Awkwardness at the Party

One of the things I like about Clarissa's party at the end of Mrs. Dalloway is the fact that it's not just people easily and perfectly flowing, mingling, and talking. People at the party feel awkward, out of place, and other feelings that don't fit into the normal conception of a "party". We see this quite a few times, from multiple characters -- Peter, Ellie Henderson, Clarissa herself (multiple times).

My favorite awkwardness of the party is when the party is just getting going, when Clarissa is greeting guests but she is worried that the party might not take off properly, and she notices Peter out of the corner of her eye. As with so many other Peter-Clarissa interactions, Clarissa feels like Peter is judging, criticizing her, that she is being insincere and superficial. This is partly what Peter is thinking, but he's also thinking about how he doesn't fit in with the other guests, how he doesn't know anyone at the party, and he ends up standing over in a corner until later in the party.

Oddly, for part/most of the party, Clarissa is absent. After Lady Bradshaw tells her of Septimus' death, and Clarissa is so struck by the demise of an unnamed complete stranger that she must retreat back into the house. During this time, Clarissa is drawn to thoughts of mortality and death, that she and Septimus were alike somehow, all topics too grim for a party. In the end, Clarissa does come back to the party and ends the book, but before she does so, after reaffirming the beauty she sees in life.

Finally, Ellie Henderson. A poor cousin (second cousin?) of Clarissa's who has to scrounge together an outfit suitable for the party, who Clarissa seems to (privately) disdain, she frets and worries that she might have been invited accidentally, but seems happy that she got to come at all. Ellie gets ignored by almost everyone, and even Richard's attempts to strike up a conversation fall flat after a grand total of two sentences. I enjoyed reading this portion because to me, it perfectly epitomizes a failed conversation. Trying to start by talking about the weather, only to accidentally close off any thread to continue, trying to think of something to revive the conversation, only for some other thing to break apart the conversationalists.

The party scene at the end of Mrs. Dalloway is quite excellent. Virginia Woolf not only does a masterful job of weaving together a half-dozen conversations into a coherent whole, but also allows some of those conversations to fail, to be awkward, without losing the flow.


Comments

  1. KevinSeptember 15, 2018 at 11:40 AM

    I really like the Ellie Henderson and Richard conversation too. It makes Richard seem like a sweet guy, but its funny that he didn't really have anything of substance to talk about as he approached Ellie Henderson; It seems like he was convinced that talking about the weather would lead to some more interesting conversation. But when they start talking, he realizes that they really have absolutely nothing to talk about and he doesn't know a thing about Ellie Henderson. You can tell that he really wants Ellie Henderson to not feel awkward at the party, but his attempt is futile and probably makes it more awkward for Ellie. It's a pretty funny scene.

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  2. AlexSeptember 15, 2018 at 5:58 PM

    I agree, the awkwardness portrayed in the party-goers makes the scene a lot more realistic. Instead of just superficially describing a party we get this really deep characterization of the party from a variety of perspectives that really brings it to life. I think we can all related to at least one of the perspectives described and see ourselves standing their in the character's shoes and this makes it seem like a party we could actually be at.

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