Continue reading The Hours. Work on your motif story.
Look over the following discussion questions. Discuss with a partner and post a thoughtful response to questions 1-3.
1. Clarissa Vaughan is described several times as an "ordinary"
woman. Do you accept this valuation? If so, what does it imply about the
ordinary, about being ordinary? What makes someone, by contrast,
extraordinary?
2. Flowers and floral imagery play a significant part in The Hours. When
and where are flowers described? What significance do they have, and
with what events and moods are they associated? How do flowers affect
Virginia? Clarissa?
3. Cunningham plays with the notions of sanity and insanity, recognizing
that there might be only a very fine line between the two states. What
does the novel imply about the nature of insanity? Might it in fact be a
heightened sanity, or at least a heightened sense of awareness? Would
you classify Richard as insane? How does his mental state compare with
that of Virginia? Of Laura as a young wife? Of Septimus Smith in Mrs.
Dalloway? Does insanity (or the received idea of insanity) appear to be
connected with creative gifts?
4. Virginia and Laura are both, in a sense, prisoners of their eras and
societies, and both long for freedom from this imprisonment. Clarissa
Vaughan, on the other hand, apparently enjoys every liberty: freedom to
be a lesbian, to come and go and live as she likes. Yet she has ended
up, in spite of her unusual way of life, as a fairly conventional wife
and mother. What might this fact indicate about the nature of society
and the restrictions it imposes? Does the author imply that character,
to a certain extent, is destiny?
5. Each of the novel’s three principal women, even the relatively
prosaic and down-to-earth Clarissa, occasionally feels a sense of
detachment, of playing a role. Laura feels as if she is "about to go
onstage and perform in a play for which she is not appropriately
dressed, and for which she has not adequately rehearsed" [p. 43].
Clarissa is filled with "a sense of dislocation. This is not her kitchen
at all. This is the kitchen of an acquaintance, pretty enough but not
her taste, full of foreign smells" [p. 91]. Is this feeling in fact a
universal one? Is role-playing an essential part of living in the world,
and of behaving "sanely"? Which of the characters refuses to act a
role, and what price does he/she pay for this refusal?
6. Who kisses whom in The Hours, and what is the significance of each kiss?
7. The Hours is very much concerned with creativity and the nature of
the creative act, and each of its protagonists is absorbed in a
particular act of creation. For Virginia and Richard, the object is
their writing; for Clarissa Vaughan (and Clarissa Dalloway), it is a
party; for Laura Brown, it is another party, or, more generally, "This
kitchen, this birthday cake, this conversation. This revived world" [p.
106]. What does the novel tell us about the creative process? How does
each character revise and improve his or her creation during the course
of the story?
8. How might Richard’s childhood experiences have made him the adult he
eventually becomes? In what ways has he been wounded, disturbed?
9. Each of the three principal women is acutely conscious of her inner
self or soul, slightly separate from the "self" seen by the world.
Clarissa’s "determined, abiding fascination is what she thinks of as her
soul" [p. 12]; Virginia "can feel it inside her, an all but
indescribable second self, or rather a parallel, purer self. If she were
religious, she would call it the soul . . . It is an inner faculty that
recognizes the animating mysteries of the world because it is made of
the same substance" [pp. 34-35]. Which characters keep these inner
selves ruthlessly separate from their outer ones? Why?
10. Each of the novel’s characters sees himself or herself, most of the
time, as a failure. Virginia Woolf, as she walks to her death, reflects
that "She herself has failed. She is not a writer at all, really; she is
merely a gifted eccentric" [p. 4]. Richard, disgustedly, admits to
Clarissa, "I thought I was a genius. I actually used that word,
privately, to myself" [p. 65]. Are the novel’s characters unusual, or
are such feelings of failure an essential and inevitable part of the
human condition?
11. Toward the end of Clarissa’s day, she realizes that kissing Richard
beside the pond in Wellfleet was the high point, the culmination, of her
life. Richard, apparently, feels the same. Are we meant to think,
though, that their lives would have been better, more heightened, had
they stayed together? Or does Cunningham imply that as we age we
inevitably feel regret for some lost chance, and that what we in fact
regret is youth itself?
