As I began reading Virginia Woolf’s “Mrs. Dalloway,” I couldn’t help but think about the parallels between Clarissa and Taylor Swift.
The book opens up with Clarissa Dalloway going out to buy some flowers for her party. As she journeys out to the flower shop, she is hit with both memories and regrets. Clarissa contemplates death, “did it matter then, she asked herself, walking towards Bond Street, did it matter that she must inevitably cease completely,” (pg.9). She also thinks back to a time when she was younger, and begins to feel self-conscious of the hat she is wearing. Clarissa struggles to find her place within society and feels like throwing parties is a major part of where she fits in.
Yet, perhaps the thing that drives her mind crazy the most is Peter. As she thinks about seeing him again, she is consumed with thoughts of what he thinks about her. He had called her “cold, heartless, a prude,” before heading to India (pg.8). She wonders what he thinks about her after marrying Richard. These thoughts evolve as she recalls a time where Peter interrupted her and her friend Sally Seton when they were younger, and continue as he shows up to her house.
The plot thickens further as Clarissa begins to feel that she has let her husband, Richard, down because she is sexually attracted to women.
While reading this, I realized that Clarissa Dalloway – like Taylor Swift – worries a lot about what people think about her; particularly what Peter’s opinion of her is. Clarissa has spent her entire life hiding who she truly is, due to the fear of being judged by those around her. She has shaped herself in a way that gives her the reputation of your average virginal, English woman.
Taylor Swift built up her reputation and image in a similar way. She has been seen as “the girl next door” type and is now pushing her way out of that stereotype. Unlike Clarissa, Taylor is pushing the past behind her and showing her true colors to the world.
If Clarissa was brave enough to try and change her reputation, perhaps her midlife crisis would come to an end and she, like Taylor Swift, could finally feel like her real self. She could stop the façade that seems to be eating her from the inside out and become a new person – the person that she feels she truly is.
