Response to How to Read Literature Like a Professor
Please comment on any or all of the three chapters assigned. Try to connect them to Mrs. Dalloway or Othello if possible. Remember, the point is to get a conversation going, not write a mini essay. Happy Thanksgiving!
How to Read…Professor opened my eyes to the aggravating subtlety of the political undertones of literature. I now know that the reason I didn't pick up on piles of political views in Dalloway is because they were very well hidden. that being said, politics in literature as described by HTRLAP seems to be not indifferent from ordinary allegory or social criticism- could someone please make clearer the distinction? -Harry Taylor
Harry- I am unable to answer your question and ask the same myself, however I completely agree on the "aggravating subtlety". I thoroughly understand that every piece of literature has some influence and subtle criticisms of the society it was written in, because there is no way to write without subconsciously including one's thoughts about a certain idea or topic, even if those ideas are woven into innate human nature and not just the society of the time, like religion. Sometimes I think that's why analyzing can be easy, because there's criticism or commentary in everything! That being said, sometimes the distinction between that and ordinary, plain, NON-political allegory is shady and indifferent, because there really isn't a difference!
Harry- I got the same impression. I think How to Read was just trying to point out the presence of social criticism within most books and using a different term for it. I got the idea that they were virtually interchangeable, as well.
I understood how "It's all Political" related to Mrs. Dalloway (it was even an example in the book) and "It's All About Sex..." to Othello (infidelity and sex are themes throughout the play) but "Flights of Fancy" I was completely lost on. Any ideas?
I was able to connect both books to "It's All Political" and "It's All About Sex...". As Shelby said, Politics were extremely present in Mrs. Dalloway and Sex in Othello. Though not quite as evident, I was able to find examples of "It's all Political" in Othello with women's roles and race and examples of "It's All About Sex..." in Mrs. Dalloway with Peter and his knife. I too was a little confused with the relevance of "Flights of Fancy". Obviously, it was more symbolic. The best I could come up with was Clarrissa's entrapment in society (the opposite of freedom, which the book characterized flight as meaning). During her flashbacks to the sea, she often mentions birds or the air/sky to further this point (i.e. "What a lark!" (Woolf 3), etc). Still, it may be a little far-fetched.
I think that the concept of flight could be said to show up in the bird imagery that is present throughout Mrs. Dalloway. Many characters in the book are compared to birds- Clarissa as a jay (Page 4), Septimus as a ‘young hawk’ (146), and Lucrezia as a ‘little hen’ (149). There are also various other references to birds throughout the book, such as Clarissa’s curtain with the birds of Paradise on it, and the mention of Rezia’s thoughts being ‘ like a bird, falling from branch to branch, and always alighting’ (147). While these may not be direct references to flight, birds are usually closely associated to the idea of flying, and are very often symbolic of it. The concept of flight could also appear in Septimus’ suicide, in his ‘flight’ from the window (that ends in a tragic fall). While I can’t say exactly what the bird imagery is supposed to represent, I would guess that it could possibly symbolize a flight-is-freedom sort of idea, perhaps representing the character’s desires to break free from their positions in life and society. -Alexandra Dilger
I agree with Alexandra- I saw the flight imagery especially in Septimus' death, when he "flies" to the ground. Mrs. Dalloway wonders whether he "plunged holding his treasure," and sees his act as freedom inducing. She feels that, "Death was defiance... There was an embrace in death." Septimus flew and attained freedom from the constraints of society, and from human nature itself (the latter being that which he specifically mentions escaping). In this way, flight is again always freedom. In "It's All About Sex," the author says that stairs symbolize sexual intercourse. I also thought this related to Mrs. Dalloway. Clarissa ruminates over her time back at Bourton, standing at the top of the stairs and going down to meet Sally Seton, feeling that "If it were now to die 'twere now to be most happy." This can also relate to political statements/social criticism, as it is about the rigid standards of society and Clarissa's wish to escape from them, in this case by exploring her sexuality. -Kaitlin Sandmann
I agree with Kaitlin and Alexandra in that "Flights of Fancy" was evident in Septimus's suicide in. Because he did not believe he was free in the living world, he had to kill himself to attain true freedom. Everyone wanted to help him and understand him, but that is impossible to do, so he committed suicide and jumped, or flew, out the window to prove the point that flight is freedom. Also, after his suicide, Clarissa Dalloway realizes that she needs to free herself from the past. So, Septimus's "flight" affected both him and Mrs. Dalloway, in that they both found their freedom. -Holly Riccitelli