12. The Hours could on one level be said to be a novel about middle age,
the final relinquishment of youth and the youthful self. What does
middle age mean to these characters? In what essential ways do these
middle-aged people--Clarissa, Richard, Louis, Virginia --differ from
their youthful selves? Which of them resists the change most
strenuously?
13. What does the possibility of death represent to the various
characters? Which of them loves the idea of death, as others love life?
What makes some of the characters decide to die, others to live? What
personality traits separate the "survivors" from the suicides?
14. If you have read Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway, would you describe
The Hours as a modern version of it? A commentary upon it? A dialogue
with it? Which characters in The Hours correspond with those of Woolf’s
novel? In what ways are they similar, and at what point do the
similarities cease and the characters become freestanding individuals in
their own right?
15. For the most part, the characters in The Hours have either a
different gender or a different sexual orientation from their prototypes
in Mrs. Dalloway. How much has all this gender-bending affected or
changed the situations, the relationships, and the people?
16. Why has Cunningham chosen The Hours for the title of his novel
(aside from the fact that it was Woolf’s working title for Mrs.
Dalloway)? In what ways is the title appropriate, descriptive? What do
hours mean to Richard? To Laura? To Clarissa?
Angela Rollins
ReplyDeleteThese answers are mostly based off the movie, but I'm about 100 pages into the novel so there are answers based off of what I've read as well.
1. Clarissa Vaughan is an ordinary woman. She is slightly simple minded, not taking things too far and accepting the beauty in life without difficulty. She misses the past. She consumes her life with the care taking role and fills her times with things like throwing parties. But in all this ordinary tendencies, she becomes extraordinary. Her ability to be simple, to not destroy herself with thinking and obsession makes her the most unique character in the novel. Richard can probably be seen as “extraordinary.” He is sick and talented, but more than that he is a deep thinker who tries to fictionalize the people in his life to make the world more interesting. Virginia, too, can be seen as an extraordinary person. The deepness bellow the surface may create something “extraordinary.” However, I feel like Clarissa made her way into the extraordinary classification by being herself and taking things easily. She is strong and caring, and dedicated beyond belief. Although she isn’t “Deep” and full of a dark story, I feel as though she is still extraordinary.
2. Although at first it seems like the flowers are meant to be something nice and symbolic for hope, since Clarissa goes to get the flowers in order to decorate the party and Richard’s dark home, when Virginia picks flowers for the bird’s funeral they become much darker. They are something meant to be beautiful, but they have a darker side. They are a beauty that others do not feel. Virginia picks the flowers and leaves them with the dead bird, but the flowers are somewhat painful. They have a brightness that Virginia cannot hold. The same goes for Richard, who does not appreciate the flowers. He is sick, and the beauty they leave can not touch him. For Clarissa, who is “simple minded” and enjoys the simple beauty in a morning, the flowers really can be seen as beautiful. She isn’t tainted by a darkened spirit, so the flowers can be taken as they are.
3. Each of the characters have a little bit of insanity. Clarissa’s insanity is her care taking nature, and how she wishes to keep Richard alive despite the difficulty she faces being with him. Richard’s insanity is more clear-cut. He hears voices, and AIDS is taking away a lot of his mental strength. Ultimately, he throws himself out a window. Mrs. Brown can also be seen as insane. She completely lacks joy in her life, despite the fact that she has a seemingly perfect life. She almost kills herself she is so distraught, and it seems like this discontent comes from practically nothing. Virginia is also malcontent, and also hears voices. She suffers from severe depression, and feels like she is going more crazy in Richmond. All of these characters can be seen as insane for their feelings and unhappiness. However, in a way none of them really are insane. They just feel on a deeper level than expected. They aren’t content with what is given to them, and want something more. Clarissa being the most sane as the least talented gift. Richard is both a poet and a novelist. Mrs. Brown is a dedicated reader. Virginia Woolf is a famous writer. This deep discontent and sorrowful feelings enhance their power to connect to the power of words.
