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Compare the presentation of Outsiders in Wuthering Heights and Mrs Dalloway
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Compare the presentation of Outsiders in Wuthering Heights and Mrs Dalloway
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How does Virginia Woolf present criticisms of societal conventions throughout the novel
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Compare the presentation of Outsiders in "Wuthering Heights" and "Mrs Dalloway.”Both Virginia Woolf’s “Mrs Dalloway” and Emily Bronte’s “Wuthering Heights” explore and
critique the rationale for societal isolation. In “Mrs Dalloway,” Woolf elucidates that the
confinement of patriarchal expectations and the stoicism demanded by society following WW1
are key reasons which result in alienation, within both marriages and communities. Similarly, in
“Wuthering Heights,” Bronte depicts a world of transgressive relationships due to class
differences that lead to the ostracization of women. Characters within both Wuthering Heights
and Mrs Dalloway are deemed outsiders and find themselves on the margins of society when
they pose a threat to the values and stability of their respective societies. Despite their internal
conflicts, they ultimately conform to societal expectations, highlighting the complexities of
navigating personal autonomy within rigid social structures.
Clarissa Dalloway and Catherine Linton, who overlap the lines of acceptance and rejection in
19th century society, face marginalisation due to gender. Through transgression, they present a
threat to society’s traditional view of women confined to domesticity, yet both ultimately conform
to societal expectations by marrying as dictated by norms. While Clarissa, despite internal
conflicts and longing for individual autonomy, embraces her role as a wife and finds solace in
her marriage to Richard, Catherine remains discontent in her marriage which she entered out of
duty. Through Clarissa’s navigation of the city, Woolf’s use of free indirect discourse becomes a
means to reflect individual autonomy, showcasing Clarissa’s transgression of 20th century
gender roles that traditionally confined women to domestic spaces. Despite possessing
paradoxical traits such as being preoccupied with the present yet haunted by the past and
feeling empowered yet isolated by her marriage, Clarissa’s internal conflict primarily centres
around the idea that her independence is defined by her marital status. Her revelation that she
is now “Mrs Dalloway; not even Clarissa anymore; this being Mrs Richard Dalloway'' feeling
“invisible; unseen; unknown” due to “there being no more marrying, no more having of children''
becomes a moment of epiphany, exacerbated by the use of anaphora. Feeling that she has
fulfilled society’s expectations of marriage and childbirth, quintessential elements of the female
experience, Clarissa expresses feeling overlooked and disregarded. Emphasising the flow of
responsibilities characterised by the female experience, the asyndetic tricolon prompts
Clarissa’s reflections on the tripartite female identity of maiden, mother and crone. She
perceives herself to be an extension of her husband and defined by her marriage, leading to an
existential loss of self, where the death of her fertility and her place in society is another death
she experiences following the war. Clarissa’s estimation of self is bound up in the social
perception that a woman’s primary role is as a wife and mother, supported by Leigh Kincer’s
view that “Clarissa is a slave to society’s rules.” Woolf therefore critiques the idea of women
being placed as simply an accoutrement and the lack of agency they hold as a result of their
domestic responsibilities. Despite societal constructs, Clarissa finds solace in London’s vitality
and takes her time in freely moving throughout the city, relishing the little liberation it provides
from restrictive gender roles of the 1920s. The novel begins with Mrs Dalloway having “burst
open the French windows and plunged at Bourton into the open air,” expressing happiness and
freedom. We find her details to be imbued with a sense of vitality through the use of dynamic
verbs like “plunged.” Thus, the bustling metropolis enables Woolf to glide through
, consciousness and spatial collisions, utilising the recurring motif of windows to symbolise both
restriction and intellectual freedom for women.The dynamic imagery elucidates Clarissa’s joy in
observation, emphasising her transgressive and liberating act of roaming London as a stark
contrast providing autonomy from the confinement and repression experienced within the
domestic space following WW1. Alternatively, despite Catherine’s compliance with societal
expectations by marrying Edgar Linton out of duty, her subsequent discontent within her
marriage reveals the inherent limitations and constraints imposed on women due to Victorian
ideology encouraging morality, social respect and religious conformity. This extended to women
expected to be submissive and obedient, and self-sacrificing for the betterment of the family..
Woolf’s metaphorical depiction of Catherine and Edgar’s marriage as “not the thorn bending to
the honeysuckles but the honeysuckles embracing the thorn,” suggests Catherine’s wild,
untamed nature and her passionate love for Heathcliff embodied in the “thorn” whilst Edgar’s
refined, domesticated demeanour and affection for Catherine are symbolised by the
“honeysuckles.” This portrayal subverts gender roles, implying Catherine’s dominance and
control in their relationship, which was atypical for households in the 19th century due to
patriarchal command. Not only reflecting Catherine’s inner conflict between her wild desires and
societal obligations, Woolf conveys the unconventional dynamics within her marriage with
Edgar, rendering her unable to reconcile her conflicting emotions and societal demands.
Additionally, Catherine expresses, “My love for Linton is like the foliage in the woods: time will
change it, I'm well aware, as winter changes the trees.” The metaphor verbalises how as time
progresses, her discontent grows, and she acknowledges the inevitability of her feelings shifting
and susceptible to external forces, akin to the changing seasons. While marriage to Edgar was
anticipated to resolve issues and fulfil social ambitions, it instead has the adverse effect and
exacerbates pre-existing problems.The natural imagery employed by Woolf emphasises the
complexity of emotion, transcending verbal expression. Catherine’s self-awareness regarding
the limitations of her love for Linton highlights the tension between personal desires and social
stability, threatening society’s expectations of women being submissive and alienating her
altogether. Overall, in comparing Clarissa’s acceptance of societal roles and Catherine’s
discontent within them, we see contrasting responses to societal expectations placed upon
women of their respective eras. While Clarissa embraces her role as a wife despite internal
conflicts, Catherine's dissatisfaction with her marriage exposes the constraints imposed on
women by Victorian ideology, isolating women as a result of gender.
Septimus Warren Smith and Isabella Linton find themselves marked as outsiders due to the
alienation they experience from other characters. Septimus’ inability to communicate with others
about shell shock and Isabella's sense of isolation from her family due to her marriage both
contribute to their feelings of being isolated within their respective marriages and societies.
However, the nature of the threat they pose to society differs: Septimus’ potential revelation
about shell shock challenges the stoicism demanded by society on mental health issues,
whereas Isabella's love for and marriage to Heathcliff, a man of lower social class, defies family
loyalty and traditional gender roles. Septimus's traumatic experiences during the First World
War become a lens through which Woolf critiques the societal power dynamic that neglects and
dismisses the emotional struggles of veterans. Often Woolf’s omniscient narration focalises the
perspectives of Septimus and Mrs Dalloway in order to elucidate the congruence of their
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