I've noticed that the love triangles, squares, quadrilaterals, and just polygons in general in "Mrs. Dalloway" seem to mirror the ones in "Wuthering Heights." Well, really, one in particular. The relationships between Clarissa, Peter, and Richard seem an awful lot like the relationships between Cathy, Heathcliff, and Edgar. See, let me simplify it basically. Girl 1 is awfully in love with Guy 1, and he loves her just as passionately. However, this deep, rough passion is too much for Girl 1 and Guy 1, which makes them bad for each other, often resulting in loads of arguments, harsh statements, and hurt feelings. Girl 1 then falls in love with Guy 2, and vice versa, and they have a calm, stable relationship. Both parties are happy, and while the love may not be as passionate, at least it is a peaceful one. And even if old feelings for Guy 1 resurface. Girl 1 stays with Guy 2, and maintains the happy, calm relationship. Simply put, Clarissa and Cathy are Girl 1, obviously since they're the only girls in these love polygons, Peter and Heathcliff are Guy 1, and Richard and Edgar are Guy 2.
Clarissa and Peter have such a past, as do Cathy and Heathcliff. Both parties shared a childhood, and were very close. However, with close relationships come troubles. Cathy and Heathcliff run into class issues, and also conflict over both of their powerful personalities, and their love is constantly tested with anger and arguments. The passion is too much in a situation that just isn't right for it, and thus the relationship fails. Peter knows exactly what to say to Clarissa to upset her, "perfect hostess" for example, and when they are together, or even when they are apart and just thinking of each other, there is anger and pain laced in with the the thoughts and words of love. Think of when Peter grabs Clarissa's arm and demands to know if she is happy. It doesn't seem healthy, not at all. Though there was no doubt passion, back in Bourton, between Clarissa and Peter, it is too strong of a passion that causes an unhealthy relationship. There's too much anger thrown in with the relationship, caused by two strong personalities that are virtually in constant conflict. It's why I don't think Clarissa should have ended up with Peter, because even if they had started out happy, eventually they would end up butting heads for as long as their marriage would've lasted.
Actually, though, at the beginning of both "Mrs. Dalloway" and "Wuthering Heights" I was rooting for Girl 1 and Guy 1. I wanted Clarissa with Peter, I wanted Cathy with Heathcliff, and this was usually before I met Guy 2. I thought their passion would be able to withstand the anger, but as the novels progressed and I continued to see how wrong Girl 1 and Guy 1 were for each other, no matter how deep their passion, my feelings changed. I didn't like Edgar when I first met him, and I especially didn't like his marriage with Cathy, mainly because she admitted that she did not love him. But she grew to. And there was a happy healthy relationship between she and Edgar. They did love each other, they supported one another, they fit will together. Sure, maybe it wasn't the same kind of love, the same burst of passion that Cathy had for Heathcliff, but it was something that was good for her, and that made me happy. It's the same with Clarissa and Richard. I really grew to like Richard. That scene with him and Clarissa, where he wanted so badly to say "I love you" but just couldn't bring himself to say it, in so many words of course, is just too freaking adorable. I could feel the love radiating off the page, even though no words of love were actually being shared. With Peter and Clarissa, I felt passion laced with bitterness and anger; something strong overshadowed with even more strong feelings. But with Richard and Clarissa, the feelings are calmer, more stabilized. As with Cathy and Edgar, Richard and Clarissa just fit well together. They can communicate so much while saying very little, which works so well for them, whereas with Peter and Clarissa, a lot is said but so much more is kept hidden. Richard and Clarissa are happy together, at least that's what I think, and I see absolutely no reason for them to be any other way.
1 comment:
Very interesting observations about some of the structural (geometric?) parallels between these two novels, and the central romantic entanglements that animate their narratives. The most glaring difference, of course, is that Woolf eliminates all narrative tension or "suspense" from the equation: the outcome is a done deal, thirty years ago, and we are left to look back at 18-year-old Clarissa's dilemma from the perspective of her 50-something-year-old self. There's no real "rooting interest" for the reader, even if we temporarily forget this in the midst of some of the Bourton sections. Woolf thus engages us less in the plot-driven "what should I do?" questions and points us toward the kinds of "what ifs" that so many people torture themselves with every day.
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