrs. Dalloway, an important idea that many critiques have in common is that Septimus is about mutual love. Being a veteran of World War I, Septimus' longing for peace and love throughout society is a completely sane and valid request. The fact that he is mentally unable to do anything to truly impact society with his seemingly modest and humble ideas is what induces this question of whether or not Septimus' goal is legitimate. By extension, Virginia Woolf could also be questioning society: if it takes a mentally ill man to dream of love and peace, then how healthy is mankind, really?
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2 comments:
Your post, I think, raises a very mind-boggling question in regards to our definition of the mentally ill. By conventional norms, we ostracize those who do not fit in with the society we have fancifully created and label them as mentally insane for their bizarre ideas and irrational behavior. But are we correct to do so? Who is to say that Septimus can't be the actual sane character in Mrs. Dalloway and his delusions of universal love are not the foundation of a philosophy? The Bible preaches such a thing, and Jesus was persecuted as a radical too once upon a time.
Great post!
Another way to put Annie's conundrum: is it possible that there's an underlying sanity or clarity to Septimus's ramblings, and is it likewise possible that there's a kind of *insanity* or life-denying repression or whatever in Clarissa's very coherent, conventional public self? If the war is the epitome of *sanity* (completely irrational behavior--young men, strangers, shooting at each other and risking their own lives to kill one another over a 50-yard plot of land--made coherent and socially acceptable, either as "necessity," or idealism, or nationalism, or "duty"), then, as Septimus says, "Perhaps the world itself is without meaning."
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