Comparing Clarissa and Peter Walsh.
When comparing Peter Walsh and Clarissa Dalloway, you see a few difference between them but quite a bit of similarity. throughout the book, Peter Walsh is quite judgemental with many people especially Dalloway, the woman he once loved. An example is such when he thinks about Dalloway's bourgeois life or her green mermaid dress at the party. Compare to Clarissa Dalloway who also seems quite judgemental of Sally Seton. Clarissa compares Sally to her memory of Sally which made it seem like Sally lost the charm that she once had. Clarissa is unable to accept that Sally who once was bold, lovely, and wonderful now is living a similar life to Clarissa's.
It also can be said that Clarissa is as stuck on Sally as Peter is stuck on Clarissa. Clarissa doesn't tell herself that she no longer "loves" Sally, unlike Peter, but Clarissa does seem to be obsessed with the memory of the former Sally. Clarissa spent countless days thinking about how wonderful Sally was. I think if Clarissa were to live in the year of 2018, it feels like she would pursue Sally the way Peter would pursue Clarissa.
I feel like Clarissa and Peter are quite alike in many ways when it comes to being obsessed with love. I do feel like Clarissa is less extreme than Peter mainly because Clarissa doesn't seem to be as struck with love when she met Sally again versus when Peter visits Clarissa at her house.
I think you make an interesting observation: Clarissa and Peter are both similarly obsessed with relationships that are no longer viable. I would say that, whereas Peter only regrets not pursuing her relationship with Clarissa, Clarissa thinks about how her life would be with Sally or with Peter. I think that for Clarissa, the more interesting and plausible outcome would have been with Peter, which gives the comparison a bit more symmetry. I also think it's important to point whose decision it was for either character to not end up with the people they are now obsessed with. For the Clarissa- Peter relationship, Clarissa was the one who chose to not marry Peter. Thus, whereas Clarissa can now regret not pursuing Peter, Peter can only mope about how Clarissa didn't pick him.
ReplyDeleteI sort of explored the Clarissa-Sally Seton relationship in my blog post. While I do think Peter is still hanging on to the past and wishes Clarissa did not reject his proposal, I'm not sure if the same thing can be said of Clarissa and that she is 'stuck' on Sally. I believe Clarissa is past her former relationship with Sally, and doesn't necessarily regret not being with her.
ReplyDeletePeter is clearly more attached to Clarissa then Clarissa is to Sally. I think Clarissa doesn't think about sally often as it takes a lot of her deep musing to remember her but Peter writes letters to her when he is in India.
ReplyDeleteI think Peter is far more obsessed with Clarissa than Clarissa is with Sally. While Peter tries to tell himself that he doesn't love Clarissa, he still shows desire for Clarissa and actively is keeping up with her while also showing that he is uninterested in his marriage with Daisy. Clarissa does seem to think about Sally a lot in comparison to the past, but I can only imagine one should when they haven't seen said person in a long period of time.
ReplyDeleteI feel that an important distinction between Peter and Clarissa is that Peter continues to chase relationships that are difficult-to-impossible, whereas Clarissa has chosen the stable, reliable Richard Dalloway. At the time of the book, Clarissa does have some measure of happiness (the scene where Richard brings flowers, for example), while Peter breaks down crying when thinking of the challenges he faces (during his meeting with Clarissa).
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