I completely agreed with the author's discussion of politics in literature-- when political motives are present, it can be very easy for a book to lose it's entertainment value and become bland and nearly offensive. I think a fantastic example of an author who manages to avoid this issue very well is Dostoyevsky. Crime and Punishment is absolutely filled with messages about Russian politics and the state of society, but Dostoyevsky hides his criticism behind well-developed characters and a complex plot. The ideas of the book are still meaningful because they're so broad, but he had a specific intent when he wrote it during his time period. Because of this, we can still get something valuble out of the book even today. Amanda Mitchel
All three of these ideas: flight, political understatements, and sex, were extremely prevalent in both books. In Othello the sex was quite obvious with the brutal Iago black ram and white ewe references, as well as the whole marriage deal. Also the the act of killing her out of love and the imagery present in that scene could probably relate back to that as well. In Othello, Desdemona was often referred to as graceful, and with bird like qualities, these could represent "flight" and that idea that she is one of the few characters free from the monster of jealousy. In Dalloway, Septimus's act of jumping represents his flight to freedom from the corrupt social system, that he symbolically took to the air as a means of escape. This simultaneous works toward the political criticism underling the book. That the British society was phoney, corrupt, and the people hid their emotions under parties, parasols and petticoats. Septimus was able to see the truth and freed himself from it. I am not sure what the political understatement in Othello is, probably because I don't know what problems existed in Shakespearean society, but i am sure there is one. Maybe it's don't kill people because you love them? or something deeper like, don't covet thy neighbor. -Josef Lenz
I found the “Flights of Fancy” chapter in How to Read Literature Like a Professor to be the most interesting chapter. Never before had I seen such symbolism in birds and flight in books. It was very eye-opening to learn how wings, flight, and birds all represent freedom. I was immediately finding these symbols in Mrs. Dalloway. I am not entirely sure on the validity of my interpretation, but it seems that the early scene where various characters enjoy the sight of a skywriting airplane could pertain to freedom. I believe this symbolizes the freedom that the new technological marvels seemed to promise. They were personal machines capable of doing the impossible. However, the way the plane eventually leaves, the cloud dissipates, and life returns to normal represents society’s discouragement of freedom. I also believe Septimus’ death has similar symbolism. Of all the possible ways of killing himself, Septimus chooses to throw himself out a window. Though it isn’t technically flying, the symbolism is still there. His act is a final effort to gain freedom from the society he despises. He would not become a slave to Holmes, and he is successful. His efforts to gain freedom are even admired by Clarissa.
The first outside impression we get in “Mrs. Dalloway” of Clarissa Dalloway is that she has “a touch of bird about her, of the jay” because she is “perched” on the curb. Mrs. Dalloway is said to look like a bird, one of the creatures that can fly, before we find out anything else about her appearance. Since the Flights of Fancy chapter makes it clear that “flight is freedom”, Mrs. Dalloway’s resemblance to a bird emphasizes her desire for freedom. Throughout the entire novel, she is being held down by her past, constantly questioning decisions she made. Should Clarissa have married Peter? Should she have pursued her love for Sally? Instead of living life through regrets, Woolf is implying Clarissa should “fly away” from her childhood, and enjoy all the good in her present life. -Abby Wolff
I agree with everyone who has commented so far. I would like to expand on the Flight of Fancy chapter and Septimus’ suicide. In How to Read Literature Like a Professor, it says that “as thrilled as we are by the prospect of flying, we are also frightened at the prospect of falling” (Foster 131). When I first read this, I questioned the reasoning for Septimus’ death. If humans are supposedly so afraid of falling, then why would Septimus choose to fall to his grave? The conclusion I drew was that, to Septimus, staying “earthbound” was his idea of falling--of a slow, painful falling. Staying alive meant that he would have had to give in to Dr. Holmes, and give up his last ounce of freedom. Being a post-war veteran, he is accustomed to the mindset of living for freedom, or dying for it. Septimus saw his chance to fly away from the prison of his mental illness, and took the leap. For him, suicide was the only way out; flying was the only way he could be free.
