Clarissa's Emotional Relationships and Depth

     To delve into the breadth of Clarissas emotions, we must first explore her relationships with other characters. An obvious choice is Richard. She seems to display little to no emotion towards him- after all, he was the safe choice, chosen for stability and a vague sense of companionship, that would be permanent. She seems to have a dull feeling of fading away when considering him often, with them growing apart her fears lie more in not having any impact on society or anyone's life any more, as evidenced by  the quote "She had the oddest sense of being herself invisible; unseen; unknown; there being no more marrying, no more having of children now, but only this astonishing and rather solemn progress with the rest of them, up Bond Street, this being Mrs. Dalloway; not even Clarissa any more; this being Mrs. Richard Dalloway." This indicates that she sees her current position in society as an extension of her husband, and the farther they drift the more she loses her identity.

    Next we have to consider Peter, arguably the most complex and emotionally fraught relationship throughout the whole novel. He clearly thinks about her constantly, vainly criticizing her in an attempt to separate himself from the love he feels, to justify their breakage apart so that he can cope. And she clearly has a love for him too, a connection unbroken by time and distance. The question is to the nature of that relationship. One piece of evidence is in the following passage: "'Do you remember the lake?' she said, in an abrupt voice, under the pressure of an emotion which caught her heart, made the muscles of her throat stiff, and contracted her lips in a spasm as she said "lake." For she was a child, throwing bread to the ducks, between her parents, and at the same time a grown woman coming to her parents who stood by the lake, holding her life in her arms which, as she neared them, grew larger and larger in her arms, until it became a whole life, a complete life..." This passage, invokes, to me, rather than a feeling of love and passion, a feeling of familial nostalgia. One of the most key moments of emotion she displays to him is a reminiscing of time on a lake with her family, as a child, back when her parents were still alive and her life was full of meaning. This to me, implies rather than a great romantic passion, Peter is someone who is a great companion and an emotional and mental soulmate. I could be wrong, but I interpreted the kiss as one to comfort him, rather than a romantic one- she kissed him after he sobbed uncontrollably. She felt "at ease" with him, and "lighthearted" like a close personal friend.

    Her final relationship in the book is that of Sally- a short, fast, and passionate one. In the passages about Sally, she clearly states that she felt for women previously a fleeting feeling of love she had been unable to feel by any man (She could see what she lacked. (In regards to her relation with Richard) It was not beauty; it was not mind. It was something central which permeated; something warm which broke up surfaces and rippled the cold contact of man and woman, or of women together... yet she could not resist sometimes yielding to the charm of a woman, not a girl... she did undoubtedly then feel what men felt. ") She then continues to describe her growing closeness to Sally. It starts off relatively ambiguous- she admires her intellect and beauty, and the excitement of new ideas she sparked in her brain. However, as time continues, it portrays her as intoxicated by Sally's charm, until it reaches realization as a romantic relationship. "Sally stopped; picked a flower; kissed her on the lips. The whole world might have turned upside down! The others disappeared; there she was alone with Sally. And she felt that she had been given a present, wrapped up, and told just to keep it, not to look at it--a diamond, something infinitely precious, wrapped up, which, as they walked (up and down, up and down), she uncovered, or the radiance burnt through, the revelation, the religious feeling!--when old Joseph and Peter faced them".

    It could be argued that the depth of Clarissa's emotions is rather shallow or stunted. She rarely displays much emotion towards anyone, rather than an intrigue and fascination for life. It could also be that at this point in her life, she is losing the ability to have this kind of passion! In the following passage, it is a clear demonstration of how her emotional response has dwindled "No, the words meant absolutely nothing to her now. She could not even get an echo of her old emotion. But she could remember going cold with excitement, and doing her hair in a kind of ecstasy (now the old feeling began to come back to her, as she took out her hairpins, laid them on the dressing-table, began to do her hair), with the rooks flaunting up and down in the pink evening light, and dressing, and going downstairs, and feeling as she crossed the hall 'if it were now to die 'twere now to be most happy.'" Compared to those young and free days, her expression of emotion has degenerated, and now she spends her time reminiscing on emotions she can no longer replicate. This is likely a coping mechanism for and a result of her dull life and marriage, and her position as only a person in and of her husband.