Mrs. Dalloway by SparkNotes

Author:SparkNotes [SparkNotes]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Summary

As Big Ben strikes noon, Clarissa lays her green dress on her bed and the Smiths walk down Harley Street to Septimus’s appointment with the celebrated psychiatrist Sir William Bradshaw. Known for his tact and understanding, Sir William is gray-haired and has an expensive gray car. He ascertains that Septimus is in a state of complete physical and nervous breakdown within two or three minutes of meeting him. When Sir William asks Septimus if he served with distinction in the war, Septimus thinks of the war as a “little shindy of schoolboys with gunpowder.” Septimus tries to explain to the doctor that he has committed a terrible crime. Rezia protests that it is untrue, and the doctor takes her aside.

When Rezia admits that Septimus has threatened to commit suicide, Sir William prescribes a long period of bed rest in one of his homes in the country. Septimus will have to be separated from Rezia, though. Sir William prefers not to speak of “madness,” but rather of a “lack of proportion.” The son of a tradesman, Sir William never had time to read. He resents Septimus’s shabbiness, as well as his cultivation.

Sir William tells Septimus that everybody has moments of depression and that nobody lives for himself alone. He reminds Septimus that he has a brilliant career ahead of him. Septimus feels he is being tortured by human nature in the form of Dr. Holmes and Sir William. He tries again to confess his crime, but he cannot remember what it is. He stammers out the pronoun I, and Sir William tells him not to think about himself. Sir William is eager to end the consultation and says he will let them know about the arrangements between five and six that evening. Rezia thinks Sir William has failed them and that he is not a nice man.

Sir William’s philosophy of proportion involves prescribing weight gain and solitary rest. He secludes the mentally ill and forbids that they have children. His patients must conform to his sense of proportion, or he considers them mad. The narrator critiques Sir William’s theories. Conversion, or pressure to conform to social norms, masquerades as brotherly love, but in colonies like India and at home in London, conversion is actually a quest for power. Sir William is in the business of colonizing people’s minds. Lady Bradshaw lost touch with herself fifteen years ago, when her will succumbed to her husband’s. Now she takes pictures of decaying churches and occupies herself with various causes.

Patients occasionally ask Sir William if the matter of living or not living is a personal choice. Though he shrugs his shoulders when asked if God exists, Sir William adamantly believes that no choice exists between life and death. He champions the prospects of brilliant careers, courage, and family affection. If a patient’s “unsocial impulses” are out of control, he sends them away to a home. Sir William is greedy for dominion and impresses his will on the weak.

Analysis

The link between Clarissa and Septimus intensifies

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