The symbolism of flight in our world is common and fascinating. Flying has always been confined to our dreams, yet suddenly we find ourselves holding complete control over the skies. Flight holds the meaning of freedom, a bright future for everybody. In mediums such as Lord of the Flies and Lost, we watch as humans fall from flight. What happens to us when we fall from the skies we're so sure we have control over? What do we become? We lose ourselves. We find ourselves to be savages. A plunge from our skies is symbolically a fall from society. Artists can use falling from flight to symbolize the unsustainability of the way we live today, predicting what we will be if it all falls apart. How to Read Literature Like a Professor captures the symbolism of flight, but I decided I wanted to expand upon falling from it. Sorry it didn't connect to our recent readings, the other comments do a great job at that.
Adding on to what Indigo has said about the imagery of flight surrounding some of the characters, such as Septimus, it is also used in the description of the surroundings. Clarissa was visualizing her party has a disaster and how the yellow curtains remind her of the yellow birds of Paradise. It says, "Gently the yellow curtain with all the birds of Paradise blew out and it seemed as if they were a flight of wings into the room, right out, then sucked back" (Woolf 168). The imagery of the curtains being blown outside and then sucked back into the house is symbolic of Mrs. Dalloway. In the beginning of the text she is described as, "...a touch of the bird about her, of the jay, blue-green, light, vivacious..." (Woolf 4). This comparison of Mrs. Dalloway to a bird leads me to believe that she is trapped in the house, like a bird in a cage. She is trapped in a marriage that is less satisfying but more "practical" than her past relationships. Like the curtains, she will leave, but inevitably return. Although the imagery of a bird and wings as pointed out in "How to Read Literature like a Professor" is inked to freedom, in her case, just like "Night at the Circus" Mrs. Dalloway is being held back and not very free. -Neve Flynn
As many of my compatriots did, I found "Flights of Fancy" to be the most compelling chapter. I certainly see the validity of ben's interpretation with the skywriting plane. In the Flight of Fancy chapter, the author writes in bold "flight is freedom". On the flip side of that, does earth represent boundaries? Is the force of gravity akin to the force of societal and personal obligations weighing down upon the characters of Ms. Dalloway? I actually can't find anything in Ms. Dalloway to back this up, but it's still an interesting concept to me. And when the author talked about those whose flights were interrupted, I immediately thought of Sally Seton and the way she unexpectedly married and had five children. Although she is happy with the life she has, the reader is left wondering what she could have been if she hadn't been bound by marriage. As for "its all about sex", the obvious sex symbol for me is Peter Walsh's switchblade. Peter has had notoriously bad luck with women, and the flicking of the knife represents his pent-up sexual desires waiting to come out, especially with Clarissa. As she noted, his switch-blade (and consequently his male sexuality)is one of the things people remember most about him, and it could be what makes him so intriguing to her. -Garrett Boland
I agree with each of these insighful comments and would like to expand off of the chapter, "Flights of Fancy", relating it to Mrs. Dalloway. After reading this chapter, I not only thought of it in the way of physically flying, but I also related it to the mindset of Clarissa Dalloway throughout the novel. Mrs. Dalloway's mind constantly "flies" from her thoughts of Peter to Sally and back to Richard. Thomas C. Foster makes a great point when he proposes a question in the novel, stating, "What about characters who don't quite fly or whose flights are interrupted? (131). This quote is very relatable to Mrs. Dalloway's situation because even though she never physically flies, her thoughts are flying from one situation to the next and are always interruped, bringing her back to reality. Overall, Mrs. Dalloway is her own hero, always escaping from reality and thinking about her past. She is also her own villain because her thoughts torture her, causing her reality to become depressing and confusing.
Thank you so much for this post Lily! I completely agree and find the idea of flight as not a physical leaving of the ground, but maybe a mental or emotional flight; the HTRLAP discusses the soul's "flight" from the body in death, so I assume it can be used in the same context with the stream of consciousness in Mrs. Dalloway. Throughout the novel she repeatedly discusses her past in a longing, entrapped tone, and from the beginning uses imagery and connections to birds to contrast her confined tone with the freedom that is flight. That being said, I would like to point out that Mrs. Dalloway may be her own villain through her thoughts entrapping her, but I do not think there is significant evidence to prove that she is her own hero. Elaborate?