Taylor Rugg and Mariah Gonzalez
ReplyDeleteContemporary Writers, Per. 1, 2
Ms. Gamzon
15 May 2012
1. The reader does not see Clarissa has an “ordinary” woman, despite this description. Clarissa would describe herself as such because she cannot see herself living any other way – it’s not a question for her to take care of Richard and live selflessly, it is simply the way things are. Clarissa would view someone extraordinary as one who does great acts of heroism or something of the like. However, the reader values Clarissa as extraordinary because she lives her life for someone else, which an “ordinary” person doesn’t do.
2. The flowers and floral imagery tie all the stories together in The Hours. Flowers are used to brighten moments of emotional intensity throughout the novel. Mrs. Dalloway and Clarissa Vaughn both leave their homes to buy flowers. Roses specifically play a role for Virginia. The flowers signify domesticity, which is a theme that all the women in the novel have to deal with.
3. The novel implies the secretive nature of insanity; it’s nature of being taboo. Insanity is something to hide from, however it is a sense of heightened sanity, as it makes one more aware of the world – even if it’s an awareness of the darker, destructive world. Richard is not insane; rather he is simply one who confronts death before death confronts him. He represents the heightened sanity – he takes his life into his own hands before AIDS can kill him. His mental state compares to that of Virginia Woolf because she too wanted to have control of whether she lived or not. However, they’re in contrast because Virginia is not going to die from a disease. Richard is similar to his mother, Laura, with their insanity, because he is living for Clarissa in the same way that Laura stayed alive for her family.
1) I would classify Clarissa as ordinary in the way of how she goes about her everyday life. But as far as the strength of her personality goes, she has extraordinary courage that is obvious in the movie and the novel.
ReplyDelete2) Flowers represent not only the transition between the stories, but also different emotions such as sorrow, pain and love.
3) I would say that half the characters in this story are insane. Not in the way of having lost their mind, but in the way of being so engrossed in their talents and passions that they let them control their lives.
1. I believe that Clarissa is an ordinary woman. Throughout the novel, she suffers from the memory of a past relationship and feeling isolated. In reality, every person goes through a point in time where they look back on their life, maybe with regrets. If Cunningham were to make her a perfect woman, then that wouldn’t be ordinary at all.
ReplyDelete2. Flowers are introduced when each of the three women are introduced in the novel, with the line “Mrs. Dalloway said she would buy the flowers herself.” Surrounded by the theme of suicide and death, the flowers bring a fresh and lively sense to the novel. Virginia Woolf’s husband working in the garden also focuses on this idea, probably trying to take care of the garden as well and trying to keep Virginia Woolf from committing suicide. Clarissa also brings Richard flowers, trying to bring light to his apartment since it has been deeply affected by his depression and his suffering from AIDS.
3. Cunningham’s theme of insanity can be related to all three women. Laura’s anxiety from her relationship with her husband and the idea of her abandoning her children is quite unusual from the average mother during this time period. Clarissa continues to reminisce about her past with Richard even though their relationship was a failure. Virginia might suffer more, simply because she creates the character of Clarissa Dalloway as an image of herself, while altering the parts of her life that others might think are unordinary.
1. I don’t see Clarissa Vaughan as just an ordinary woman. She does have the average woman characteristics, but she also has a different outlook and experience in daily life. Clarissa is not really in the same mind state of most women. She really uses her motions different to show how she is either distraught or content. I mean C’mon, you don’t just chuck an entire pot of food into the Garbage normally. And when it comes to being ordinary in general, I firmly believe no one is ordinary. I mean, we live days that similar to others and experience emotions that seem to be in a pattern, but we are all have different outlooks and interests in life that are either kept secret or exposed to the public. It is something true to be “average” as in, working a nine to five job, raising a family, going to school, and being involved in a athletic sport. But a person in itself is simply ordinary. So…yeah.
ReplyDeleteMy and Maddy and Cassidy
ReplyDelete1. Clarissa Vaughan is described several times as an "ordinary" woman. Do you accept this valuation? If so, what does it imply about the ordinary, about being ordinary? What makes someone, by contrast, extraordinary?
