Jessica Greene, Annie Neff, Eileen Storey

“She felt very young; at the same time unspeakably aged. She sliced like a knife through everything; at the same time was outside, looking on. She had a perpetual sense, as she watched the taxi cabs, of being out, out, far out to sea and alone; she always had the feeling that it was very, very dangerous to live even one day. Not that she thought herself clever, or much out of the ordinary.” (Page 8)

As Clarissa Dalloway leaves St. James Park, she reflects on her life while observing the usual happenings of the day. The tone of the passage is distant and detached. Virginia Woolf makes Clarissa Dalloway almost emotionless, and thereby sparks little emotion in the reader. It is as if Mrs. Dalloway is simply commenting on her life, and not really living it. She reflects and observes neutrally, without vivacity or passion.

This passage contains many instances of paradox. Clarissa claims that she “feels very young; at the same time unspeakably aged.” She feels like she has experienced a great deal, but has missed the opportunities for entirely new experiences. Clarissa has grown and aged through her experiences in the domestic sphere of life, but feels imperfect and incomplete because she has neglected others. This draws attention to the novel’s depiction of the humdrum and chores that occupy everyday life. Virginia Woolf accentuates that these ordinary experiences are just as influential and fulfilling as innovative ones. Clarissa later states that it is “dangerous to live even one day.” This statement is a paradox in itself, but also a paradox to Clarissa’s feelings in the rest of the book. Here she expresses a fear of living, but later she often contemplates her mortality and feels fearful and anxious about death. This quote embodies the entire book because it stresses the idea of a single day. It also serves as foreshadowing, because it emphasizes the possibility of disaster striking during the course of an ordinary day. Septimus’s decision to commit suicide can be seen as a representation of the danger of living, because suicide reveals a greater fear of living than of death.

Virginia Woolf repeats the word “out” three times in the phrase, “being out, out, far out to sea and alone,” to connote Mrs. Dalloway’s interior conflict, as she feels solitary and distant. It is ironic that Mrs. Dalloway is persistently disturbed by her feelings of loneliness and isolation while planning and gathering items for a social gathering she is hosting. It is also ironic that she would ponder her solitude while in the bustling streets of the city.

Clarissa declares that she “slices like a knife through everything” but simultaneously is “outside, looking on.” This assertion exemplifies Virginia Woolf’s writing style. She uses an omniscient narrator, and omits quotation marks, to flow the character’s external statements with their internal thoughts. By streaming the consciousness of the characters, she provides the readers with a unique experience. We can view the novel from the outside by observing the character’s actions, behavior, and environment; at the same time, we can view the novel from the inside by observing the private thoughts and feelings of each character.