Who Are We To Question Love: A Look Into Love Through The Eyes Of Clarissa Dalloway And Peter Walsh
...Throughout Mrs. Dalloway, Clarissa Dalloway's and Peter Walsh's notions of love differ considerably. The choices made and the insecurities possessed by these characters mold their views of love. Clarissa's concept of love is shaped by desire for society's approval; her insecurities redirect the natural course of her love. Peter's philosophy of love is more child-like than Clarissa's desire to please. Peter is less interested in love to please society, but more concerned with love to satisfy himself. Although their views of love stand in opposition, they are both trapped by their love.
Though masked by her synthetic smiles and the false images she projects, Clarissa Dalloway remains a very self-conscious woman. Clarissa first displays this lack of self-confidence when she converses with Hugh Whitbread in the park and becomes "oddly conscious at the same time of her hat. Not the right hat for the early morning, was that it? For Hugh always made her feel, as he bustled on, raising his hat rather extravagantlyÂ…that she might be a girl of eighteen" (6). In this particular instance Hugh might be symbolic of society. She is worried what he will think of her hat, what he might think of her. She feels young and foolish in his presence. Clarissa is constantly plagued by society's opinion of her. The reader knows this insecurity has stemmed back to her days at Bourton. When she explains to Peter that she will marry a prominent man of society and throw parties, we see that Clarissa is more worried about what others think of her than securing her own happiness. This meant choosing a route for her "love" in which society would approve, therefore choosing Richard as opposed to Peter. Clarissa's parties are another example of how she does outlandish things to impress those around
her. She strives for the attendance of people at her parties "and yet for her...
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