Clarissa and Septimus, at first glance, feel like very separate and different people. But why do they have a strange connection? I believe that both of them are deviant in the system of “social society”, where they suffer from a lack of true, emotional connection.
Clarissa is presented as a very social individual throughout the book; she plans parties, is married, and has numerous friends in high society. However, we learn later on that she does not feel emotionally “connected” with them. She throws parties in the attempt to create bonding moments between people her age, which is rarely seen. She is in a stable marriage with a successful husband, but they are rarely emotionally open with each other. Her own husband struggles to tell her that he loves her, even after decades of marriage. This is not viewed as a bad thing, as she says “a little independence there must be between people living together day in day out in the same house; which Richard gave her, and she him.” (7) Since this independence is something she prefers, it’s a reason she chose Richard over Peter. Nonetheless, despite Clarissa knowing that people will always have distance between each other, she still tries to connect with them through her social parties.
Septimus shares the same fate, but on a much more extreme level. After his traumatic experience at war, he struggles to connect with the people he loves, especially his wife Rezia, who is forced to take care of him while he can barely say coherent sentences. His doctors make things even worse as they are extremely dismissive of his condition, and wave him off saying some time spent relaxing would help for sure. Septimus ultimately feels like his lack of connection to others leads to him losing control over his own life. Thus, as a final act of protest he ends his life as a way to show he still has some control. The difference between him and Clarissa is that she was able to accept living without these intimate connections, while he spiraled out of control. But in some way, it could be argued that he is “free” from this burden, compared to Clarissa who still has to go through it every day.
Clarissa has never met Septimus, so why does she feel such a strong connection to him? Clarissa knows exactly what it’s like to feel emotionally estranged by the people surrounding her. However, instead of expressing it outwardly in big bursts, she keeps it quietly to herself, manages to come to terms with it. The story ends with Clarissa going back to her party, while Septimus’s fate meant going back to heaven. Ultimately, Clarissa is the “victor”, while Septimus’s end implies his inability to adapt to the world.
Hi DJ! I definitely agree that both Clarissa and Septimus represent the kind of people that end up suffering in society by being unable to fit in or emotionally connect with others. Your interpretation of Clarissa as the "victor" is interesting, especially after we now know that Septimus' fate was initially supposed to be hers. Even if she is a "victor", I wonder if it doesn't necessarily mean Septimus is the failed version of struggling to exist in the world he was put into, since Clarissa notes that she is glad he chose to preserve his soul. Septimus is the one who was freed, and Clarissa could continue suffering in high society. However, your perspective also points towards Septimus' death potentially uncovering a certain revelation for Clarissa, leading her to appreciate the life she has and making the choice of returning to the party instead of following Septimus' footsteps, framing her as not just a victor but a survivor.
ReplyDeleteI don't entirely recognize Clarissa in your portrait of her here. Does she seem emotionally disconnected at the party? Do we see evidence of her lacking any real connection to the people there? How isolated IS she? We would want to look closely at the scene where she steps away from the party after hearing about Septimus and contemplates life and death in a dark room alone. Remember how that sequence ends? She thinks of Richard, how happy she has been with him, and how fortunate she has been to have her life, and in some ways hearing about Septimus's death enhances her own passion to live. She goes through a "dark night of the soul" here, but she makes a conscious choice to return to the party, and thus to return to "life." Her motive for doing so seems to be her deep connection to Richard, which this party is a manifestation of. It's true that she worries about the strength and significance of these connections, and often does feel isolated (as do we all sometimes?), but in the end the novel is very affirmative of life in general, and of Clarissa's specific life.
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ReplyDeleteHey DJ, I liked your idea that both of them are outsiders in high society who struggle to truly connect with people. I wonder if Septimus’s death is about more than control. When Clarissa hears about it, she thinks of death as an attempt to communicate. so in a way he finally reaches someone. That makes the victor framing a little more complicated for me, since the person who couldn’t connect in life ends up connecting with Clarissa more than most of her guests do. Great post!
ReplyDeleteHi DJ, I totally agree with you that Clarissa and Septimus both struggle with emotional isolation despite having very different lives. I think it's interesting that Clarissa responds to this struggle by hosting parties to minimize the emotional distance, but she isn't able to eliminate it. Great blog!
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