Petra Salašová, 361277

         Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf - The Tiredness of Rosabel by Katherine Mansfield

                               Private thoughts of female characters

            In this Final paper I would like to contrast the novel Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
with the short story The Tiredness of Rosabel by Katherine Mansfield. Namely I would like to
compare the theme of different kinds of private thinking which in the heroines (Clarissa and
Rosabel) provoke the people around them, their surroundings or their financial situation.

            Many thoughts of the heroines are provoked by the city of London. But in Mrs Dalloway
London as a public space is of greater significance than in The Tiredness of Rosabel. I believe in
Virginia Woolf’s work London is kind of a character for itself, whereas Katherine Mansfield does
not attach such a lot of importance to this city. Only during Rosabel’s way home London wields its
influence on her. When she comes home, she leaves the whole outside world behind her door. On the
other hand, in Mrs Dalloway is the city part of Clarissa’s herself; even at home her thoughts
repeatedly turn to the sound of the bells of Big Ben or to an elderly woman standing in the window
of a house across the street.

            The heroines also perceive London differently (their impressions are obviously affected
by the weather and their financial situation). For Rosabel are the streets misty and dreary, people
in the bus alienated and advertisements “inane”. Yet Clarissa perceives the city as full of life
and bustling; she enjoys the hurly-burly of the sun-drenched streets.

            Rosabel could be described as a new type of heroine – she is a girl completely
independent on others, unmarried, with a flat and money of her own, which is in contrast to
Clarissa’s position of a homemaker. But Rosabel does not seem to see London as a place of
opportunities for a new female identity as I think Clarissa’s daughter Elizabeth, dreaming of
becoming a doctor or a farmer, does.

            Both Rosabel and Clarissa often draw their attention away from the present. But whereas
Clarissa returns back to the past, Rosabel keeps dreaming about a better life in the upper class.
This contrast is caused not only by their different financial position, but also by their different
age, I believe. Clarissa does not escape from the reality as Rosabel does; her impressions of her
surroundings, thoughts about her own character, her own life and people in it change to
reminiscences about her happy years in Bourton as a young girl; Clarissa’s thoughts flow. Rosabel
is not a realist at all and she is living in a dream world. Instead of jewellers’ shops she sees
palaces and instead of walking down a wet street she sits in a gondola on the Grand Canal in
Venice. She imagines herself living someone else’s life, life of a beautiful rich girl she met in
the shop. I believe she does not really care about the present except when she suffers from some
unpleasant physical states, such as hunger or cold. Rosabel does also not have any spare time as
Clarissa does to muse about some “philosophical” problems.

            We can also notice the difference between the lonely, isolated life of Rosabel and
social life of Clarissa who is surrounded by her family and friends. Rosabel does not take any
interest in the thoughts of other people; I think she is too “tired” to think about other people’s
problems. On the contrary, Clarissa is interested in the lives of even completely unknown people,
as for example when she hears of the suicide of Septimus Smith. She likes to be surrounded by
people, which is why she organizes the party, and she cares about the opinions on her personality.

            Although the works by Katherine Mansfield and Virginia Woolf portray only one single
day in the life of two women at the beginning of the 20^th century, there are many differences in
the private thoughts between Clarissa and Rosabel. The contrast is obviously caused by their
different financial position and home situation. I believe the characters have something in common,
though. In their thoughts they are both in fact lonely; neither Clarissa (although she is
surrounded by her family and friends) nor Rosabel shares her feelings with anybody or show her
emotions to others.