Rusakova Anastasia, Romanovskaya Eva ЛВ 2

An interview with Virginia Woolf. October 5, 2018.

Hello, Mrs. Woolf, it is a delight to talk to you today. We would like to turn mostly to

the discussion of one of your novels – “Mrs. Dalloway”, we will also talk over some facts of

your own biography and their connection to the events described in the book. Let us begin

with the main character of the book - Mrs. Dalloway herself. Some readers would probably

say that her life choice in favor of calm and secure living is not the best she could do, as she

abandoned Peter Walsh, with whom Mrs. Dalloway had a real connection. What is your

attitude towards such a point of view?

Good afternoon. Thank you for having me today. To begin with, I understand that

there are those who would rather stay with their beloved one. However, we shall consider the

fact that the relationship between Peter and Clarissa were not so perfect, as Mr. Walsh is a

man with strong and, unlike Mrs. Dalloway, quite moderate views. Clarissa was not ready at

all to spend her whole life with a man who could not really make her feel serene, even after

their meeting many years later she could see, that his living was not settled. This woman, in

my opinion, has her own vision of a proper life, and even though a reader can realize that her

thoughts are sometimes quite different from what she says and that there are some secrets

which stay unrevealed for people around, her character is solid, she knows what she wants,

and it is the best thing about Mrs. Dalloway. I do respect her choice and support such

confidence in Clarissa’s values.

Mrs. Woolf, you have mentioned that Clarissa has some secrets from people around

her, but we would like to draw reader’s attention to one more character of the novel, whose

inner concerns are much more explicit – Septimus Smith. His part of this story contrasts

sharply with Mrs. Dalloway’s picture of the world. Could you tell us more about this man, his

part in the narrative and maybe, if this information is not too personal, about the influence of

your disease on the description of his mental problems?

 Yes, sure. Well, as you may have noticed, lives of Londoners of the time of my

narrative are quite calm, hasteless, especially women’s ones, it looks like the War passed

them by, however we can not deny, that there is an unhealed wound on the whole nation, and

the character of Septimus is the confirmation of that. This man with a sensitive, kind heart had

to do horrible things, which he regrets about. Furthermore, he realizes that he loses his

identity, that he had lost it long ago… (pauses) And I wanted to give readers such a contrast

between two simultaneous lines to express the horror of War, the hopelessness of its

witnesses and the fact that civil life has fallen behind, not feeling the pain, the grief. Now,

when two World Wars are just a part of our past, I am glad to see, that people remember, that

they care about their fallen ancestors. As for my state of mind, I do have some problems, I

must admit, and Septimus’ attitude towards his doctors and methods of treatment is partially a

reflection of my own experience. Anyway, as far as I am concerned, medicine in terms of

therapy for those with mental issues has taken a huge step forward in the twenty firs century,

and people with Bipolar disorder or Posttraumatic stress disorder can truly be helped to.

Now, let us go back to female characters of the novel, we would like to talk about

young Clarissa and Sally and the tension between them. It can be seen that this motif came to

the novel from your biography and Sally is a reflection of Vita Sackvill-West. Your works

were extremely popular in the seventies because you have touched such topics as non-

traditional sexuality and woman’s independence, they became a manifesto of the feminist

movement of these years. We would like to ask you about the place of your sexual orientation

and views on women’s rights, their reflection in your works and your attitude towards current

state of the issue.

Of course, nowadays we can talk about it openly, I hope you understand that things

were not the same back then. Undoubtedly, my position is reflected in many works, including

“Mrs. Dalloway” and both Clarissa’s feelings to Sally as a young woman and her freedom as
a mature woman show my position on women’s rights. I know that twenty first century

became the time of various sexualities, we could not think that there would be so many of

them, but I am delight to know that people all around the world can finally be themselves

after all those years of hatred and misunderstanding. As for Vita, she was my inspiration, my

support and dearest friend and I am glad that Clarissa kept warm feelings to Sally, they were

not so close at the moment of narration, but here we once again meet Mrs. Dalloway’s stream

of consciousness, her secrets from external world and see that Sally has been having a place in

her soul for her whole life.

Mrs. Woolf, thank you for coming today, we have learned a lot from you and we will

be glad to continue to get to know your works in the future.

Thank you.