Mrs. Dalloway bends over backwards to throw together a perfect party. This is described as her ‘offering,’ though to what, we do not know. Peter Walsh mockingly describes her as the ‘perfect hostess,’ as if she is capable of little more than party-throwing and socializing. Towards the end of the book, different characters’ opinions on Clarissa are revealed, and they all seem to deal with her ‘breeding,’ refinement and social graces. It almost seems as if being social and connected takes on a form of deity to Clarissa, and nothing matters more.

A few leaders in the LDS church have stated that we ‘worship’ whatever we devote the majority of our time and energy to. For example, if we are obsessive over soccer, spend hours on the daily watching matches and memorizing different players salaries and positions, soccer effectively becomes a ‘god’ to us. If we spend all of our time on social media, social media becomes our deity.

From a secular standpoint, I think that there is no inherent evil in devoting the majority of one’s time to a singular activity, as Clarissa does to her social life. She is concerned with its success the same way any of us are concerned with the successes of our own endeavors. As we spend time learning a craft and devoting our energy to any particular art, we find an increase in meaningfulness and satisfaction in that particular activity. I think we all can relate to Clarissa, more than anyone else in this novel. While she does live a rather lavish lifestyle, her wants and hopes are quite simple and universal — she wants to be loved, and she wants to be good at what she loves to do.

source: Giphy