Society's Perpetual Repression

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Society’s Perpetual Repression The character of “the perfect hostess” has transcended time from 1925 in Virginia Woolf’s book Mrs. Dalloway to Stephen Daldry’s 2002 production of Michael Cunningham’s “The Hours”. Both forms of media relate the two Clarissas who seem to lead fulfilling lives, but in fact they reflect on pivotal times in their lives when decisions may have cost them happiness and inner peace. These regrets and second thoughts are shown through the use of flashbacks. Although set in different times and countries, each Clarissa is extremely similar as well as the characters they interact with. Society is a constantly changing structure, whether that change is from culture to culture or over periods of time. People move through society without thinking what they really are doing and they do not realize how much pressure society places on one’s being. Society has become the basis of how a person forms their opinions, beliefs, and morals and the structure of behavior rests in the society one is raised in. People’s acceptance of one another and a desire to conform create a world where people are struggling to fit in. Virginia Woolf sees this and uses the character of Clarissa Dalloway to show how she interacts with society externally and internally through her stream of consciousness writing. Stephen Daldry brings the character of Mrs. Dalloway to life as Clarissa Vaughn and visually depicts her in a more modern society but with the same behavior and thoughts. The comparison of the same character in different times is essential to understand how society is ever changing and continues to represses individual desires in life. Woolf views society as a center for conflict for the characters in her novel. They struggle with the internal dilemma of whether they should be who they want to be or what everyone else wants them to be.
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