Yes, Clarissa is ordinary--she is referred to as "clearly not destined to make a disastrous marriage or fall under the wheels of a train. She was destined to charm, to prosper." Clarissa seems to be ordinary perhaps because she conforms--she enjoys hosting parties, she enjoys the "domesticity" of such an affair, and she is concerned with appearances and fame. Richard, however, is extraordinary. He is not concerned with celebrities (he "does not recognize such distinctions"). Though he is physically dying, his sense of vitality contributes to seeing things as larger-than-life, which translates to his using hyperbole constantly, until the people around him rely on Richard to "wake them up" like a cup of coffee in the morning. Extraordinary people ooze vitality and seize the day; ordinary people become concerned with "trivialities"--and the world can seemingly "get along without [them]."
2. Flowers and floral imagery play a significant part in The Hours. When and where are flowers described? What significance do they have, and with what events and moods are they associated? How do flowers affect Virginia? Clarissa?
Flowers are an integral part of the novel; both Mrs. Dalloway and Clarissa's portion of the novel begin with the purchase of flowers. Clarissa chooses lillies, peonies, and roses (and rejects the hydrangeas) to bring to Richard--though it is interesting to note that in the movie, she rejects the lillies because they are "too morbid" and chooses, instead, the hydrangeas. Clarissa brings the flowers to brighten Richard's surroundings, but he views them as a symbol of mortality, greeting them with "Have I died yet?" Virginia, too, associates flowers with mortality--Virginia's niece, Angelica, and Virginia surround the body of a dead thrush with yellow roses, a thrush that Virginia would like to "lie down in its place."
3. Cunningham plays with the notions of sanity and insanity, recognizing that there might be only a very fine line between the two states. What does the novel imply about the nature of insanity? Might it in fact be a heightened sanity, or at least a heightened sense of awareness? Would you classify Richard as insane? How does his mental state compare with that of Virginia? Of Laura as a young wife? Of Septimus Smith in Mrs. Dalloway? Does insanity (or the received idea of insanity) appear to be connected with creative gifts?
ReplyDeleteThe novel definitely implies the thin line between sanity and insanity with each character, especially in the reality of Woolf's life. Her encounters with insanity seem to flesh out her relationships and character within the novel and movie, and her uneasy relationship with mental health plays a relevant role in her writing and actual life. Woolf is never portrayed as insane within the novel, and the audience is pushed to agree with her as she resists her containment and 'treatment.' Her mental instability does not make her the lunatic character, it instead gives her character complexity as she writes and interacts within the novel. Richard could be medically classified as insane, as he hears voices (Woolf also heard voices) and suffers in similar ways as Virginia (minus the crippling disease). Both could be classified or diagnosed as insane, but this does not limit the development of either character. Laura, while not suffering from voices in her head, reaches a tense moment when she heads to the hotel to kill herself. She is not insane in the same definition as Richard or Virginia Woolf, but she would not be considered ‘mentally fit’ or ‘well.’ Brown is unhappy with her life and, unsure of how to handle it, moves towards suicide but eventually leaves her family out of fear and pressure. Septimus Smith in Mrs. Dalloway is very similar to the character of Richard, and his insanity is shown not through the progression of a disease and stability following, but from a post-war situation. The idea of insanity is definitely connected with creative gifts, so to speak, in Woolf’s life and Richard’s novel. The idea of mental affliction being tied to great artists and minds is used throughout the novel, as well as being a common theme in other media and stories. The line is indeed fine between these mental states, and each character finds themselves bordering that line as they choose to leave their homes, attempt suicide, or simply work.
1. Clarissa Vaughan is described several times as an "ordinary" woman. Do you accept this valuation? If so, what does it imply about the ordinary, about being ordinary? What makes someone, by contrast, extraordinary?
ReplyDeleteClarissa Vaughan is a mixture of both an ordinary and not so ordinary woman. The way that she goes about her everyday life and her repetitive routine on a daily basis is what makes her an ordinary woman. This quote from the book validates that she is an ordinary woman: "clearly not destined to make a disastrous marriage or fall under the wheels of a train. She was destined to charm, to prosper." Vaughan seems like she is an ordinary woman, she loves to host parties and do other ordinary domestic activities almost like a housewife. Even though she has these distinct characteristics that can make her seem like an ordinary woman, she has deeper traits that are internal that makes her much more than an ordinary woman. Vaughan has a lot of strength and courage and that’s what makes her extraordinary. All of the obstacles that she has to face throughout the story are what takes her from an ordinary woman to extraordinary.
Erin & Ashley