I completely agree with what people have said about the flights of fancy. I had thought about it in a much more literal sense (Septimus’ death and the plane) until I read Lily and Garrett’s comment’s. The characters, many of which are compared to birds in appearance, thoughts ‘fly’ from shallow descriptions to deep contemplations about life as a whole. The characters never find answers to these essential questions and are left grounded, brought back to the commonality of everyday life. Septimus’ suicide, another flight, is his way of escaping his own mind. Ironically he is escaping both physical and mental imprisonment. The idea of the physical world differing and catching up to the mental one is present throughout. For example Clarissa’s physical wealth does not translate to her emotional happiness, and she cannot bring herself to express her emotions in a literal sense to produce a true change in her physical environment. For the “all about sex” chapter I definitely saw how it connected to Ms. Dalloway. Like a few people have already said, Peter Walsh’s knife is a clear phallic symbol. There are also a few uncomfortable scenes involving Elizabeth and Ms. Kilman that seemed very coded, most notably the lunch scene. I see these examples, but am not entirely sure how they connect back to the book as a whole. Anyone have any ideas? Britta McCarthy
I agree with Kaitlin on how both "Flights of Fancy" and the reference of politics fit in directly with Virginia Woolf's "Mrs Dalloway". As many others have said, flight in this chapter of "How to Read Literature Like a Professor" correlates to Septimus' suicide and Mrs. Dalloway's desire for freedom. This desire for freedom is halted by the social norms of England's post-war society. Mrs. Dalloway's sexuality symbolizes her confusion in society and her inability to pursue her own happiness. Sally, her friend from Bourton, actually made Clarissa happy. However, pursuing her love for Sally would be considered irregular and strange in this time period. The fact that her husband is involved in the government furthers supports Woolf's point that Clarissa is unhappy in her marriage and life in general. Following Septimus' death, Clarissa comes to terms with the fact that she needs to let go of her past and live in the present. Alicia Wichtowski
The Bald Eagle: the symbol of America; the symbol of freedom. So there we have it, we have been associating freedom and the Bald Eagle our whole lives, making it easily applicable to the advanced literature we read now. However, we have been reading literature that has flight as freedom since we were young. Harry Potter (a class favorite of ours) demonstrates the flight is freedom aspect. Harry Potter is always on his broom, whether playing quiditch, fighting a dragon, or fleeing Voldemort; plus his trusty owl Hedwig (who is also white symbolizing freedom as well) is another symbol of flight. Contrarily, Lord Voldemort is not seen flying everywhere throughout the novels, and his pet, if you can call it that, is a 10 foot killer snake. Now that How to Read Literature Like a Professor has put what I already knew and helped me apply it to the literature I am reading the affect was instant. I feel that Amanda was spot on when she was talking about Its All Political. Dostoevsky did a fabulous job of masking the criticisms he was making of Russian politics. However I was somewhat confused by the difference of a social criticism and a political criticism. Are they the same thing? Or are they just similar in the terms that they are hidden in the characters and the plot? Well if I had done this on time I may have gotten a response, although the responses just seemed to agree with the statement of “I don’t know”. In modern literature (and I believe that movies are now classified as literature, correct me if I’m wrong) sex is overused, to a point where it is vulgar, rude, and you can’t bring your 13 year old kid to a PG-13 movie because you don’t want them to see Justin Timberlake “tupping” Mila Kunis. However, as Thomas Foster puts it in How to Read Literature Like a Professor, “Suddenly we discover that sex doesn’t have to look like sex: other objects and activities can stand for sexual organs and acts.” In Mrs. Dalloway, Peter’s pocket knife serves this exact purpose. Quite literally when he switches the blade out it represents his male sexual organ and his sexual desires. Othello is all about sex too. Iago told the Senator that his white ewe was getting tupped by a black ram. Although Iago is trying to say they are having sex, Shakespeare words what he is saying to make it less vulgar, but we got the image anyways. After just a few chapters of How to Read Literature Like a Professor I feel like my ability to make these connections on prompts and poetry will improve and that will ultimately help me succeed on the AP test. -Brian Patterson
Generally, I agree with the comments on flights of fancy and how it fits and relates to 'Mrs. Dalloway". The chapter's use of flying and bird imagery relates to the book, and especially to the death of Septimus. He finally believes he can 'see the light' and is no longer afraid. This also relates to Daedalus and Icarus, when Icarus flew too close to the sun and his wings melted, causing him to plunge into the water below. I took it as saying that freedom is a double-edged sword. While in the case of Septimus, by committing suicide, he was free of the world, however, at the same time, he had no other paths to follow than to kill himself. In the case of Icarus, he was too careless, and did not take heed of his father's warnings (or more metaphorically, the rest of society). Ultimately, the commentary raises the question: are we ever, at any point, truly free?
