Flowers of Femininity

    For my second blog post, I will deconstruct Clarissa’s outlook on life in Mrs. Dalloway. In the narrative of Mrs. Dalloway, we have observed ideas of free will and independence which are associated with flowers, and which also symbolize Clarissa’s definition of femininity. The initial introduction of flowers is in the very first line of the book when Clarissa states that she will “buy the flowers herself” (Woolf 3). Here we see that Clarissa decides that buying flowers should be an autonomous event, reinforcing Clarissa’s idea that “independence” is a desirable characteristic in a woman. She also heavily associates flowers with Sally Seaton. Clarissa ridicules the idea that blossomed flowers should be confined to “stiff little vases down the table” (Woolf 33), but she admires the peculiarity of the untraditional way Sally Seaton arranges flowers, as Sally “cuts their heads off, and [makes] them swim on the top of water bowls.” Here we can observe how Clarissa views tradition. The boring, stiff vases represent traditional twentieth-century women, who are all the same and are all strictly confined to the standards of society, just as the flowers are strictly confined to a vase, with their heads up. Then we see a break in tradition, which is Sally Seaton’s weird arrangement of flowers. It is evident that Clarissa enjoys this arrangement more; a flower that floats freely in a water bowl rather than being stuck upright in a vase represents the free, bizarre, unconventional woman (an anomaly much like Sally Seaton herself, whom Clarissa may aspire to be like). 

    Clarissa later describes the moments in her life as small “buds on the tree of life, flowers of darkness they are…” (Woolf 28). Here, it is interesting how there is a dark premonition surrounding the bud before the flower’s bloom. I think Clarissa does not only associate flowers to ideal femininity, but she also relates them to her own life. Let’s examine Clarissa’s life as a flower bud on a branch. When she was a young 18-year-old girl, she had decisions (like who to marry) and experiences (like having children) to look up to. This is the moment before the bud blooms. Then she fulfills the role of being a mother like she is supposed to. This is when the flower is in full bloom. However, her daughter reaches the ripe age of 18 and then Clarissa does not know what role in society she is supposed to play, as her period of motherhood has expired. This is when the flower begins to wither and die. Clarissa only associates the virtues and “sweet” parts of life with a fully-fledged flower. The rest of life is a slow ticking clock, which begins with the bud on a branch. This is why Clarissa says that the buds on the “tree of life”, are “flowers of darkness”. What is the point of a flower’s blossom if it will be placed in a “stiff”, lifeless vase, and then will die shortly after? The more grappling question: What is the purpose of Clarissa’s life, or any woman’s existence in the twentieth century, once the windows of reproduction and motherhood have closed?