Death Of The Soul

Question 0

Boys in uniform, carrying guns” “On their faces an expression like the letters of a legend written round the base of a statue praising duty, gratitude, fidelity, love of England”

Answer 0

Boys moulded into soldiers ready for war- loss of childhood and individuality
Prophecy of what will be written about them (letters on the statue)

Question 1

“This being Mrs Dalloway; not even Clarissa anymore; this being Mrs Richard Dalloway”

Answer 1

Loss of individuality due to marriage

Merging into one

Question 2

Who are the destroyers of septimus’ soul?

Answer 2

Sir William Bradshaw and Dr. Holmes

Question 3

“weariness, together with his grey hairs, increased the extraordinary distinction of his presence”
“infallible accuracy in diagnosis”
“Sympathy; tact; understanding of the human soul” - who does this refer to and what does it mean? What are the techniques and the effect of these?

Answer 3

1. Sir William Bradshaw
2. He believes with age he has become more wise in terms of nerve cases and can diagnose with unquestioning confidence
3. The tricolon (3rd quote) makes each item sound trite/overused/lacking originality

Question 4

“(The stream of patients being so incessant, the responsibilities and privileges of his profession so onerous)”

• whose stream of consciousness?
• what technique is used and what effect does it have?

Answer 4

1. Sir William Bradshaw
2. Parenthesis (text/thoughts separated by the use of brackets) — the free indirect style captures how he really views his patients. We are able to see that he doesn’t care, he feels they are a burden (onerous). They lose their identity and become anonymous- seen as a stream rather than individuals with individual problems

Question 5

Sir William Bradshaw’s language and style of speech:

Answer 5

• refers to septimus as “The patient” repeatedly— removes personal identity, makes him the same as every other patient (“the incessant stream”)
• parenthesis often used to hear Bradshaw’s thoughts on something “(oh those general practitioners!” -colloquial language
• sharp concise sentences— unsympathetic and matter of fact “shortly and kindly Sir William explained to her the state of the case. He had threatened to kill himself. There was no alternative. It was a question of law.”

Question 6

“(Rezia would learn to cook porridge)”

• whose stream of consciousness?
• technique?

Answer 6

1. Either Holmes’, making notes as he diagnoses and treats septimus
   Or Rezia making mental notes of what Holmes is inferring
2. Parenthesis

Question 7

“When the damned fool came again, septimus refused to see him. Did he indeed?”

Answer 7

Free indirect discourse allows the reader to hear each characters thoughts as each moment occurs.
“The damned fool”- idiom/ septimus’ Idiolect and probably common name for Holmes.
“Did he now?” showing Holmes’ patronising authoritative position

Question 8

Define ‘soul’

Answer 8

Ones true inner self. Pure and sensitive before the compromises of adult life.
Can be repressed and hidden deep inside.

Question 9

How does septimus preserve his soul?

Answer 9

By killing himself he doesn’t allow Holmes to convert him.

“Holmes would get him. But no; not Holmes; not Bradshaw.” - defiant and determined to escape them.

Question 10

How is Sally’s soul dead?

Answer 10

Sally becomes ‘Lady Rosseter’ losing the “ravishing, richness” in her voice; “her eyes not aglow as they used to be”
“Sally Seton- the last person in the world one would have expected to marry a rich man and live in a large house near Manchester, the wild, the daring, the romantic Sally!”

Question 11

“She has the oddest sense of being herself invisible; unseen; unknown.”

Answer 11

Clarissa- in the shadow of her husbands success and high status.
The tricolon makes the reader sympathise as each section seems worse than the previous.
Get a sense of her tone seeming more disappointed as it develops and she realises her true feelings.

Question 12

“Like a nun withdrawing, or a child exploring a tower”

Answer 12

A nun commits herself to God as a woman commits herself to her husband- Clarissa feels as if she’s being converted into the “ideal” politicians wife
Refers back to her time at Bourton where she left the others “blackberrying in the sun” to explore a tower. She’s still trying to hold on to her former self and the privacy of her soul before conversion

Question 13

“Narrower and narrower would her bed be”

Answer 13

Her life and passion is diminishing. Symbolises the lack of sexual fulfilment

Question 14

“Before the war you could buy almost perfect gloves”

Answer 14

Soulless- how the war has affected her. Shallow, materialistic, not empathetic

Question 15

“while I— he thought; and at once everything seemed to radiate from him”

Answer 15

Comparing his life to Clarissa’s- finds her mending a dress and knows she’s been stuck in this mundane routine while he’s been travelling, going to parties, having love affairs etc. Pride radiates from him

Question 16

“That one should wake up in the morning; see the sky; walk in the park; meet Hugh Whitbread; then suddenly in came Peter; then these roses; it was enough.”

Answer 16

Equal metronomic structure symbolising her balanced repetitive life- however this is enough for Clarissa to feel fulfilled.
In this sense her soul has not died: her life may seem dull and repetitive however she is content.
Although it seems dull, the reader can see there are still moments of surprise in her life. The use of the word “suddenly” signifies this moment of interruption after a moment of absorption

Question 17

“The death of the soul” (first use)

Answer 17

Peters phrase- seems the title of a book or chapter as if he’s analysing life in a very academic way making notes for a book.
This phrase is a reference back to a memory at Bourton etc