Reading Mrs. Dalloway proposes an interesting question. What is worse? To die? Or to live an empty life that is comparable to death?

Mrs. Dalloway lives a very unhappy life. She feels a great distance between her and her husband. Even though he loves her, he has been unable to tell her for years. She feels inadequate at her duties as an individual in society because she is not invited to lunch with Lady Bruton and she takes it personally. She lives in the past more than the present. She consistently obsesses about death even while walking down a beautiful, sunny morning in London. She feels replaced by her daughter’s tutor. And she is unhappy with her party, which is the center and reason of her life.

Septimus deals with PTSD and ultimately ends his life because he does not wish to live in an asylum and deal with the past.

Though their lives took a different turn, I wonder if they both met the same sad ending. Both are living a sad life comparable to death.

In my opinion, that is just one person out of billions, I think Clarissa had the worst ending. While death is an ending that is inevitable. Living an unhappy, unfulfilling life is a choice. And it is a choice Mrs. Dalloway makes everyday. I believe that life is one of the greatest joys we experience. While it has it’s trials, it is still worth living. To end it because you want to, is tragic and unfortunate. To live an unfortunate life everyday, would be similar to dying again and again.