How to Read…Professor opened my eyes to the aggravating subtlety of the political undertones of literature. I now know that the reason I didn't pick up on piles of political views in Dalloway is because they were very well hidden. that being said, politics in literature as described by HTRLAP seems to be not indifferent from ordinary allegory or social criticism- could someone please make clearer the distinction?
ReplyDelete-Harry Taylor
Harry- I am unable to answer your question and ask the same myself, however I completely agree on the "aggravating subtlety". I thoroughly understand that every piece of literature has some influence and subtle criticisms of the society it was written in, because there is no way to write without subconsciously including one's thoughts about a certain idea or topic, even if those ideas are woven into innate human nature and not just the society of the time, like religion. Sometimes I think that's why analyzing can be easy, because there's criticism or commentary in everything! That being said, sometimes the distinction between that and ordinary, plain, NON-political allegory is shady and indifferent, because there really isn't a difference!
DeleteHarry- I got the same impression. I think How to Read was just trying to point out the presence of social criticism within most books and using a different term for it. I got the idea that they were virtually interchangeable, as well.
ReplyDeleteI understood how "It's all Political" related to Mrs. Dalloway (it was even an example in the book) and "It's All About Sex..." to Othello (infidelity and sex are themes throughout the play) but "Flights of Fancy" I was completely lost on. Any ideas?
ReplyDeleteI was able to connect both books to "It's All Political" and "It's All About Sex...". As Shelby said, Politics were extremely present in Mrs. Dalloway and Sex in Othello. Though not quite as evident, I was able to find examples of "It's all Political" in Othello with women's roles and race and examples of "It's All About Sex..." in Mrs. Dalloway with Peter and his knife. I too was a little confused with the relevance of "Flights of Fancy". Obviously, it was more symbolic. The best I could come up with was Clarrissa's entrapment in society (the opposite of freedom, which the book characterized flight as meaning). During her flashbacks to the sea, she often mentions birds or the air/sky to further this point (i.e. "What a lark!" (Woolf 3), etc). Still, it may be a little far-fetched.
ReplyDeleteI think that the concept of flight could be said to show up in the bird imagery that is present throughout Mrs. Dalloway. Many characters in the book are compared to birds- Clarissa as a jay (Page 4), Septimus as a ‘young hawk’ (146), and Lucrezia as a ‘little hen’ (149). There are also various other references to birds throughout the book, such as Clarissa’s curtain with the birds of Paradise on it, and the mention of Rezia’s thoughts being ‘ like a bird, falling from branch to branch, and always alighting’ (147). While these may not be direct references to flight, birds are usually closely associated to the idea of flying, and are very often symbolic of it. The concept of flight could also appear in Septimus’ suicide, in his ‘flight’ from the window (that ends in a tragic fall). While I can’t say exactly what the bird imagery is supposed to represent, I would guess that it could possibly symbolize a flight-is-freedom sort of idea, perhaps representing the character’s desires to break free from their positions in life and society.
ReplyDelete-Alexandra Dilger
I agree with Alexandra- I saw the flight imagery especially in Septimus' death, when he "flies" to the ground. Mrs. Dalloway wonders whether he "plunged holding his treasure," and sees his act as freedom inducing. She feels that, "Death was defiance... There was an embrace in death." Septimus flew and attained freedom from the constraints of society, and from human nature itself (the latter being that which he specifically mentions escaping). In this way, flight is again always freedom. In "It's All About Sex," the author says that stairs symbolize sexual intercourse. I also thought this related to Mrs. Dalloway. Clarissa ruminates over her time back at Bourton, standing at the top of the stairs and going down to meet Sally Seton, feeling that "If it were now to die 'twere now to be most happy." This can also relate to political statements/social criticism, as it is about the rigid standards of society and Clarissa's wish to escape from them, in this case by exploring her sexuality.
ReplyDelete-Kaitlin Sandmann
I agree with Kaitlin and Alexandra in that "Flights of Fancy" was evident in Septimus's suicide in. Because he did not believe he was free in the living world, he had to kill himself to attain true freedom. Everyone wanted to help him and understand him, but that is impossible to do, so he committed suicide and jumped, or flew, out the window to prove the point that flight is freedom. Also, after his suicide, Clarissa Dalloway realizes that she needs to free herself from the past. So, Septimus's "flight" affected both him and Mrs. Dalloway, in that they both found their freedom.
