Female Characters’ Journeys In Mrs. Dalloway And The Artificial Silk Girl

Clarissa’s life is different from Doris’. Their life experiences further define their characters and give special meanings to their choices. Doris’ and Clarissa’s struggles to achieve their goals are evident. They may not have reached the desired end, but the journey itself allows them to grow and learn.

Doris hopes to live a materialistic life in Berlin. In her hometown she is unable to pursue her dream and therefore looks for opportunities in Berlin. She is using men to get her up the ladder of social standing. She hopes to find a partner who can give her love, support and money. Doris is a manipulator who takes advantage of all the men she finds during her stay in Berlin. Doris thinks she can be happy with someone that can spoil her. While she tries to project a confident facade, she searches the city for someone who can do just that.

Doris’s pursuit of glitz, glamour, and fame hits a rock bottom after she is left homeless and broke. She only has men to help her. She has to confront the harsh fact that her dreams and goals may not be within reach. In the same way as Doris, it is a city in despair. The city is unable to give her the life she desired. Ernst provides her with the home she never had and the care she’s always wanted. She begins to realize that the relationship between them will not work and that pretending to be someone you aren’t is a bad idea. She comes to the realization that faking it will only lead you down a dead end. Ernst teaches her that happiness and love are not limited to material items.

Doris’s journey to the city may not have ended as she had hoped, but it was still a significant part of her life. Doris has proven to be a woman of determination and drive for pursuing her dreams. Doris, a woman who was determined to change the course of her life at a young and impressionable age, is an example of a modern woman. Her morals, values and beliefs evolved along the way. In the end, her time spent exploring the city and learning about herself taught her how to live life fully.

Clarissa, however, has a very different lifestyle. It is “stable”. Clarissa finds herself questioning her life choices as a London housewife of the 1920s. The easy way to achieve stability and balance was by marrying Richard Dalloway. She remembers her childhood, mainly with Peter. She recalls a blissful and happy feeling that she no longer feels. Clarissa smiles to mask her depression and sadness, telling herself this is the way her life should be.

Clarissa awakens with a plan to throw a big party. She tells us that she is going to buy flowers for herself, despite the fact that it’s something she could have easily had done. Clarissa explores the city in the same way as Doris. Clarissa feels independent by going to the city and completing the task alone. She still remains within the confines of the housewife’s role. Clarissa wishes she had a different life. She feels stuck in her role as a “perfect wife”. She is unsure if her current lifestyle is satisfying because of her memories from the past.

It was a city of chaos. The city was vibrant, loud and colorful. She loved going into the city as it brought back memories of when she was young, and she felt happy without any limitations. In the city, people were busy and could go anywhere they liked. Clarissa’s surroundings infiltrate her and she feels free. She can escape. Woolf’s detailed writing allows us to see the city through Clarissa’s eyes. “And she saw, as she opened her eyelids, that the roses were like fresh, frilled laundry, clean and arranged on wicker tray,” (Woolf 13,). Clarissa learns, on her journey through London, that freedom and beauty still exist. While she is traveling through the streets, she finds joy in small things. London was an amazing piece of work. It freed her mind and reminded of the many reasons she had to live.

Both characters achieve their independence through their different journeys to the city. Doris wants to live a glamorous life filled with glitz and glamour, whereas Clarissa is using the city as an escape. She is aware that she must remain in her stable life, but the city’s explorations remind her of a simpler time. It shows her that there is still beauty and freedom in a life she does not feel happy. Doris, like Clarissa, returns to the same place she started. But it’s what they learn along their journeys that gives each of them a more meaningful life.