Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf

"There are still flowers to buy. Clarissa feigns (thought she loves doing errands like this)" (9)

Michael Cunningham introduces his character, Clarissa the same way that Virginia Woolf presents Clarissa in Mrs. Dalloway. The two chapters are both about Clarissa buying flowers for their party. Cunningham makes this blatant in order to show that he is directly inspired by Mrs. Dalloway. He uses one of Woolf's character's and Woolf herself in his novel. The third main charcater, Mrs. Brown, is added in not only to accentuate the point, but to add to the originality of the novel.

Giacometti

"He looks insane and exalted, both ancient and childish, astride the windowsill like some scarecrow equestrian, a park statue by Giacometti." (196)

Alberto Giacometti was a surrealist sculptor born in 1901. He made statues of people that had elongated limbs and skinny bodies. They look like they are just bones or a shadow of a person. Richards body is compared to Giacometti's statues because he is near death and looks like a skeleton.

~Dillen, Bruno."ALBERTO GIACOMETTI'S- Biography" Art in the Picture. September 29, 2008.

Apology

"She would ask for forgiveness by shying away, by what would be prove to be the day of his death. " (203)

Clarissa apologizes to Richard because she was trying to fit him into her happy life when he was miserable. She invited him to her party, thinking that he is poud of his accomplishments, when he feels like a failure. She plays the same role as Bradshaw and Holmes do in Mrs. Dalloway, because she tries to sculpt his soul into something it is not anymore.

Bird of Paradise

"Laura pays Mrs. Latch, accepts a bird of paradise from her yard. " (191)

Birds of paradise were mentioned in Mrs. Dalloway as describing the curtains. The bird and flower both have vibrant colors and excessive shapes. The plant shows that life is beautiful and little things such as plants can be enough to settle ones mind. It is appropriate for Mrs. Latch to give Laura this plant because Laura is doubting if she is happy with her settled life.

Richie

"Briefly, for a moment, the boy changes shape. briefly he glows, dead white. Laura remains not angry. She remembers to smile. She keeps both hands on the wheel." (193)

Richie is what keeps Laura from going crazy and fleeing. She keeps both hands on the wheel because she is prompted to continue driving carefully through life by her son. He is always watching her like a guardian angel. His dead white glow symbolizes him sustaining life. This white contrasts with the shadow of death that haunts Victoria and tempts Laura.

Queen Victoria's Memorial

"Big Ben strikes the hour, which fall in leaden circles over the partygoers and omnibuses, over stone Queen Victoria seated before the Palace on her shelves of geraniums" (168)

Queen Victoria reigned from 1837 until her death in 1901. The statue was designed by Aston Webb, who also designed the the facade of Buckingham Palace. It was sculpted by Sir Thomas Brock after she died. The statue is 82 feet high and has angles of truth and justice along side it. Virginia feels the need to be in the city of London because the country gives her too much space to think. She feeds from the bustle of the city, just like her character, Clarissa Dalloway.

~"Queen Victoria Memorial" A View on Cities. September 29, 2008.

Dead Bird

"She's made her arrangement of grass and roses; now she wants to move to dispatch the bird as quickly as possible and go hunting for it's nest." (120)

Now that the bird is dead Angelica forgets it and moves on to try to find the birds eggs. The bird's eggs would be something that it left behind. It extends the birds life in a sense. Virginia comments earlier that she wants to lay down with the bird, but decides that she does not want to die yet. She wants to finish writing her book so her morality will continue in her work and so she will feel as if she has accomplished something.