ReplyDelete-Holly Riccitelli
I completely agreed with the author's discussion of politics in literature-- when political motives are present, it can be very easy for a book to lose it's entertainment value and become bland and nearly offensive. I think a fantastic example of an author who manages to avoid this issue very well is Dostoyevsky. Crime and Punishment is absolutely filled with messages about Russian politics and the state of society, but Dostoyevsky hides his criticism behind well-developed characters and a complex plot. The ideas of the book are still meaningful because they're so broad, but he had a specific intent when he wrote it during his time period. Because of this, we can still get something valuble out of the book even today.
ReplyDeleteAmanda Mitchel
All three of these ideas: flight, political understatements, and sex, were extremely prevalent in both books. In Othello the sex was quite obvious with the brutal Iago black ram and white ewe references, as well as the whole marriage deal. Also the the act of killing her out of love and the imagery present in that scene could probably relate back to that as well. In Othello, Desdemona was often referred to as graceful, and with bird like qualities, these could represent "flight" and that idea that she is one of the few characters free from the monster of jealousy. In Dalloway, Septimus's act of jumping represents his flight to freedom from the corrupt social system, that he symbolically took to the air as a means of escape. This simultaneous works toward the political criticism underling the book. That the British society was phoney, corrupt, and the people hid their emotions under parties, parasols and petticoats. Septimus was able to see the truth and freed himself from it. I am not sure what the political understatement in Othello is, probably because I don't know what problems existed in Shakespearean society, but i am sure there is one. Maybe it's don't kill people because you love them? or something deeper like, don't covet thy neighbor.
ReplyDelete-Josef Lenz
I found the “Flights of Fancy” chapter in How to Read Literature Like a Professor to be the most interesting chapter. Never before had I seen such symbolism in birds and flight in books. It was very eye-opening to learn how wings, flight, and birds all represent freedom. I was immediately finding these symbols in Mrs. Dalloway. I am not entirely sure on the validity of my interpretation, but it seems that the early scene where various characters enjoy the sight of a skywriting airplane could pertain to freedom. I believe this symbolizes the freedom that the new technological marvels seemed to promise. They were personal machines capable of doing the impossible. However, the way the plane eventually leaves, the cloud dissipates, and life returns to normal represents society’s discouragement of freedom. I also believe Septimus’ death has similar symbolism. Of all the possible ways of killing himself, Septimus chooses to throw himself out a window. Though it isn’t technically flying, the symbolism is still there. His act is a final effort to gain freedom from the society he despises. He would not become a slave to Holmes, and he is successful. His efforts to gain freedom are even admired by Clarissa.
ReplyDeleteThe first outside impression we get in “Mrs. Dalloway” of Clarissa Dalloway is that she has “a touch of bird about her, of the jay” because she is “perched” on the curb. Mrs. Dalloway is said to look like a bird, one of the creatures that can fly, before we find out anything else about her appearance. Since the Flights of Fancy chapter makes it clear that “flight is freedom”, Mrs. Dalloway’s resemblance to a bird emphasizes her desire for freedom. Throughout the entire novel, she is being held down by her past, constantly questioning decisions she made. Should Clarissa have married Peter? Should she have pursued her love for Sally? Instead of living life through regrets, Woolf is implying Clarissa should “fly away” from her childhood, and enjoy all the good in her present life.
ReplyDelete-Abby Wolff
I agree with everyone who has commented so far. I would like to expand on the Flight of Fancy chapter and Septimus’ suicide. In How to Read Literature Like a Professor, it says that “as thrilled as we are by the prospect of flying, we are also frightened at the prospect of falling” (Foster 131). When I first read this, I questioned the reasoning for Septimus’ death. If humans are supposedly so afraid of falling, then why would Septimus choose to fall to his grave? The conclusion I drew was that, to Septimus, staying “earthbound” was his idea of falling--of a slow, painful falling. Staying alive meant that he would have had to give in to Dr. Holmes, and give up his last ounce of freedom. Being a post-war veteran, he is accustomed to the mindset of living for freedom, or dying for it. Septimus saw his chance to fly away from the prison of his mental illness, and took the leap. For him, suicide was the only way out; flying was the only way he could be free.
ReplyDeleteThe symbolism of flight in our world is common and fascinating. Flying has always been confined to our dreams, yet suddenly we find ourselves holding complete control over the skies. Flight holds the meaning of freedom, a bright future for everybody. In mediums such as Lord of the Flies and Lost, we watch as humans fall from flight. What happens to us when we fall from the skies we're so sure we have control over? What do we become? We lose ourselves. We find ourselves to be savages. A plunge from our skies is symbolically a fall from society. Artists can use falling from flight to symbolize the unsustainability of the way we live today, predicting what we will be if it all falls apart. How to Read Literature Like a Professor captures the symbolism of flight, but I decided I wanted to expand upon falling from it. Sorry it didn't connect to our recent readings, the other comments do a great job at that.
