Another attractive book cover I found. This is not the same as mine, but I still like it. So I will use it. Source
Who was this Prime Minister, and why was he so crucial to the amalgamation of a cast which is Mrs. Dalloway? Well, here I am to answer this question. This odd (and densely interconnected) bunch of characters each represent some aspect of society in a Post World War I society.
Clarissa represents the domestic sphere and the upper middle class. Her counterpart, Septimus Smith, represents the traumatized generation forever changed by the war. One copes (for mental anguish) through conformity while the other copes through escapism. Peter Walsh and Mr. Dalloway, another pair, each represents a lifestyle which Clarissa is conflicted between. Peter is hopeless romanticism and risk while her husband is a symbol of structure and convention.
The Prime Minister is repeatedly brought up throughout the novel:
"She [Mrs. Dalloway] would marry a Prime Minister and stand at the top of a staircase; the perfect hostess he called her (she had cried over it in the bedroom), she had the makings of the perfect hostess, he said." (13)
"Was it [the car] the Price of Wales's, the Queen's, the Prime Minister's? Whose face was it? Nobody knew. Edgar J. Watkiss, with his roll of lead piping round his arm, and audibly, humorously, of course: 'The Proime Minister's kyar.'" (20)
"'To whom?' he [Septimus] asked aloud. 'To the Prime Minister,' the voices which rustled above his head replied. The supreme secret must be told to the Cabinet; first that trees are alive; next there is no crime; next love, universal love" (76)
and he is placed on a pedestal befitting a Prime Minister. Being the epitome of wealth and class, anyone would think he'd live up to that title. WRONG!!! He is just another guy. And at the party, many note this:
"One couldn't laugh at him [the Prime Minister]. He looked so ordinary. You might have stood him behind a counter and bought biscuits--poor chap, all rigged up in gold lace." (185)
I believe he represents virtue and greatness in a society. Everyone wants it. It is at the epitome of desire within this cast. Whether it be everyone fixated on the car which might contain the Prime Minister, Clarissa wishing to marry him to attain her goal of becoming the perfect hostess, or Septimus seeking to confide his revelations, each member wants a piece.
The fact that he is so extraordinarily unextraordinary is telling. Maybe the Prime Minister is a manifestation of the phrase, "the grass is always greener on the other side," and the thing people desire may not be as great as it seems.
Thank you for coming to today's TedTalk. I will see you again soon. Soon as in the 16th of November. Bye.
P.S. I have a funky copy of Mrs. Dalloway with a blonde, white woman (presumably the protagonist herself) gazing jadedly towards the camera and donning a cream hat with a cream-colored mesh covering her face. AKA the 2024 edition. If you don't have this version, I pinky promise the quotes exist. You might have trouble finding them, though.
P.S.S. I also read somewhere (Wikipedia) that originally Mrs. Dalloway was originally 2 different short stories, eventually merged into one. And the second was titled "the Prime Minister." It was sadly never finished. Maybe not revolutionary, but still interesting to note.
Hi! Nice blog! The clickbait absolutely worked, I did NOT expect this to be about the Prime Minister. I like your conclusion about his character though, because him representing the grass being greener makes him feel more real and human as opposed to just an important figure. I also enjoyed reading an analysis of a character I never really thought about other than when I read lines he was in. Great blog!
ReplyDeleteMattox!!! I liked this post topic as most the blogs I've read are either about Septimus or Clarissa and Sallys relationship. I have never really thought of the role of the Prime Minister that much which I guess reflects the message this post is trying to send. He's really just a guy which is refreshing to see because in many books, high political powers are usually represented as evil (not necessarily saying they're wrong lmao).
ReplyDeleteI feel like another interpretation of the Prime Minister's "normalcy" is that he is just a person. Everyone looks up to him, everyone idolizes him, when things go wrong they blame him. For Clarissa, or anyone of upper-middle class society, getting close to the Prime Minister would lift them up socially. Septimus wants to confide his revelations, because the Prime Minister is the one with the power to make change. Everyone wants a glimpse of him in the car because he is seen almost as some holy figure. However, we then meet him at the party, and we realize that he is just a person, not the mystical figure everyone imagines him as.
ReplyDeleteHi Mattox! I think that writing a blog post about a random character, such as the prime minister, is really interesting. While most people in the book interpret that the prime minister would be some really important and special figure, it is shown that he is just a regular person. It makes him feel more human and not just someone with a lot of power, which I think makes his character more interesting, even though he barely appears in the book.
ReplyDeleteIt is kind of mind-blowing that throughout the day Septimus is preoccupied with a message he must transmit to the Prime Minister, and then their paths do sort of "cross" at the end of the novel, when the PM is present while Septimus's death is mentioned at the party. We see Richard (a Member of Parliament) speaking with Bradshaw about provisions for shell shock victims in some upcoming bill--not necessarily the "message" Septimus had wanted to convey, but nonetheless his life and death does seem to be having some impact at the governmental level.
ReplyDeleteAnd we never do know who was in that black car.
Hi mattox! Proud to announce that i have the same white woman copy of Mrs Dalloway. On topic, though, I love your point about how the Prime Minister himself is "extraordinarily unextraordinary." I think it's interesting how this boring ass guy is supposed to be the peak of high society, the place everyone wants. Great post!
ReplyDelete