Comparing Public And Private Characters In 'Mrs. Dalloway'

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Expressing and Accepting Private Personas The literary works of “Mrs. Dalloway” and “Public and Private” addresses public and private personas presence throughout history and their impacting effects on individuals. Both works emphasize that when an individual expresses their private identity, society will be able to journey towards acceptance and understanding. In the novel “Mrs. Dalloway”, Woolf explores the contrast between an individual’s public and private personas. Through her characters of Clarissa and Septimus, Woolf demonstrates how having dual personalities often affect people who feel oppressed, thereby causing them to face internal conflict. The concept of having different public or private personalities is mirrored in Warner’s …show more content…

“In the case of gender, public and private (…) are bound up with the meanings of masculinity and femininity” (Warner, 24), during the time period of “Mrs. Dalloway” it was extremely difficult for any of the members of society to express their private thoughts of fear or anything that separated themselves from their gender-specific roles. Men were stereotypically political and physically strong while in contrast, women were delicate and domestic. Each gender had their place in the social conventions and it was very difficult to depart from them. This is demonstrated when Clarissa is unable to associate with her husband on an intellectual level because her place is considered to be in the home (private) instead of in public. However, this unfair rigid societal structure has been changed by women who have historically expressed their private desire publicly to have a more prominent role in societal affairs, society was able to experience the Women’s Revolution. Over time women have taken on roles that were previously considered male jobs such as politics. Additionally, mental health awareness has changed over the years as well because of the increase of people publicly expressing their struggle with it. Society has been able to understand and accept it as an illness not to be stigmatized. This knowledge …show more content…

What is acceptable to express publicly and what is unacceptable depends on the social conventions of the time and the current community an individual lives in. The novel “Mrs. Dalloway” and the article “Public and Private” explore the conflicting relationship between public and private personas. In the past, it was much more difficult for women to have a prominent role in public society as they were supposed to stay at home and live a more private life. Mental illness was not openly discussed, hence there was no ability to care for people suffering from these diseases. No one was able to speak about their fears or concerns because it was considered to be a private matter. Clarissa and Septimus both deal with an internal conflict between their public and private personas. Clarissa has trouble with the ideas of aging and death whereas Septimus experiences a conflict in expressing effects of the trauma he endured during the war on his mental and emotional state. Although both characters experience these conflicts Septimus is the only one who externally expresses his fear by committing suicide. This act causes Clarissa to realize that she is not alone in her fear of death, which allows her to find harmony between her two personas. When an individual expresses their private struggles, it is beneficial because it allows society to reach a point of understanding and

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