ReplyDeleteAdding on to what Indigo has said about the imagery of flight surrounding some of the characters, such as Septimus, it is also used in the description of the surroundings. Clarissa was visualizing her party has a disaster and how the yellow curtains remind her of the yellow birds of Paradise. It says, "Gently the yellow curtain with all the birds of Paradise blew out and it seemed as if they were a flight of wings into the room, right out, then sucked back" (Woolf 168). The imagery of the curtains being blown outside and then sucked back into the house is symbolic of Mrs. Dalloway. In the beginning of the text she is described as, "...a touch of the bird about her, of the jay, blue-green, light, vivacious..." (Woolf 4). This comparison of Mrs. Dalloway to a bird leads me to believe that she is trapped in the house, like a bird in a cage. She is trapped in a marriage that is less satisfying but more "practical" than her past relationships. Like the curtains, she will leave, but inevitably return. Although the imagery of a bird and wings as pointed out in "How to Read Literature like a Professor" is inked to freedom, in her case, just like "Night at the Circus" Mrs. Dalloway is being held back and not very free. -Neve Flynn
ReplyDeleteAs many of my compatriots did, I found "Flights of Fancy" to be the most compelling chapter. I certainly see the validity of ben's interpretation with the skywriting plane. In the Flight of Fancy chapter, the author writes in bold "flight is freedom". On the flip side of that, does earth represent boundaries? Is the force of gravity akin to the force of societal and personal obligations weighing down upon the characters of Ms. Dalloway? I actually can't find anything in Ms. Dalloway to back this up, but it's still an interesting concept to me. And when the author talked about those whose flights were interrupted, I immediately thought of Sally Seton and the way she unexpectedly married and had five children. Although she is happy with the life she has, the reader is left wondering what she could have been if she hadn't been bound by marriage. As for "its all about sex", the obvious sex symbol for me is Peter Walsh's switchblade. Peter has had notoriously bad luck with women, and the flicking of the knife represents his pent-up sexual desires waiting to come out, especially with Clarissa. As she noted, his switch-blade (and consequently his male sexuality)is one of the things people remember most about him, and it could be what makes him so intriguing to her.
ReplyDelete-Garrett Boland
I agree with each of these insighful comments and would like to expand off of the chapter, "Flights of Fancy", relating it to Mrs. Dalloway. After reading this chapter, I not only thought of it in the way of physically flying, but I also related it to the mindset of Clarissa Dalloway throughout the novel. Mrs. Dalloway's mind constantly "flies" from her thoughts of Peter to Sally and back to Richard. Thomas C. Foster makes a great point when he proposes a question in the novel, stating, "What about characters who don't quite fly or whose flights are interrupted? (131). This quote is very relatable to Mrs. Dalloway's situation because even though she never physically flies, her thoughts are flying from one situation to the next and are always interruped, bringing her back to reality. Overall, Mrs. Dalloway is her own hero, always escaping from reality and thinking about her past. She is also her own villain because her thoughts torture her, causing her reality to become depressing and confusing.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for this post Lily! I completely agree and find the idea of flight as not a physical leaving of the ground, but maybe a mental or emotional flight; the HTRLAP discusses the soul's "flight" from the body in death, so I assume it can be used in the same context with the stream of consciousness in Mrs. Dalloway. Throughout the novel she repeatedly discusses her past in a longing, entrapped tone, and from the beginning uses imagery and connections to birds to contrast her confined tone with the freedom that is flight. That being said, I would like to point out that Mrs. Dalloway may be her own villain through her thoughts entrapping her, but I do not think there is significant evidence to prove that she is her own hero. Elaborate?
DeleteI completely agree with what people have said about the flights of fancy. I had thought about it in a much more literal sense (Septimus’ death and the plane) until I read Lily and Garrett’s comment’s. The characters, many of which are compared to birds in appearance, thoughts ‘fly’ from shallow descriptions to deep contemplations about life as a whole. The characters never find answers to these essential questions and are left grounded, brought back to the commonality of everyday life. Septimus’ suicide, another flight, is his way of escaping his own mind. Ironically he is escaping both physical and mental imprisonment. The idea of the physical world differing and catching up to the mental one is present throughout. For example Clarissa’s physical wealth does not translate to her emotional happiness, and she cannot bring herself to express her emotions in a literal sense to produce a true change in her physical environment. For the “all about sex” chapter I definitely saw how it connected to Ms. Dalloway. Like a few people have already said, Peter Walsh’s knife is a clear phallic symbol. There are also a few uncomfortable scenes involving Elizabeth and Ms. Kilman that seemed very coded, most notably the lunch scene. I see these examples, but am not entirely sure how they connect back to the book as a whole. Anyone have any ideas?
ReplyDeleteBritta McCarthy
I agree with Kaitlin on how both "Flights of Fancy" and the reference of politics fit in directly with Virginia Woolf's "Mrs Dalloway". As many others have said, flight in this chapter of "How to Read Literature Like a Professor" correlates to Septimus' suicide and Mrs. Dalloway's desire for freedom. This desire for freedom is halted by the social norms of England's post-war society. Mrs. Dalloway's sexuality symbolizes her confusion in society and her inability to pursue her own happiness. Sally, her friend from Bourton, actually made Clarissa happy. However, pursuing her love for Sally would be considered irregular and strange in this time period. The fact that her husband is involved in the government furthers supports Woolf's point that Clarissa is unhappy in her marriage and life in general. Following Septimus' death, Clarissa comes to terms with the fact that she needs to let go of her past and live in the present.
ReplyDeleteAlicia Wichtowski
The Bald Eagle: the symbol of America; the symbol of freedom. So there we have it, we have been associating freedom and the Bald Eagle our whole lives, making it easily applicable to the advanced literature we read now. However, we have been reading literature that has flight as freedom since we were young. Harry Potter (a class favorite of ours) demonstrates the flight is freedom aspect. Harry Potter is always on his broom, whether playing quiditch, fighting a dragon, or fleeing Voldemort; plus his trusty owl Hedwig (who is also white symbolizing freedom as well) is another symbol of flight. Contrarily, Lord Voldemort is not seen flying everywhere throughout the novels, and his pet, if you can call it that, is a 10 foot killer snake. Now that How to Read Literature Like a Professor has put what I already knew and helped me apply it to the literature I am reading the affect was instant. I feel that Amanda was spot on when she was talking about Its All Political. Dostoevsky did a fabulous job of masking the criticisms he was making of Russian politics. However I was somewhat confused by the difference of a social criticism and a political criticism. Are they the same thing? Or are they just similar in the terms that they are hidden in the characters and the plot? Well if I had done this on time I may have gotten a response, although the responses just seemed to agree with the statement of “I don’t know”. In modern literature (and I believe that movies are now classified as literature, correct me if I’m wrong) sex is overused, to a point where it is vulgar, rude, and you can’t bring your 13 year old kid to a PG-13 movie because you don’t want them to see Justin Timberlake “tupping” Mila Kunis. However, as Thomas Foster puts it in How to Read Literature Like a Professor, “Suddenly we discover that sex doesn’t have to look like sex: other objects and activities can stand for sexual organs and acts.” In Mrs. Dalloway, Peter’s pocket knife serves this exact purpose. Quite literally when he switches the blade out it represents his male sexual organ and his sexual desires. Othello is all about sex too. Iago told the Senator that his white ewe was getting tupped by a black ram. Although Iago is trying to say they are having sex, Shakespeare words what he is saying to make it less vulgar, but we got the image anyways. After just a few chapters of How to Read Literature Like a Professor I feel like my ability to make these connections on prompts and poetry will improve and that will ultimately help me succeed on the AP test.
ReplyDelete-Brian Patterson
Generally, I agree with the comments on flights of fancy and how it fits and relates to 'Mrs. Dalloway". The chapter's use of flying and bird imagery relates to the book, and especially to the death of Septimus. He finally believes he can 'see the light' and is no longer afraid. This also relates to Daedalus and Icarus, when Icarus flew too close to the sun and his wings melted, causing him to plunge into the water below. I took it as saying that freedom is a double-edged sword. While in the case of Septimus, by committing suicide, he was free of the world, however, at the same time, he had no other paths to follow than to kill himself. In the case of Icarus, he was too careless, and did not take heed of his father's warnings (or more metaphorically, the rest of society). Ultimately, the commentary raises the question: are we ever, at any point, truly free?
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